Chapter Text
Fuck.
Fuckfuckfuck!
“Peak Lord Liu-”
Before he was able to say more, the wall behind him burst into small pieces while he barely was able to dodge the blow that was aimed at his heart. This wasn't good, no good at all!
Shen Qingqiu only arrived in this world, and now he was running for his life.
He just wanted to meditate in seclusion, wanted to learn more about the abilities of his new body, why of all times had it to be the point in the story when Liu Qingge had his qi deviation?! Why was he that unlucky?!
Of course Shen Qingqiu knew, that this had to happen sooner or later. It was the person his role he had to impersonate after transmigrating that killed the other Peak Lord in this situation after all. It was unknown if he did it on purpose, since these two people hated each other to the bone, but somehow he had hoped to escape this fate of being in charge now of killing him. He didn't want to! There had to be another option than confrontation!
Well, the one in front of him proved him wrong.
His eyes were bloodshot, the thin clothes he was wearing for meditation were dirty and torn, his hair was a mess. But most of all his facial expression showed, that right this moment Liu Qingge was the personification of a madman. No reason was left, only bloodthirst and violence.
A roar escaped the madman's throat, sounding like a wild beast that spotted his prey, and again Shen Qingqiu was barely able to dodge the blow. He felt his sleeve ripping apart, the light green fabric floated through the air like leaves.
This was so unreal! It couldn't be real, right?
He wasn't able to win a fight like this! Even if he trained the abilities of this body a bit, he still was a novice regarding the cultivation world and the different skills hidden beneath all the training and meditating everyone here did! There was no way he could use anything effectively to stop the other one!
So did this mean kill or be killed? Did he have to pull out his sword and stab the other one?Was there no chance to change fate?
No! There had to be something he could do!
While changing the direction of his escape route he saw, that the other one was confused for a moment. At the moment Liu Qingge reacted by instinct alone. Of course he was perfectly capable of doing so, but all the running seemed to have at least a small effect. Good. Now Shen Qingqiu only needed a plan to reverse the qi deviation.
Turning corners again like a bunny on the run, he tried to gather all the information he had gotten while reading the original novel about spiritual energy and qi deviation. It was hard to focus on this while fleeing, but what recalled was this:
Cultivators used meditation to let their spiritual energy circulate and to train it. Only a person who was gifted with spiritual energy was able to become a cultivator. And while they were training their inner strength they formed a golden core which made them a lot stronger. Or something like that.
When cultivators tried to form their golden core or tried too hard to advance in strength there was a possibility that the effect turned against them. Depending on the situation and things like emotions, well-being and such, the flow of spiritual energy could be interrupted or corrupted. The golden core – if it was already formed – could be damaged or entirely destroyed. If that happened, the cultivator would lose all abilities to use spiritual energy and would become an ordinary human being. If he recalled it right, that was.
Of course the Peak Lords of Cang Qiong Mountain all had their cores formed a long time ago. So he assumed, that Liu Qingge wanted to become stronger too fast and had cultivated too much. Now his golden core was about to be damaged. That meant, Shen Qingqiu had to intervene and needed to stabilize it, right? And sensing the evil aura emitting from the other Peak Lord, he needed to somehow calm down the spiritual energy in the other one's body, so there was no more backlash.
He needed to hurry. Who knew how long the other one's golden core would last after all.
…
How?! How was he supposed to do this?! Impossible!!
He heard the other one roaring again behind him, and this time Liu Qingge missed his face only by a hair's breadth.
But the roar... no, it was more a howl... just like a wounded animal...
Shen Qingqiu swallowed. His throat felt dry.
Liu Qingge was suffering. He was sure of it.
It couldn't be helped. If he was destined to die here, then so be it! He had died once, anyway! But there was no way he could look at the other one unfazed and do nothing. At least he had to try.
Gathering all of his courage he decided to make his move now. “Sorry in advance, Peak Lord Liu, it's just for your own good” he mumbled before grabbing the arm right beside his face tightly. With a smooth move he never thought he was able to perform he spun around, pulling the other one along with him and throwing him into the next wall.
The crashing sound hurt Shen Qingqiu deep inside, but there was no time for regret. He had to act as long as the other one wasn't able to move. He hurriedly went over to where Liu Qingge had collided with the wall. Ignoring the face distorted of pain and madness, he pulled him up a bit and concentrated his spiritual energy on the tips of his fingers. When he had condensed it a bit, he lowered them on Liu Qingge's chest.
A brilliant light was exploding in front of Shen Qingqiu, blinding him and forcing him to close his eyes. For a moment he was about to retreat his hand, but before he did so, he felt his mind sucked into this light, pulling him deeper and deeper...
This wasn't right... was it? Fear crept up Shen Qingqiu's spine, and he wanted to flee, but he didn't know how. Was there light before, suddenly darkness engulfed him like thick fog, trying to extinguish his consciousness.
No, this definitely wasn't right!
Slightly panicking, Shen Qingqiu tried to look around, but there was nothing but darkness surrounding him. Nothing-
'...me...'
A voice! There was a voice! It was weak and far away, but he still heard it!
He forced himself to calm down. This darkness wasn't endless. There was someone waiting for him, someone who needed help. And he was the only one who was able to reach out to this person.
Letting his consciousness dive deeper into the stream of dark spiritual energy he finally saw a shimmering light in the distance. It was flickering like a candle and so dim it seemed to be extinguished any time soon. Was this Liu Qingge's-
'Help me...'
Shen Qingqiu heard the voice clearly this time. Its location was right where the light was coming from, and soon he understood, that he had assumed right. In front of him was Liu Qingge's golden core, its light unstable, its surface cracked. Soon enough it would break if no one helped him repairing and stabilizing it.
This time he didn't think twice. There was only one possibility for him to help. Concentrating his spiritual energy again, Shen Qingqiu closed the distance to the golden core. He gently placed his hands on the surface and let his energy flow freely. Soon it began to wrap the golden core into a thin layer of crystal clear energy. It seeped right into the cracks, closing them up slowly.
Shen Qingqiu sighed in relief. He didn't know if he did the right thin, but it worked! It really worked!
He poured more and more spiritual energy into this protection shield until the core shone brilliantly without any stains.
Beautiful!
Taking a moment to recover, Shen Qingqiu admired the sight in front of him. When he felt refreshed, he moved on.
Now that the matter of the damaged golden core was solved, there still was this dark fog that needed to be taken care of.
But this was no problem at all! Since he had been able to mend the cracks in Liu Qingge's golden core, he suddenly felt a burst of energy emerging from it, mixing with his own and spreading around him, lighting up his surroundings. Slowly it began to become brighter, but the more it spread, the faster it became, like a wildfire, driving away the darkness in no time with their combined strength.
While his own spiritual energy was calm and felt cool, the one of Liu Qingge was hot and wild, full of passion and emotion, giving Shen Qingqiu a feeling, that there was more to the other Peak Lord than his face showed all the time. He rarely had seen him since he arrived in this world, but this was quite the opposite to the cool beauty that displayed an annoyed expression and disinterest most of the time.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime insight Shen Qingqiu now got, making him a bit reluctant to part. He knew he would never get the chance to learn about Liu Qingge's true nature ever again. The Peak Lord simply wouldn't let him come so close a second time.
But he had to go back. And he was able to! He did it! He saved Liu Qingge!
When he was about to leave, he suddenly felt... good. Like a hero that won a war. Excitement got the better of Shen Qingqiu, and so he didn't notice, that a string of light had formed and attached the golden core of Liu Qingge to him.
-
Slowly Shen Qingqiu opened his eyes. He didn't know when it happened, but now he sat on the ground, an arm around the other Peak Lord who was leaning peacefully against his shoulder while sleeping, his breathing steady, his expression relaxed. For the first time he was able to watch the man who was known as 'War God' of Bai Zhan Peak from such a close distance. And he had to admit, this man was someone even he as a straight man would call 'beautiful'. His features were handsome but still manly, although his face almost was too much that of a 'pretty prince'. Well, almost.
And his body betrayed this face. Through the thin fabric and the holes in the clothes, Shen Qingqiu was able to see and feel the well-trained muscles on the shoulders and abdomen, making him sigh in admiration. This body of Shen Qingiqu he now inhabited was well-trained, too, but Liu Qingge's was on an entirely different level!
Shen Qingqiu was staring at the other one for a while. Suddenly he realized what he was doing, and his face turned beet red. “...!” How shameless! Utterly shameless! What did he want to achieve with this?! More so, he needed to get out of the spirit caves before the other one woke up! There was no way he could look him in the eyes right now!
Thankfully, the other one was still sleeping, and so he didn't notice that he was laid down on the ground carefully and wrapped inot a blanket Shen Qingqiu had brought with him. Only then did Shen Qingqiu leave, and the more distance he brought between himself and the other Peak Lord, the more it seemed like he was fleeing the scene. Different feelings were flooding his heart, confusion, pride, uncertainty, euphoria, guilt. He couldn't sort out where they all were coming from, and so he concentrated on the one thing he saw right before his eyes:
The exit.
When he finally had left the spirit caves, Shen Qingqiu inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with clean and fresh air. It helped him calming down and clearing his mind from all that had happened. And while he was going back to his bamboo hut, he summed up what he had experienced.
Liu Qingge was alive. He had saved him. He had changed the plot of the story. Did he fill up a plot hole with this? And: did he change the relationship between his character and Liu Qingge with this?
Absentmindedly he heard the voice of the system congratulating him and granting him some B points while he was thinking about how he should face the other Peak Lord in the future, about the hope to lessen the hatred the other one was feeling towards him, and about a slightly bittersweet feeling of warmth in his heart.