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Yue Qi knew the moment that he, Shen Jiu, and Liu Mingyu were assigned a mission that things would no doubt go horribly wrong.
Honestly, it hadn’t actually ended up going that badly. The train ride was relatively peaceful. Shen Jiu looked out the window, away from Yue Qi, who stood and held on to one of the handles that dangled from the ceiling, standing in front of where Shen Jiu sat. Liu Mingyu, similarly, stood to his left, his usual stoic expression on his face as he stared at the wall.
“Have you been promoted to Semi Grade 1?” Yue Qi posed his sixteenth question in the past hour to Shen Jiu. When he received no response again, he continued: “If not, that’s fine, I can get recommendations from some people that I’ve met on missions- ah, they may want to meet you in person before-”
Shen Jiu cut him off, still not taking his eyes off the scenery flitting past the window. “There’s no need.”
Liu Mingyu revealed that he had been eavesdropping on their conversations when he spun around with an offended expression on his face. “Come on, are you afraid that their assessment of you will turn out to be lacking?”
Yue Qi winced when Shen Jiu finally turned back from the window, a stormy expression on his face. “I’m surprised that you passed your own, brute. Perhaps this is a sign that they should start incorporating literacy tests into their tests.”
Liu Mingyu scoffed. “I’m perfectly literate.” The handle he was holding onto made a strange crunching noise between his grip, the stark veins of his hands standing out as he grew incensed.
Shen Jiu merely raised an eyebrow, as if disbelieving. Yue Qi sent him a pleading look, hoping to dissuade him from actually getting into a fight with Liu Mingyu on public grounds- something he already knew the two of them were perfectly capable of doing, from experience. Shen Jiu huffed but obeyed, eyeing the cord connecting Liu Mingyu’s handle to the ceiling with distaste as it stretched taut.
After a moment, Yue Qi spoke up again. “It would be no trouble at all for me to call someone over to examine your capabilities.” Even as the words came out, he reconsidered whether upgrading Shen Jiu from a Grade 2 Sorcerer was a good idea, knowing that his once friend wanted it badly, but also that it would put him in much greater danger.
“I’ve already been assessed, while I was returning from the grounds, I encountered a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit and dispatched it.”
Yue Qi blinked, and then hurriedly plastered a smile to his face. “Congratulations!”
Shen Jiu rolled his eyes and turned back to the window outside. Yue Qi wasn’t sure if he imagined the light pink sheen dusting his cheeks.
-
The mission itself was rather straightforward- there was a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit or two that had been causing trouble, and Yue Qi now understood why Shen Jiu had been assigned the mission. Although his recent promotion should have put Yue Qi’s mind at ease with the assurance that Shen Jiu was strong, it really didn’t stop the anxiety from building up.
When the three of them entered the abandoned convenience store that they had been called to, what immediately set Yue Qi on edge was the darkness inside the building. Just outside the window, when he turned around, he could see the sun hanging large and bright in the sky. However, not a single sunbeam made it through the nearly wall-length windows of the store.
Fortunately, nothing of importance happened in the first few minutes. A handful of cursed spirits immediately leapt out from the shadows at Shen Jiu, but they were put down with only a single flare of Liu Mingyu's white-hot cursed energy. The faint smell of ash lingered in the air. Yue Qi winced as Shen Jiu covered his nose with his hand.
"If you light the building on fire again, you goddamned brute-"
"What'll you do? Fight me?"
"Hah, I'm half a grade above you now. Why don't you listen to your seniors, didi?"
Yue Qi frowned. "Shen Jiu-" Don't call him didi.
Shen Jiu whirled around. "Does Senior Yue have anything to add?"
Pausing, meeting Shen Jiu's deep, phoenix eyes, Yue Qi caught a flash of fear within them. For a moment, he couldn't help but think that they glowed green — but no, they only did that under the light, and it was only just bright enough in the room to even see him at all.
Yue Qi had stayed silent, struck dumb, for too long. "N-no."
"Senior Yue," Liu Mingyu barked. "You can't possibly-"
"Just," Yue Qi rolled the words over on his tongue. "Try not to blow up the building, okay?"
Liu Mingyu groaned like Yue Qi's request was the most unreasonable thing he had ever heard, but he nodded. He turned, eyes surely scanning their surroundings again.
"Hah, the only time I've ever seen you so disappointed before was when you heard that those guys in Shinjuku took down that curse king." Shen Jiu hardly seemed worried about their current situation, which was rather uncharacteristic of him. He flipped his hair over his shoulder, the long black somehow appearing darker than the shadows in the room.
Yue Qi blinked as something seemed to swim in his vision. As he blinked again, he realized that he was staring far too intently at Shen Jiu's hair and hurriedly tore his gaze away.
Liu Qingge glared at Shen Jiu. "Shut up!" Shen Jiu rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to say something.
Yue Qi decided that it was time to interrupt. "Let's get a move on, shall we?"
Further in, there were a lot more broken objects. Two vending machines lay toppled on the floor. Shen Jiu knelt down and reached through the shattered glass to withdraw a bright blue drink. Probably Gatorade. Shen Jiu didn't even like energy drinks.
It was still dark. Now, Yue Qi could only make out his two companion's silhouettes and the black of the rest of the room. Shen Jiu tensed beside him. The floorboards creaked — the building must be a repurposed older one.
If Yue Qi were a normal curse user of his caliber, then he probably would've been able to sense what happened next before it actually did. However, he wasn't one, and his blood test had just recently come back with connection to the Zen'in bloodline-
Well, needless to say, Yue Qi was just a second too late to catch the first curse as it sprang out from the shadows. At first, he wasn't too worried, but after it bypassed Liu Mingyu completely and snapped its toothy maw at Shen Jiu's arm, all of Yue Qi's senses sent him straight into action.
His sword slashed through the curse like a knife through butter. The thing's blood splattered through the air as it was bisected neatly in half. Shen Jiu ended up with his clothes drenched with carmine, eyes wide and surprised.
A burst of flame erupted from Liu Mingyu's fingertips, lighting up the room. In the next second, the rest of the horde hiding in the shadows launched themselves at the three of them.
Except, that wasn't the case. Yue Qi watched as, again, the group moved right past Liu Mingyu and aimed for Shen Jiu instead.
After that, it was an easy fight. Aside from the initial scare, nothing even remotely dangerous ended up happening. The three of them neatly put down the curses.
"No Grade 1?" Liu Mingyu asked, frowning. Naturally, he'd wanted to catch up with Shen Jiu due to his promotion to a Grade 1 sorcerer. Yue Qi scanned the walls, carefully watching for where the cursed spirit could be hiding. Nothing.
"Could be a false report," Shen Jiu said.
"That can't be," Yue Qi furrowed his brows. "The reports said that a cursed spirit came in one night, lured by…"
Wu Yanzi, former Grade 1 sorcerer turned defect from jujutsu society. Also, who Shen Jiu had spent a year learning from. Was there no curse, then? Why hadn't Wu Yanzi erased his involvement, in that case..?
Shen Jiu lazily turned to Yue Qi. Unlike Liu Mingyu and Yue Qi himself, Shen Jiu seemed relaxed, muscles no longer tense despite the fight moments prior. Yue Qi almost wanted to scold him — who knew what dangers still remained in the building.
"The reports also said that no activity was detected from the store after it was sealed in. No way a Grade 1 cursed spirit managed to make it out of the barrier without someone noticing."
"What happened to it, then?" Liu Mingyu, for all that he looked lost in when they were taught theory, was quite capable of comprehending such real-world tasks. If that were the case especially so when a fight was involved, well…
"It could've naturally dissipated," Shen Jiu said. "Whatever feeling fueled it might have been powerful but short-lived. Look, we can comb through the building again just to make sure."
Liu Mingyu agreed with a short nod, stepping past Yue Qi and Shen Jiu to look through the parts of the store they'd come through. Yue Qi doubted that he'd find much; the place was tiny, which made sense for how out-of-the-way it was. The three of them would probably have to stop by somewhere else lest they get odd looks for taking a five hour long train ride just to stop by a roadside convenience store. Though, Yue Qi doubted anyone was looking too closely here in the country.
"Should we go with Junior Liu?" Yue Qi asked. "If there's really a Grade 1-"
"There isn't one," Shen Jiu assured. Before Yue Qi could ask him why he was so certain, he continued. "Besides, if something of that caliber jumps out at him, maybe he can get that promotion he's been yearning for."
Yue Qi smiled helplessly at Shen Jiu's dry — he wasn't even sure if he could describe it as a joke — tone. "Still, we should be leaving soon."
Shrugging, Shen Jiu turned and stepped away, back into the original room they had first seen when they'd entered. Where had the energy drink he'd picked up gone? He must've put it down somewhere when the three of them had been busy fighting.
There was far more light coming in front the windows now. The dusty floor glowed with squares of brightness. Illuminated, Shen Jiu's face looked paler than it should've. Yue Qi barely managed to refrain from asking if he was alright, knowing that it would only get him a cold rebuke. Briefly, he wondered if he should ask about Wu Yanzi.
No, Shen Jiu didn't like to talk about the past. Whatever it was, he'd left it far behind by now. Yue Qi shouldn't ruin whatever little he had now.
"Done stomping around, brute?" Shen Jiu asked, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the light. Whatever Liu Mingyu shouted in reply was lost to Yue Qi as he realized something he really should have sooner.
Shen Jiu's arm — the same one that the curse had sunken its jagged teeth into — was unharmed, perfect. The skin was unbroken, there was not even a trace of blood. He hadn't noticed in the dark, and then had temporarily forgotten when not a sign of the wound had remained.
Yue Qi furrowed his brows. He didn't see any way that Shen Jiu's cursed technique could be used for healing.
"Senior Yue, you may want to clean out your ears."
Yue Qi blinked. "Ah, sorry. What did you say, Junior Shen?"
"We're going to visit one of this province's largest cities," Shen Jiu said. He tapped his fingers on his arm as if impatient. "We can look up where to go from there."
Liu Mingyu glared at him. "We're not tourists! Let's just get back on the train."
Shen Jiu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you can if you want to. Good luck doing that without your ticket." With a mocking flourish, he held up three train tickets; gray, stamped with tiny characters.
"You..!" Liu Mingyu made a lunge for them. Shen Jiu took a few steps back and darted out of Liu Mingyu's reach. "You lazy..!"
Yue Qi coughed. "Junior Shen is right. It's probably best for us to stay at least a few days after coming all the way out here."
Liu Mingyu spun around. Surely, an accusation of favoritism or bias was on the tip of his tongue. He held it back, remarkably, though his clenched teeth and sour expression gave away his feelings on the matter. Yue Qi smiled amicably, trying to project his usual mediator's look.
Shen Jiu reached forward and pinched Liu Mingyu's cheek, tugging on it with some force. "Is Yu-Yu all calm now? Is he ready to move on?"
"Shen Jiu!" Liu Mingyu flushed bright red, slapping Shen Jiu's hand away and backing off. He looked horrified, eyes wide and shocked. Shen Jiu, on the other hand, looked smug, like that time he'd stolen that basket of fruits from an absentminded vendor's stall.
Back then, Yue Qi would've put on his best disappointed expression and gone, "Xiao Jiu…" Now, it's strangely nostalgic to see such behavior.
Shen Jiu glanced at the door, running a hand through his hair. He either didn't notice or ignored the look Liu Mingyu sent at his back. Regardless, it was time to leave.
As he stepped out of the darkened store back outside, Yue Qi decided that yes, the mission hadn't gone so badly after all.
-
The young master is in a horrible mood. Shen Jiu is pretty sure it's because Qiu Haitang decided to sneak out again last night. The young mistress has been getting more rebellious lately, as most teens tended to get.
Tied up in A'Luo's office, Shen Jiu wants now more than ever before to reach up and tear that expression right off the haughty young master's face. The smirk he wears is arrogant, stretching his already detestable — at least to Shen Jiu — features into something grotesque.
At least he's not in a good mood. Shen Jiu doesn't like what kind of punishments he comes up when he's happy.
Drip, drip. Blood falls from his head onto the floor. Qiu Jianluo says something, laughing. It feels too far away, like he's separated from him by some invisible barrier. Despite this, the feel of the young master's whip against his back is still white-hot, still too painful.
If only there was a convenient knife or sword or something hung up on the wall. If there was, Shen Jiu would- he'd-
He'd wipe that expression off Qiu Jianluo's face. He'd swing and slice, twist the blade in until those gleeful eyes turned dull. There is nothing he wants more than to burn this wretched manor to the ground, stand back and watch as the walls collapsed, as the floor gave in, as Qiu Jianluo's flesh melted.
He's going to kill Qiu Jianluo. It'll be slow and painful. He'll get out. Yue Qi will come. Yue Qi will save him.
Shen Jiu feels too many layers of his flesh split, the forceful lashes digging deeper, deeper-
The last thing he remembers is his world going dark. His last thought is that if he could just see Yue Qi one last time…
-
Curses are born out of negative emotions and human fears. Since cursed energy comes from such things, it can be assumed that curses have always existed alongside humanity.