#By the time Binghe finds him Shen Yuan is ready to go damn it he can't stand being in this world where everyone is WRONG anymore | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vodkassassin · 3 years

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world state: refresh, chapter 1

Summary: Something goes wrong with the plant body contingency plan, and Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua both end up perishing. However, it appears that the System isn’t finished with them, yet. And with their new promotions, this life they find themselves in seems more like a well-deserved vacation. / Back in their previous world, the people who knew them are still in mourning. And some of them are not willing to let them go.

—

“Dude! I thought the plan was to not die!”

“I —!”

“All that work for nothing! And you didn’t just fuck up, you had to drag me down with you? I thought we were bros, man. I thought we were cool!”

Shen Yuan shrinks back, watching him with wide eyes. “Why are you yelling at me?”

“Am I yelling?” Shang Qinghua crosses his arms and turns away. “I am just so sick of dying, bro! I thought we had a contingency, so I wasn’t worried, but now! What the fuck was that?”

“I couldn’t just,” Shen Yuan reaches up and pulls at his hair in aggravation. “I couldn’t just let that happen to Binghe!”

It’s kind of weird seeing him with such a slight build and shorter hair and big eyes a bright blue, when Shang Qinghua has long since become used to the broader shoulders and taller build and long, pin-straight hair of Shen Qingqiu. Shen Yuan’s got some curl to his hair. His eyelashes go on for days.

This must be how his bro looked like back in the real world. Or, their first world. After all this, there’s no way in hell that Shang Qinghua can call the world they’d just left fake or pretend.

He wishes he could.

Shang Qinghua makes a face and squints at his friend. Should he even call him that? After all, he… “You literally committed suicide. And you took me with you. Without asking! Bro, we’re both dead!”

“It’s not my fault that the plant bodies didn’t work!” Shen Yuan wails, and Shang Qinghua jerks back, stunned. Well, it seems that the cool and collected poker face of Shen Qingqiu had been left behind with the body itself. “You told me it was ready! And I didn’t ask you to stand so close to me when I detonated!”

“How was I suppose to know that’s what you were going to do?!” Shang Qinghua shrieks. He points an accusing finger at the other man. “We had a plan, you jerk! I kinda expected that we’d, oh I don’t know, go by it? Just a little bit? Play our parts? You changed the script on me without even giving me a cue!”

“Stop talking about it like it’s a stupid movie!” Shen Yuan says, and oh man his eyes are round and tearful. That’s not fair. “Binghe was going nuclear on us, Airplane! What was I suppose to do, let him destroy the world? Because you and I both know that’s what was about to happen!”

Shang Qinghua flinches back. He ducks his head and hunches his shoulder, looking away with a glare.

Shen Yuan sighs. He clears his throat, and says, “... I’m sorry I took you with me. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I tried to wait until you were out of range, but….”

Shang Qinghua sniffs.

“The only person capable of surviving a blast like that would be the protagonist.” He sullenly admits.

The both of them are silent at that. Shang Qinghua glares down at the vast expanse of blackness that surrounds them, leaving nothing to be seen but each other, somehow untouched by the dark. It almost seems like it might be a dream, but Shang Qinghua already knows what death feels like, and that had been it.

Can he even call himself Shang Qinghua anymore, if he’d left the body of that identity behind?

“I hope it was enough to fix Xin Mo’s influence on him,” Shen Yuan murmurs worriedly. “We’re not around anymore to mitigate the damage or direct the plot. What’s going to happen now? What if our absence means that the canon plot takes over again? Was it all for nothing?”

Shang Qinghua — Airplane drops his shoulders, rubbing his hands over his face tiredly. He feels way too old for this. Why can’t death be the final rest it was suppose to be? Why does this keep happening?

“Where even are we?” He asks.

There’s a familiar ding that echoes endlessly in the void around them. Airplane shares a glance with Shen Yuan, both their expressions bearing the same look of dread and exasperation.

“Why?” Shen Yuan bemoans.

“We’re not done?” Shang Qinghua demands, feeling suddenly furious as a window, slightly too light against the inky blackness, pops up before them. “Are you kidding me?”

He turns away from the blinding brightness and covers his face, muttering furiously under his hitching breath. It’s not fair! What are they, slaves to the System? Airplane is so tired.

“What,” he hears Shen Yuan breathe out beside him.

There’s a tug on his sleeve — they’re both wearing the same robes they died in, resized to fit their new (or rather, their old) bodies but just as dirty — and he turns to glance at his friend, only to find Shen Yuan gaping at the System window in astonishment.

“Airplane,” his friend insists, eyes wide. “Airplane, read it.”

With a put upon sigh, Airplane turns back toward the window and squints at it.

Congratulations, Host 74 and Host 81! Due to your exemplary efforts to rewrite the plot of World-0690, both of you have been promoted!

“What,” Airplane gapes. “A promotion? What the fuck does that mean?”

“Keep reading,” Shen Yuan urges him, eyes still round in shock.

In compensation for your hard work and the troubles faced in World-0690, Hosts have been given the choice of their next assignments!

“I don’t want to,” Airplane whimpers. He turns away from the half-read window and throws himself at his friend.

Shen Yuan lets out a sound of surprise as he catches him, and a hand automatically goes up to pet at Airplane’s head as he buries his face into Shen Yuan’s neck.

“I — Airplane? What’s — ?”

“I don’t want to do it again,” he says, eyes stinging. Fuck, he’s crying. He squeezes his eyes shut and clings to his friend. “I don’t want to. I’m done. I don’t want to anymore. Shen Yuan, I don’t want to!”

“Shit,” his friend mutters. The hand in his hair is comforting, stroking back and forth in a heavy pet.

Airplane sucks in a deep breath, which is a mistake, because it immediately bursts back out of him in a jarring sob.

He’s just so, so done. He doesn’t want to! He isn’t sure what he does want, just that he doesn’t want this! Please, please don’t make him! Not again! Airplane is done!

Shen Yuan speaks again, louder this time. “Airplane, listen. It’ll be different this time, okay? It’s giving us a choice!”

“I don’t want to,” Airplane cries.

“Um… How about I read us the, uh… the options. Okay?”

He sniffles. It’s not like there’s a decline button, he checked before he even started reading the damn window. This isn’t fair. This is so goddamn unfair.

Shakily, he nods his head against Shen Yuan chest. “... Okay.”

“Alright. So, um… option one is to be reborn with a system in a new world that requires a rewrite. It’ll be like how we ended up in PIDW, but we’ll have to read the plot beforehand so we know what we’re going into.”

“No,” Airplane jerks back, glaring up at his friend fiercely from beneath his damp lashes. “I will not be born again. I’m not growing up for another time. My childhoods in both worlds were shitty, I’m not letting myself be a child again, Shen Yuan!”

Shen Yuan gives him a weak smile. “Third time’s the charm?”

Airplane just continues to glare at him. The other man drops the smile and sighs.

“Yeah, okay, it’s a definite no to option one. I don’t wanna go through infancy or, hell, puberty again, either. So, option two…”

Airplane is quiet as his friend gazes up at the window and rereads their options. He refuses to turn around and look at it. He doesn’t want to see it. He’s so sick of the fucking System.

[Host….]

Fuck.

Shut up.

[This system apologizes—]

Shut up, shut up, shut up! Aren’t we done with you? Haven’t I finished what you wanted? Our mission is over, right? I don’t want to talk to you! Leave me alone!

[....]

“Okay, option two,” Shen Yuan says, eyes fixed on the window. Airplane lets his forehead drop to rest against his friend’s shoulder. “We can transmigrate into already written lives, fully grown bodies. Our task in that case would be to help stop the end of the world.”

“Fuck that,” Airplane and Shen Yuan both scoff at the same time.

Airplane draws back from his friend’s embrace to share a grin with him.

“I’m sick of responsibilities. How many options are there?”

Shen Yuan glances back up to scan the window. “There’s a few pages worth… Hey, System?”

There’s a ding. Airplane directs his gaze determinedly on his friend’s face and doesn’t look behind him.

“Can you filter the options?” Another ding. “Okay, filter out all options that require us to play a prewritten character or save a world.”

Ding! Airplane watches avidly as Shen Yuan’s expression smooths out into something pleased. The other man glances back down at him, and then blinks when he realizes that Airplane has been staring at him the entire time. He coughs, and pink flushes over his cheeks.

Airplane feels a smirk crawl onto his face. “Aw, bro. You know, you’re pretty cute like this. Is this how you looked like back — uh, in our first lives?”

Shen Yuan’s blush deepens. “I — uh… yeah, I think so? I don’t have a mirror, so I can’t be one-hundred percent sure…”

Then, the other man smirks back at him, a teasing light entering his bright eyes. “You’re not too shabby yourself, bro. Actually, you’re freaking adorable. If I knew this was what Airplane Shooting Toward the Sky looked like, I’d have never even tried taking your papapa scenes seriously.”

“You never took them seriously anyway,” Airplane scoffs, fighting off his own blush. He stares into the inky blackness of the void instead. “Besides, no one should have taken them seriously.”

“Eh? Why?”

The smirk crawls back over Airplane’s face, and he glances up at Shen Yuan from beneath his eyelashes. “I’m ace.”

Shen Yuan pauses. He stares down at him, speechless for a few long moments. Airplane lifts one hand to hide how his smirk has transformed into a grin. His shoulders shake with amusement.

Finally, Shen Yuan’s face breaks into incredulousness.

“You —? Are you serious?” The man wheezes. He reaches out and slaps a hand against Airplane’s shoulder, and then does it a few more times. “Are you fucking serious? A joke! The entire thing was a joke this whole time? Airplane, I’m gonna fucking kill you, oh my god!”

Despite his words, the slaps are gentle. Shen Yuan still has one arm wrapped around him in a hug.

Airplane bursts into laughter.

“I mean,” he giggles. “The story itself wasn’t a joke? But the reader count skyrocketed after the first smut scene, and the subscriptions mirrored that. I was just a starving college student, bro. I hadn’t eaten in three days, I needed some cash.”

Shen Yuan’s hits cease, and a serious expression overcomes his outrage.

“Was it really that bad?” He quietly asks.

Airplane bites his lip and looks away. “It’s been worse than that, but… Yeah. It’s what helped me make the decision to lead PIDW into the stallion novel genre. I kept the actual story to myself and just focused on writing what the subscribers demanded. It was a huge blow to my integrity as an author, and there were a lot of times that I hated myself for it, but I was too hungry to care most of the time.”

“Shit,” Shen Yuan presses a hand over his mouth. Airplane looks away entirely before he can see the pity that’s likely to be in his friend’s expression. “That’s shitty, man. I’m sorry.”

“Whatever,” he shrugs. “After being born into it, though, there’s a lot of times I wish I’d just gone with my original draft. Starving would have been better than… a lot of what happened, back there as Shang Qinghua.”

Shen Yuan’s arm tightens around him. His hand finds its way back into Airplane’s hair.

“Hey,” he says, quietly. “What’s your name?”

Airplane snorts. “Shang Lei.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

He buries his face into Shen Yuan’s chest and laughs. “No, that’s my name.”

“Oh my god, are you serious?”

He smacks Shen Yuan in the arm, grinning. “Yes, I’m serious.”

“You hack writer. You’re so original, I’m in awe.”

Airplane rolls his eyes and snuggles into his friend’s hug. “I’d offer to let you read the original PIDW, but I don’t have it with me, and I think it would hit differently now that we both uh, actually know most of the characters personally.”

Shen Yuan makes a face. “Man. I’d totally read it, too, if it wasn’t for that. And besides, the way you wrote Binghe... that’s not him. Not anymore.”

“Yeah. You raised him differently.”

There’s a quiet sound, like sniffling. “I … I don’t think I did such a good job,” Shen Yuan whispers, and his voice is thick.

Airplane closes his eyes.

“Anyway.” He says. “Our options?”

“... Right.” Shen Yuan coughs. He straightens up. His arm tightens around Airplane like one might clutch at a teddy bear. Airplane accepts it. “Um…. The filters have narrowed down the list quite a bit. How do you feel about being reborn as forest hermits in a farming simulation become reality?”

“Um. Pass. I’m not much for manual labor.”

Shen Yuan laughs. Airplane can feel the way his body trembles with it against him. He smiles and rests his head into the crook of his friend’s neck.

“Yeah, neither am I. Uh, there’s…. Demon Lords — nah, that’s R18. We know how that goes, and since you’re ace, no thanks. Um, there’s actually a lot of otome-type worlds. Weird. System, filter out those ones.”

Airplane yawns. He’s still feeling upset over all of this, but he’s come to a decision.

Whatever new world they end up in — and goddammit, it’ll be together — he’s not going to allow Shen Yuan convince him to let himself become attached to the characters this time. He’d done so well, in the first half of his life as Shang Qinghua, keeping himself distanced from his peers and enemies alike. Life went by quick and mostly painlessly, when you didn’t connect with anyone. The real pain came after Shen Yuan talked him into seeing the people of that world as actual people.

It was lonely before then, sure. He’s not sure the hurt that came after was worth it, though. Plus, this time he’ll have his bro at his side. That’s all he’ll need.

“Oh, hello.”

He pulls back from his friend’s comfy embrace to look up at him. “Find a good one?”

“I think so,” Shen Yuan tells him. He’s smiling up at the window, and he’s got one eyebrow raised. “This one is ‘Become Game Masters of an ARMMRPG.’”

“Eh?” Airplane frowns. “... Doesn’t it mean, uh, a VRMMORPG? Like in anime?”

“No. This one is Alternate Reality Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Game. Instead of being a virtual world, in this… story, I guess? In this story, the player characters are actually people capable of dimensional travel. Each ‘game’ is a different dimension, and the people can only die in their home dimension. From the description, it’s basically the same as the synopsis of your run of the mill VRMMORPG anime, except the virtual games are real worlds.”

“Sure, but if they’re real worlds, then what does being a Game Master mean?”

Shen Yuan grins down at him.

“Hey, Airplane,” he says. “How do you feel about being an actual god?”

—

Luo Binghe curls up on his throne like a child might sit in their mother’s lap, but there is no warmth to be found for him in this position. He clutches his knees to his chest and fights off another bout of these ceaseless tears. What’s a throne worth, what’s the seat of an emperor worth, what is all the power that he’s spent years accumulating worth, if Luo Binghe himself is actually useless regarding what truly matters?

He’s the king of an entire realm, territories a-plenty in the human one as well, but none of it matters anymore.

Nothing can matter, not now.

He launches himself off the throne, startling the line of servants that kneel on the gilded floor. He ignores their jolts and their gasps of surprise, turning on his heel to leave the room entirely. It’s only a few doors deep into the private wing behind his throne, a room in the center of his palace that is more secure than any place else in all the world.

He throws open the door, and catches it before it can slam shut. He closes it with barely a whisper.

It feels wrong, making too much noise in this room. Being too loud.

Shizun never liked it to be too noisy.

Luo Binghe’s eyes sting as he approaches the shrouded and still form that lies on the dias in the center of the room. He kneels before it, and then lowers himself further to press his forehead against the cold stone floor.

“Shizun,” he whimpers. “This lowly disciple is so sorry. This scum will repent for as long as it takes. Binghe will kneel for eternity if that is what it takes. But please, please. Come back.”

His voice cracks on the last word. It echoes quietly in the room, bouncing off the walls and reaching back to him until all the Luo Binghe is able to hear are the reverberations of his own useless please.

Just like every time before, the form he kowtows to is silent and unmoving. Cold. Dead.

Luo Binghe has made the worst mistakes, and there is no way to fix them.

[Read ch. 2]

#scum villain's self saving system #world state: refresh #cucumberplane #shen yuan #shang qinghua #vodkassassin fanfiction

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nyerus · 3 years

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Hi, nyerus.....If you don't mind me asking, who are your favorite MXTX characters (top 5 from each novel)? And why? I'm sorry if you've answered this question before.

Thank you so much for asking! I would love to! (Apologies for the delay, and also for how long this is lol....)

TGCF

1.) Xie Lian: I could write forever about why I love him, but XL is just a really great character who subverted my expectations. He's gentle and compassionate, but also funny and snarky on the inside. His character arc is the classic hero's journey but told out of order. So we meet him when he's already wise and world-weary, then get to see what he was like before, and how he finishes his journey later on. He's extremely inspiring, to show that our choices and our actions are what make us, and ultimately no one can take those from us.

2.) Hua Cheng: This is no surprise! I also just adore HC for being a very intense character! He's completely devoted to XL and that zealotry is very unique in a character. He's 100%, not 50, not 75. While he has a lot of relateable aspects, this part of him is utterly fantastical, on the level only myth and fable can achieve--which tracks. After all, he isnt a Ghost King for nothing. In the story, he is the embodiment of the purest devotion, no strings attached.

3.) He Xuan: I actually like him for the same reasons as HC! He too is a walking fable, only instead of devotion, he represents vengence. (They're actually like foils of each other, which is quite neat.) I really adore his arc, and how murky his whole character is. It tells a cautionary tale of how sometimes, our worst enemy--the one who makes us most miserable--is often ourselves. SWD wronged him greviously, but HX's obsession with vengence ultimately prevented him from getting the peace and recompense he wanted in the end. Absolutely stellar storytelling.

4.) Mei Nianqing: While I often question his motives and methods, he is still a really good character. Caught between wanting to be a mentor and protector to XL, but still loving (platonically or romantically, that's up to you) JW. He's the only father figure in XL's life that actually took him seriously, even if he did have to come around to it. But ultimately, he was proud of who XL became even before he ascended. He was just terrified of XL drawing the attention of the one man he shouldn't--and did. However his belief in superstition and fear of Hong Hong-er also makes sense, even if it's sad. MNQ is also just a quirky and fun dude lol.

5.) Mu Qing: I really like how complicated and murky MQ's is in terms of his inner turmoil. I'm somewhat similar to him in the way he thinks, and it's real work not to make things worse for myself by expecting the worse. His background makes him naturally suspicious of... basically everyone, all the time, and it's honestly understandable. Ultimately, he does understand that you can't make assumptions about people's intentions by projecting your own insecurities onto them--which I think is something everyone can relate to. I really like his subtle journey of self-realization and self-forgiveness, and he ends up far better for it.

MDZS

1.) Lan Wangji: I love the fact that LWJ was just so ready to Night Hunt himself to death upon the loss of his beloved. As you can tell, I really like complicated characters who have extreme traits, haha! That being said, I just also really like his stoicism and reliability.

2.) Wei Wuxian: Naturally, it's hard not to love WWX! He decided "yeah maybe the ends do justify the means" and went for it. To us, he is the hero. To the regular people of the world? Whose ancestors were dug up and disturbed to be used by the Yiling Laozu? His blackened reputation is not without cause! (Like... JGY literally has done more positive and helpful things for regular people than Wangxian, but those metas already exist lol.) Once again, his gray morality is what makes him so damn good, and can be debated at length!

3.) Jiang Cheng: JC gets a bad rep, but oh boy he doesn't make things easy for himself at all. However if I was in his position, I probably would be much worse off. He lost EVERYTHING, and still trudged on because there were people who depended on him. His hatred of the Wens also makes sense in the context that... that's often how humans react to and process extreme trauma. We find something to blame and *waves at literally every major conflict since the dawn of time.* (His rumored torture of innocent people due to that is reprehensible, of course, but given that MDZS is a book about how rumors can make or break someone's life... we should take that line with a grain of skepticism, much like all other hearsay.) He's not typically the type of character I like, but I found him really interesting to read.

4.) Jiang Yanli: I really love JYL, who decided to be the emotional backbone of her family from the time she was a child. It was an undue and extremely heavy burden to bear, but she did all of it without complaint. That's strength. I think many elder siblings can relate to her having to step up and be the third parent, when the actual adults fail at it.

5.) Wen Qing: I really like her arc in the novel, where she makes some of the hardest decisions anyone will ever have to make, over and over and over again. I don't typically love very "rough" characters, but she has ever right to be that way (and it makes sense for her character, and isn't just a tacked-on character trait like hair color or eye color in a CC), and honestly I want to marry her very seriously.

SVSSS

1.) Luo Binghe: Probably the most misunderstood main character of all of MXTX's works. LBH is neither truly a crybaby nor is he a ruthless maniac. He's right in the middle, in the valley of misanthropy. And yet, he knows just how to use his charisma to get his way. Cunning and devious, intelligent and ruthless. Meanwhile, he craves love and intimacy--something he could only ever dream of.

2.) Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan): Extremely refreshing to see an transmigrator know how to handle transmigration almost flawlessly. (Me reading/watching other works with this trope and wanting to tear my hair out at the protags = me sympathizing on a personal level with SQQ.) This also proves to be SQQ's fatal flaw!! His knowledge of the novel is both a boon and a obstacle to him, and prevents him from understanding the other characters as people until he lets go of his pre-conceived notions. And of course, his snarky as heck inner dialogue is amazing.

3.) Liu Qingge: I don't actually even know why I love LQG as much as I do. He's just neat.

4.) Tianlang-Jun: Honestly same goes for TLJ. He's just great though, and I have a blast reading about him. He wanted to see the good in humanity, and ultimately comes around after writing them off.

5.) Yue Qingyuan: He's a fascinating character. Harmless on the outside, but a quagmire on the inside. His love for Shen Jiu was quite... problematic, in that he saught forgiveness from SJ, without actually ever taking the time to understand him or to make amends. Patronizing and judgemental, yet willing to let SJ get away with literally anything because of his own unresolved turmoil, etc etc. Fascinating.

#if this sounds like I want to study some of these characters under a microscope then you'd be correct #i also have a lot more faves i would want to talk about but actually it's a lot of work to Think #i just really love characters who make me think or are very complicated #tgcf #mdzs #svsss #asks #nyerus.txt #thanad-zid

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writing-frenzy · 5 years

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CYS AU: Don’t Make Me-

Yo; so here we are, the first thing I end up writing for the Choose Your Shizun (CYS) AU....and it be Angst :D (Warning: canon typical violence and yeah, this is Scum Villain..)

CYS Brothers (Read this for more info about the au)

Many things could be said about Shen Qingjia: that he was one of the best fighters of the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, the rumored third strongest of the Peak Lord, with only the Sect Leader and Liu-shidi more powerful. That while he was no beauty, he still made one striking figure on the battle field, wielding his cunning in turn with his sword, his ability for strategy just as cutting as any blade could hope to be. How many, so many, wished for but a glance from him, for a word to be spoken, for the much desired position of being one of the chosen few under his teachings and wisdom for battle; both the one of the battlegrounds and the meeting rooms.

Yes, many things could be said of Shen Qingjia; but for Shen Jiao, the youngest of the Shen Triplets, very few words ever really mattered to him and even fewer opinions ever reached his thoughts. But as with most things in life, both of those things had to deal with his brothers.

And he would never admit to anyone, never even speak the words least he risk them, but those same brothers have always been his biggest weaknesses. From his quiet, prickly broth A-Jiu, to his softer, calmer brother A-Yuan, their thoughts, words, and even opinions on him have always been the most effective for his state of mind. A smile of pride from them could make his day brighter just knowing it was there, to a frown of disappointment making him work himself to the bone just to correct the mistake.

But of these two brothers, he would have to admit, Shen Yuan was always the one to inspire more protective feelings. And this was something both the youngest and eldest of the triplets could admit to, what with how soft and kind their brother remained able to be, still able to see such wonder and good in the world, even after all they had been to. How many times they had been beaten and abused, with how many lies and broken promises they have been fed, their beloved middle still looked to the good in the world and remained happy to be alive.

Something, Shen Jiao would admit, made him feel jealousy even as he cursed his brother’s soft heart.

It is his brother’s soft heart, that he first thinks about, when he sees his brother’s disciple be revealed as a demon, one of the Heavenly fucking Blood at that, right before his eyes.

He does npt think, before he has his blade pointed at the boy, whose red eyes grow wide at the sight.

“I-”

“Do not speak, Luo Binghe; it is for the best that you leave here, go with the other demons before I change my mind.”

The boy makes to argue, scowling as he does, even going so far to talk about his beloved Shizun-

“Do you not understand just how much you are endangering that person the longer you stay?!” Shen Jiao finally yells, furious as he glares the boy into submission, who finally backs down, eyes wide in horror at the words.

“I-I’m putting Shizun in danger?” is mumbles

“You are of demon blood; who has been taking care of you, who has been training you, aiding you, letting a demon sleep under their very own nose, even cooking their meals? Maybe, if brother is lucky enough, and that Sect Leader able, he could be thought a fool, tricked by a Heavenly Demon and just forced into Isolated Cultivation to reflect on his sins for aiding and abetting one of the Cultivation world’s nightmares.” the youngest Shen asks his unanswerable question, the only reason he is not killing the youth before him right now, right here is for two reasons.

One; if he were to kill this boy, Shen Yuan might just never forgive him for it, what with how he treasured this youth. (Oh, his brother may never find out, maybe not even suspect, but him knowing and causing him the pain he would surely go through because of it would be unforgivable to himself.)

Two; he knew that look the boy was wearing on his face right now; the utter and complete anguish, fear, and self-hatred of knowing you were a burden. (It might have been years since he wore it, but it was a look one could never forget, seen clearly in the room with a mirror as he was forced to watch as either of his brothers ended up whipped.)

Staring at this boy and taking in that look, Shen Qingjia puts away his sword, before he starts riffling though his bag; he won’t need to use it now, not with how the young man looks close to jumping off the edge himself. He only hesitates for a second, before a thought on his older brother steels him, he walks to the boy and hands him a few items.

“Wha-”

“For some damn reason, you have actually managed to worm your way into my brother’s heart like the little parasite you are, Luo Binghe.” is said rather flatly, no warmth able to be found there, “If for nothing else, do your damn fucking best to live for him, to control this new power, and maybe, and this is quite the maybe, come back to him when you are ready. Any sooner, any question of my brother’s safety comes into play, and I will slaughter you with an ease even most demons would envy.” is the only warning Shen Jiao gives the boy, before he rather simply, but purposely, pushes him into the edge of the Abyss.

He does not watch as the boy falls, nor how he clutches in his hands the two bags of holding filled with extra supplies for a month or two. (A habit that Shen Jiao still finds he can’t break, already feeling uneasy with them out of his possession.)

Instead, he can’t help but think.

Don’t make this any harder then it already is.

Don’t make me regret this.

Don’t make me the one who killed my brother’s beloved disciple.

Don’t make me be the one who broke my brother’s heart.

“Fall demon... but make damn sure you rise again, Luo Binghe.”

#SVSS #Scum Villain Self Saving System #Scum Villain #Shen Jiao #Luo Binghe #Choose Your Shizun AU

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neoblogcrying · 5 years

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“Let’s Play a Game” pt.7

Here is the next part! This will be up on AO3 as well very soon! Not sure why the horizontal line isn’t working for me today but welp--- here we are

Another close call on this one. Had trouble deciding between two of the options, but you figured it out in the end, and settled on one answer. Good job.

Ultimately you decided to do the gutsy thing and tell the truth! Was this the correct answer? Was it the wrong answer?

Let’s push play and find out.

RESUME GAMEPLAY!

BEEP!

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Shen Yuan knew he couldn’t lie to his brother.

No, he could lie, but he wouldn’t. Lying to him was the worst thing anyone could do if they wanted Shen Jiu to trust them. Shen Jiu wasn’t very trusting of most people (if not all people), so lying even as much as one time could cause him to distrust you for as long as you draw breath into your lungs.

If he lied now, his brother would never trust him again.

While he had faith in his ability to act, and twist his words in a masterful way that he can say what he wants but make it sound like what the other party wanted to hear… he knew full well that Shen Jiu asked him the question KNOWING the answer.

It would be absolute insanity to lie now.

Avoiding the question would serve the only purpose of making him suspicious.

“I don’t see why you are asking me that while knowing the answer. Yes, the medicine is for Yingying, but not because she was hurt. Luo Binghe sustained injuries from being bullied by his fellow disciple brothers, and she wanted the medicine to help him.”

Shen Jiu loathed the little bastard. He had so much of his brother’s attention all while being a worthless piece of shit (All thanks for Shen Jiu, of course, but that’s neither here nor there)!

He truly had some luck, given the fact he hadn’t died yet. He was given a fake manual, but the fact he hadn’t died from an ‘accident’ yet was truly telling. When was the bastard going to die so his younger brother would finally stop going on about him?

What was it that he saw in him? How utterly annoying!

Jealousy? Perish the thought. Shen Jiu HATED the kid, and having his brother be so… so OBSESSED with him was nothing but a migraine. If not for the fact that he was concerned that his brother would get upset and leave him, he would have tried to kill the brat a long time ago.

Occasionally the Peak Lords must go to recruit new disciples to join their peak. Luo Binghe was the one and only disciple that Shen Yuan was able to choose before his sickness got the better of him.

You could say that Shen Jiu was effectively trapped by his foolish brother’s decisions. This idiot sure knew how to choose a loser.

No matter what Shen Jiu had to say about Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan had absolute faith in the young protagonist. He’d always say, “Just you wait, he’ll soar above the skies! I know he’ll reach new unprecedented heights! Be kind to him and I’m sure he’ll return fortunes to you in good faith. He’s a sheepdog who will follow you until the very end.”

Loyalty was probably the only quality of Luo Binghe that Shen Jiu would appreciate if nothing else. Heaven knows that he wouldn’t like the fact that the protagonist would grow so strong in the future. It would only remind him of his own wasted potential.

Shen Yuan wished that he would’ve been able to find his brother much sooner, but it wasn’t that easy. Prior to this, he was a simple reader of the novel, and the novel never went in depth about Shen Jiu’s background. By the time Shen Yuan found him, it was too late to begin preventing some of the harm Shen Jiu sustained over the years of abuse.

Really, it took him a long time because he had no idea what to expect. How was he to know at first that he was thrown into the novel? As far as everyone knew, Shen Jiu didn’t have a twin brother! The damned system didn’t tell him anything until years later when his nagging finally paid off!

It only took him one month to pack up and leave the house in search of Shen Jiu.

While he knows that he wasn’t raised with great care in the Qiu household, that’s all he knew about Shen Jiu’s past. Anything prior to that was a mystery and he never had the chance to delve into his elder twin’s past. He feared that he would ask the wrong thing at the wrong time and then be cast aside.

Only Shen Yuan knew of his struggle in the past to get Shen Jiu to trust him and feel comfortable with him.

The silence in the room was stifling. Shen Yuan waited for his brother to finish brushing through his hair before they could switch places. Even if he was mad, he was still gently brushing through his hair with the comb. Who said that Shen Jiu didn’t have a kind bone in his body? Shen Yuan will fight you!

“If you had to choose between saving your brother or that brat, who would you choose?” At first, Shen Yuan was stunned to hear such a question coming from his brother, but he answered without hesitation.

“I would save Binghe.” Dumb answer? Probably, but answering with a blatant lie would only piss his elder brother even more. You always want to choose the lesser of the evils. Besides… “If brother is unable to save himself, would I be able to save him? I’ve faith that my brother would be able to save himself with his strength and wit. Binghe on the other hand would require assistance.”

A small snort sounded behind him. It was the happy sort, he’ll have you know.

When in doubt, praise him. It will inevitably gain you some points that you’ve lost.

Shen Jiu was as proud as they came and needing to be saved by his younger brother of all people would be nothing short of an embarrassment of a lifetime.

“Your turn.” Shen Jiu handed his brother the comb and they swapped places. Just as how his brother let his hair down and brushing it gently, Shen Yuan returned the favor.

Of course, he also chose to ask a question himself. “If brother had to choose between saving Zhangmen-shixiong or me, who would you choose?”

It’s only fair that he asks a hard question in return, is it not?

Awkward silence filled the air as neither said a word. Shen Yuan slowly brushed through his brother’s silky smooth hair, wondering if or when Shen Jiu would answer.

He’d always known there was something going on between the two, but he never knew what it was. While Shen Jiu didn’t seem to care for Yue Qingyuan, it wasn’t necessarily mean it was true. It was plain as day to Shen Yuan that his brother cared a lot for the man, Yue Qingyuan.

His brother would always give way to Yue Qingyuan and he would often act in the benefit for the Sect Leader. During that time, the two men obviously recognized each other.

Whatever history they had together, they must have known each other prior to Shen Yuan finding his brother in the Qiu mansion, beaten.

“I understand, brother. I’m not hurt by it.”

His refusal to answer was enough. Whatever relationship they had with each other it far outweighed the relationship the twin brothers had with each other. One could even consider it payback for saying that Shen Yuan would save Binghe over his own brother.

What kind of relationship did they have? It was clear as day that the two were intensely loyal to the other, but their relationship was so… strained. Mostly, it was strained on Shen Jiu’s part rather than anything. Yue Qingyuan cared for Shen Jiu deeply (if his bias was anything to go by), but he often held back because he knew he would upset Shen Jiu if he acted too familiar.

Not to toot his own horn, but Shen Yuan had 100% confidence that he’d be able to fool anyone into believing he was the true and (dis)honest goods. Yue Qingyuan was the only one who could tell the two apart.

Albeit he’d need at least 3 seconds to tell them apart, he had the ability.

“Get your useless trash to save you.”

Shen Yuan chuckled to himself. Was his brother sulking? Do he want to save his little brother from impending doom? Although he wanted to argue that Binghe wasn’t trash, this wasn’t the time nor place to start any arguments.

Instead, he would bury those insults deep in his heart for now. “Zhangmen Shixiong told me earlier how you will be descending from the mountains soon?” It was time for a change in topic.

This scene never made it into the books, so this mysterious venture was eating away at his curiosity since the moment he heard about it.

“I will be going down with the disciples to test their mettle.” There came the simple answer.

No matter how long he waited, there wasn’t any supplementary information fed to him. This is how Shen Yuan secretly gauged how angry his brother was. The elder twin was full of information and he quite enjoyed showing off his vast knowledge.

His refusal to divulge information was proportionate to his anger levels.

Shen Yuan wanted to know more. How were they going to test the mettle of the disciples? How many disciples were going? It couldn’t be all of them. Perhaps it would be the youngest bunch? That would include Luo Binghe, wouldn’t it?

How would they travel down the mountain? With horses and a carriage? How long would they be gone for?

Is the distance they are travelling far, or is it close? How dangerous is this journey of theirs?

“It’s time for bed. Hurry and go to bed.” There was no room for any rejection. The younger twin was left pouting at his lost chance to pry for any extra information. How stingy.

The two readied their beds for sleep, sleeping on opposite ends of the room. They were still close enough that they could whisper and hear the other just fine.

Obedient as always, Shen Yuan prepared his bed and shuffled under his covers without a word, deep in thought.

Before, Shen Jiu was told to go because Shen Yuan was still sick. Now that he’s gotten better, he should be able to take his brothers place, couldn’t he? Since this descent from the mountain wasn’t written in the novel… it should be safe for him to take his brother’s place, wouldn’t it?

He might still be bad… but… it’s worth a shot!

“Brother.”

“What?”

Shen Yuan rolled over to gaze upon Shen Jiu’s back from across the room. Hm… yeah, he was still upset. Maybe now isn’t a good time to ask. Shen Yuan was acting as if he were a teenager biding his time before asking his father before he could go to a concert.

“I’m waiting.” Shen Jiu continued to show Shen Yuan his back.

The younger of the twin brothers bit his bottom lip in anxiousness. His elder twin was considerably upset, but it was a now or never situation! He mustered the courage to finally bring up what was eating at his mind. “Brother… about your trip down the mountain…”

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DING DING!

Congratulations! You’ve successfully managed to unlock a mini-flashback event! Will you choose to watch it now, or will you wait until later to watch it? If you chose to watch it later, then you can choose to watch it the next time you trigger a flashback event.

Mind you that this is only when you trigger a flashback event, which is to say… you might never have another chance if you don’t play your cards right after this point!

You should choose wisely.

Ah ah~ Don’t worry, never fear! We won’t just leave you on a cliffhanger should you choose to watch the mini-flashback event. If you chose to watch it, we will continue with the story afterwards, so you best have coffee in hand, because we’ll jump right into it!

If you chose not to watch the mini-flashback event, we’ll simply jump right into the story and continue as we usually would.

Moderator #6 finished the poll, so it’s time!

What will Shen Yuan say to Shen Jiu?

Come back safely with everyone

Remember not to bully Luo Binghe

"Can't I go in your place instead?"

"Don't forget to bring me back some souvenirs."

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