Chapter Text
It was a simple mission on the surface—a completely normal trip where they gathered a few important ingredients while cleaning up a few troublesome beasts. It wasn't normally just him and Yue Qingyuan, but he wouldn't complain about getting to hang out with one of his favorite characters from the trash fire gay harem novel he found himself in.
He couldn't help thinking over the differences from the man on the digital pages he had once read as he dealt with the knowledge he might not have been as straight as he had thought. Being here had only proven that he definitely wasn't straight—a straight man wouldn't be happily ogling the shirtless, sweaty form of the honorable rebellion leader. He wasn't sure why the man had shucked off both his outer robes and the upper portion of his inner robes, given his cultivation level, but he wasn't going to complain about the view. He couldn't help it, let a man enjoy the positive changes he had worked so hard for!
The man chopping wood to cook tonight's dinner looked nothing like the broken, hurt man struggling to save his loved ones in the novel. The original goods had stolen so much from him, warping his cultivation and body to suit his own desires. This Yue Qingyuan still had the beard he grew to make himself look older and more respectable, still had the firm muscle under a plush layer of fat covered in his naturally heavy body hair, could still draw his sword without draining his life away. It was so nice to compare this healthy, vibrant, powerful man with the tragic man he had rooted for through endless chapters of the most smutty, perverted whump-fest he had read and reread until he could practically recite every nonsensical plot point by rote.
He had nearly worked himself into a bad mood when Yue Qingyuan put the axe down, calling out to him to help him put away the pile he had chopped into the small shed not far from the small house they used whenever they had to journey so far west from his modest estate. He was grateful for the distraction, quickly stacking the wood away to banish his own horny thoughts away. Shen Yuan refused to be like the original goods, lusting over these men far too good for the scum villain they had been forced to marry. So far, he had managed to dodge both the many times the villainous husband had bedded his reluctant spouses and the many papapa plots lurking around every corner.
Which is why he didn't initially panic when Yue Qingyuan accidentally doused himself in pollen from one of the unknown plants they had picked up on the journey. His fake husband had been the one to spot it while they were tracking down an unusually large and violent version of the spike-feathered-heron-bear. Shen Yuan didn't recognize it, so they had carefully gathered the plants, tucking the package into the leader's sleeve as the beast they were tracking had attacked them from behind. Shen Yuan had certainly forgotten the flower as soon as they had to fight, and it seemed to be true for Yue Qingyuan as he accidentally dropped the bundle on his face as he tried to put his outer robe back on.
He had hoped it was a normal plant, but as this world was a sorry excuse for porn, it quickly proved that the plant was yet another papapa pusher disguised as a harmless piece of flora. He had to help the man inside, setting him on the bed while he pulled out the best thing he had done since he transmigrated: his special emergency kit designed to counter every stupid plot the idiot author had shoved into his novel. He triumphantly showed it to the suffering man, certain he could fix this quickly without either of them needing to handle this the intended way.
Shen Yuan could admit defeat, he wasn't a very proud man.
It was a bit harder to do that given his current situation. Every single one of his foolproof counters had failed in the face of this stupid, purple-striped flower. Yue Qingyuan had slowly slipped further into the grip of the plant, becoming more and more desperate for his touch. He had to admit defeat when it became clear that this was one of the ones that had more severe effects than just being a bit aroused for a day. As much as he hated digging his grave, letting this man die was far worse—figuring he could even bear to let this character he loved so much die.
He had tried to make this as painless as possible, but his every attempt had failed. Letting the man take care of himself? No, that did worse than nothing? A nice hand job? Nope, and all that got him was Yue Qingyuan begging for something to fill him.
Fingering had similarly not done much, beside land him in his current situation: naked with a very aroused future sect leader grinding against him.
It was unscientific, that Yue Qingyuan still had the presence of mind to ride him in his state. Weren't most of these stupid excuses for another papapa plot supposed to make the victim into a poor, passive, weak, whimpering mess?
His fake husband looking anything but weak as he pushed Shen Yuan to the bed, swung a thickly muscled thigh over him to straddle his lap. He wasn't sure where to look, where to put his hands. His eyes skated away from that large chest, thick waist. Hands fluttering, touching briefly down on his thighs, powerful hips, barely taking in the texture of skin and hair before jumping away. He hasn't even processed that Yue Qingyuan's hands were busy, one large hand wrapping around his pillar, guiding it to the slick hole he had just been finger-deep in.
Not before he felt the heat around the tip, the pressure he felt as slick muscle clamped down before relaxing with a gasp from the man above him, the flex of his thighs as he lowered down, rocking down to take more and more. Shen Yuan didn't consciously choose to wrap his hands around his hips, didn't choose to dig his fingers into the plush flesh of his ass, but he couldn't help it—too overwhelmed by the feeling of another body joined with his for the first time.
The breathy, wordless gasps snapped his attention up, back to Yue Qingyuan's face. His gaze fixed on the bright red welling up, staining his teeth, the tension in his closed eyes and pinched brows. He reached up, cupping his face and rubbing his thumb over the neatly groomed beard. "Qingyuan, if it hurts we can try something else."
Those warm brown eyes snapped open, expressions fleeting over his face too fast for Shen Yuan's scattered mind to process. Instead of lifting off, he dropped down fast, ass meeting his thighs and grinding down. He gasped out, "No, no, I want this, want you."
He couldn't argue with that—not that he had the presence of mind to keep up his protests when the man started riding him with a single-minded focus. Not with those gasps shooting sparks down his spine and straight to his cock. He couldn't pick a spot to watch as the pleasure singing in his veins grew. Sometimes his eyes caught on the growing pleasure on Yue Qingyuan's face, sometimes on his heaving chest, sometimes where their bodies joined.
His fake husband's heavy, woefully neglected cock drew his attention the most. Long, thick, smearing precum onto Shen Yuan's stomach every time their hips met with a slap. It was a shame it wasn't being used; it was too pretty to just ignore. It wasn't weird to help him out, right? Given what they were doing? Oh, they were having sex and he was so doomed, but he couldn't bring himself to regret signing his death warrant with such a gorgeous man riding him like his own private toy. He wasn't entirely sure what made for a good hand job, but he tried his best to mimic what worked on himself.
Yue Qingyuan's reaction sent a further bolt of heat through him, making him buck upwards as best he could while pinned under the taller man. The bitten off moans—calling him husband while begging for more so sweetly—and heavy bounces were pushing him towards his own peak shamefully quickly. He had to hold back, he refused to leave the poor man hanging like the original goods did so often in the novel. He put every bit of mental focus he had into giving the best hand job that a former? virgin could.
Either he was better than he thought—or Yue Qingyuan had just been that close—because it wasn't long before the other man was painting his skin with his spend, curling around him as his body and voice shuddered around him. Whether it was the feeling of that wet heat clenching almost painfully around his poor pillar, that wrecked voice, or just Shen Yuan's own weakness didn't matter. He found himself desperately chasing the waves of his own pleasure before it crested and dragged him underneath.
It felt like he was floating forever, warm and content with the comforting weight of another body on his own. He would have been happy to stay like that for longer, but the System's insistent pinging needed at least some focus to silence and dismiss without bothering to check whatever penalty he clearly got for following his role too closely. He had to keep telling himself that he had to do this, had to help poor Qingyuan handle all the stupid plot pushers this terrible porn world throw at him. He couldn't get in trouble just for helping out a bro, right?
A large hand stroked down his chest, "Husband? Are you awake?" He couldn't muster more than a grunt in response, opening his eyes a bit to see Yue Qingyuan's flushed face. "Husband, this one thinks this may need more than one round. Please, once more?"
Well, he's already committed, so he may as well help out just one more time. Just once more before he goes back to his celibate life.
It ended up being more than once. More than twice. The poison had been stubborn; he had to keep going! Even if that resulted in them staying in that cabin for practically the rest of their scheduled time away, in bed—or on the table, the floor, the wall, outside—aside from a few meal and rest breaks.
He had really meant to do the right thing, refuse to take advantage of his poor husbands who had been forced to marry him.
That had been the plan, but each of them had insisted that they deserved to have their marriages consummated if their leader had. It had to be some type of cultural thing he just didn't get—even if the hack author himself had also joined in, despite being a fellow bro from the same hometown. Clearly he had just been here too long, or knew something Shen Yuan didn't.
His only comfort was that he wasn't forcing anyone. Every single one had come to him, so maybe he was better? He could get the story back on track, once they all worked out whatever weird energy they had over the past four months.
Or, he would have, but he had noticed that Yue Qingyuan had been sick. Cultivators didn't get sick easily, but the poor man was tired, nauseous, sore. It had seemed to get a bit better over time, but he could see and feel that something had changed. He had let this go on, trusting that his fake husband would know if this was a real issue and seek out their resident doctor.
Until he remembered that Yue Qingyuan had hidden everything the original goods did to him. Until he couldn't hide it anymore.
Shen Yuan had immediately gone to Mu Qingfang himself, ratting the leader out without a second thought. He found himself waiting outside the rooms the healer had taken for his private office and exam rooms, worrying his fan as he went over the plot in his head. His plan had always relied on the idea that papapa didn't hurt cultivation on its own; you had to work to make it cause all the horrible effects from the book.
What if he was wrong? The hack author had insisted the plan would work, but he had forgotten so much. Could he really be trusted with something as precious as the lives of these wonderful men? He still hadn't forgiven the man for killing off Liu Qingge the way he had.
His attempts to plan around whatever trouble he had caused were interrupted when Mu Qingfang opened the door, gesturing for him to join the two in the exam room. He looked over at Yue Qingyuan, unable to help the spike of worry as he saw the nervous smile sent his way. "Did Mu Qingfang figure out what was wrong?"
Yue Qingyuan's smile brightened slightly, reaching out to hold his hand and gesturing for the doctor to explain. He turned reluctantly to the man, dreading the words that would come out of his mouth. "Husband, you remember the abundant-fruitful-passions-lily from a few months ago?" At his nod, Mu Qingfang continued, "Well, it has another property. This one had assumed the effect hadn't activated, but it appears that it indeed worked."
The jolt of terror nearly sent him to his knees. This was one of the many cut plots from the novel. Airplane had dismissed it simply, stating he cut so many potential plants for any number of reasons. He remembered it was yet another papapa pusher, but that was it. He had talked about a few he made solely for whump, even a few that could and did kill these men in the drafts he wrote to vent. He cut in before Mu Qingfang could continue, demanding, "Well, can you fix it? Get rid of the effect?" He was working himself up, determined to fix whatever mess he had caused.
"No! Husband, this one will not 'get rid' of our child," Yue Qingyuan stated, tone as firm and unyielding as Xuan Su. He gaped at the man beside him, going along as he pulled Shen Yuan to face him fully. "This one is surprised, but it is a pleasant one. Do not ask me to harm our child, please."
This had to be a joke, right? He looked over at Mu Qingfang, giving him him that reassuring smile he only used on his patients. "This Mu would have explained if you let him, it is not a joke." Oh, he said that out loud. Oops. "The yellow-striped-abundant-fruitful-passions-lily normally only has an aphrodisiac effect, but ones with purple like the one you used have another effect. They can allow one to carry a child, regardless of if their body can usually support a pregnancy. The effect doesn't always work, but in this case it did. This Mu already discussed the diagnosis with Yue-shixiong, and he has decided that he wants to carry to term."
At the mention of him, Yue Qingyuan squeezed his hand to draw his attention back to him. "Yes, this husband wants to bring our child into the world." He opened his mouth to point out the many, many issues with this, but he was interrupted, "Please, this would solve many issues. If you are to secure the human throne, you will need an heir. Even if I was not excited by the prospect of having a child with you, I would want to do this to help ensure our plan's success."
He wanted to complain, but his logic was too sound. Yue Qingyuan may not have been the strategist, but he knew the political scene better than anyone else—if he said it would work, it would solely because that was his role in the story. Besides, it was his body after all. Would Shen Yuan be any different than the original goods if he tried to force Yue Qingyuan to obey the villain's wishes about his own body? He wasn't stupid enough to dig that particular grave.
"I won't, this is ultimately up to you. I'll do my best to support you." It was worth committing himself to fatherhood, solely for the naked joy on Yue Qingyuan's face as he pulled him into a hug, Mu Qingfang joining them in their small celebration. This hadn't happened in the novel, but he was supposed to fix the story, so maybe this would work?
Yue Qingyuan had barely stepped into the rooms of the harem before Shen Qingqiu dragged him inside by his lapels, demanding, "Well? How did he take it?" The dopey smile on his face would have been answer enough for anyone else, but Shen Qingqiu rounded on Mu Qingfang as he slid the door shut.
"Our husband was a bit shocked, but he accepted quickly when Yue-shixiong insisted that he wanted the pregnancy." The words broke the tension in the room, relief as palpable as the incense floating through the air.
"So I can stay?" Liu Qingge asked from his seat, looking up from polishing Cheng Luan.
Shen Qingqiu rapped at his head with his folded fan, barely reacting when the light blow was diverted, "You wouldn't have had to stay away if you could keep a secret."
Liu Qingge frowned, "I don't like lying to Shen Yuan."
Spotting the fight brewing, Yue Qingyuan stepped in before the two could decide whether this battle would be fought on the training grounds or in bed. "None of us do, but we needed to do this. Xiao-Jiu's plan worked, and now our husband is finally taking our marriage seriously." He rested one hand over the still invisible bump he could feel low on his stomach, a thread of qi proving that there was a healthy child growing there. "And, we have a child to welcome as a very happy bonus."