Chapter Text
"This artefact is…"
Shen Qingqiu shrugged in his direction. "Ah, unfortunately I'm at a loss as well. Taking it back to this Shixiong 's Qing Jing Peak to evaluate would probably be best."
"Don't call yourself that," Liu Qingge shivered and then grimaced. "Is that wise? If it's making people 'disappear', why would you risk it setting itself off in your Peak?"
"What other options do we have? There is no better place for it other than Qing Jing's Artefact Hall," Shen Qingqiu said. His eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks as he turned his gaze downwards. "If there's any chance the people who disappeared may be saved by looking into it… Well, can Liu Qingge think of anything better?"
The Bai Zhan Peak Lord stuck out his tongue as if he was concentrating, working quite hard to catch and shake a brain cell so it would work. Yet, in the end he pulled out his sword regardless.
"Liu Qingge?" Shen Qingqiu asked, then repeated with his voice raising slightly, distressed. "Liu Qingge!?"
The scholar's thin hand shot out to snatch the small blue jewel and slid it from under Liu Qingge's aim just in time. Mouth slightly agape, he threw a wide-eyed look of disbelief at the man standing across from him.
"Is that head of yours just for show!?" He bit out.
"I was kidding," Liu Qingge rolled his eyes. "Why don't you try biting it? Better than grinding your teeth in my direction all day."
"Have you finally lost your mind?" Shen Qingqiu questioned.
"No– Look, just hand it over."
Shen Qingqiu sighed, yet opened his hand as an invitation for the other man to take the artefact. "Don't toss it at a wall again."
"??" Liu Qingge made a sound. "That was you?"
"Details, Liu— Ah?"
Once the two of them were touching the damned jewel, something finally seemed to happen. It felt like sand falling through the floor– the artefact fell through Shen Qingqiu's hand… Then, he opened his eyes to Liu Qingge, and the darkness which surrounded them.
He turned his head around plenty to make sure. Tossed a spare fan he had in his sleeve even, and surely enough the darkness reached far and wide! One couldn't even see a singular pinprick of light. When Shen Qingqiu kicked the area in which they stood, why, the floor was plenty sturdy as well! Yet, nothing was there.
"..I'm telling Zhangmen-Shixiong that this was all your fault, by the way."
"You're not telling Zhangmen-Shixiong anything. You hate him."
"I hate you more."
"Whatever."
Despite their bickering, Liu Qingge quickly grabbed Shen Qingqiu by his wrist so they wouldn't separate as they walked. The smaller man only slightly felt like clawing his own skin into ribbons at the contact.
"Any ideas as to what this is?" Liu Qingge asked.
The Qing Jing Peak Lord shrugged. "This type of 'stealing you away' artefact, aren't there hundreds? We'll just have to wait for something to happen."
"If nothing happens?"
"...There are worse people to get stuck with, I suppose."
Before Liu Qingge could fully register what the other man just said, he spotted something on the floor and made an ugly expression.
"A spider?" Shen Qingqiu looked at the disgusting fluorescent pink thing. Not just that, he let go of Liu Qingge's hand to pick it up and place it into his lap. It was big enough to nearly cover the entirety of the man's lap, and yet! "Oh, what a handsome thing you are, hm?"
Handsome… Liu Qingge shivered. How could Shen Qingqiu just say that? Since when was he this type of person? Was he out of his mind?
"Mmh," The shorter man hummed. "Still have no guesses as to what artefact it is, though. It didn't do anything to me when I picked it up. Hmm, so I don't think it'll seriously harm us by sending monsters our way… Maybe it’s tempting us to stay by showing us interesting things?"
Despite himself, Liu Qingge responded with disgust clearly dripping from his voice; "No way it's that…"
Shen Qingqiu turned his head to glance at him. To his credit, Liu Qingge thought the other Peak Lord did look slightly worried. He even moved that… that … into his arms like it was a puppy and stood up to look into Liu Qingge's eyes.
"What do you mean?" He stepped closer, and paused once the Bai Zhan Peak Lord took a step back.
His eyes dropped to the creature in his own arms.
Then, he looked up at Liu Qingge's uneasy expression.
He smiled; "Shidi, you're afraid?"
"No!" Liu Qingge's voice burst out. "That! Drop that! Seriously, have you no caution? Basilisk-Boned Arachnids are dangerous, so quickly set it down and let me kill it!"
The other man's smile turned so irritatingly smug at that.
"Now, that's just not accurate," Shen Qingqiu said. "If you treat them gently then nothing will happen to you! It's okay to be afraid, Liu-Shidi."
"It's just healthy caution!" He hissed. "Don't call me that!"
Shen Qingqiu took one step forward, Liu Qingge took one step backwards.
One forward, one backwards.
Liu Qingge only stopped because of the scholar's free hand taking him by the wrist and pulling him just enough so he couldn't move, threatened by the idea that he could be pulled forwards towards that thing in his Shixiong's hold. He must have somehow slipped up when training to expel any signs of fear response– much too dangerous in a real battle- because, truly, what sort of reaction was his body having now?
"I might have an idea as to what this artefact is, won't you help me confirm it?"
"J… Just let go of me, and I'll even drop to my knees and call you Shixiong."
"No, no…" Shen Qingqiu sing-songed. "Because you'll have to hold this little thing, you know? I can't have you running away before you know that."
Liu Qingge didn't really want to think about why his eyes teared up at that. What was he, four years old? What Shen Qingqiu was asking of him wasn't so unreasonable, neither was it difficult! Anyone could do it. Liu Qingge could do it any day.
What was wrong with him?
"Listen, you can even kill it when it gets too much," Shen Qingqiu began. "Just try holding it like I am."
The stare that got him, you would have assumed he’d grown a few extra limbs right at that moment. A look he truly did not understand. The spider creature was incredibly docile within his hold, even a little cuddly in fact. Yet all Liu Qingge had to say was; “I am not cradling it like a baby. ”
How funny it was that one of the strongest cultivators of their time just could not stand a little bug.
Eventually, he did manage to wrestle the Basilisk-Boned Arachnid into Liu Qingge’s hands, while said creature trilled and purred throughout this entire process. The other Peak Lord looked close to passing out once all was said and done. Since he felt kind that day, Shen Qingqiu graciously did not laugh too hard at his poor Shidi.
“What… What now?” Liu Qingge asked.
Shen Qingqiu hummed. “Just try to calm down, ‘get over this fear’ as you may. You really… just have to endure it, not let your fear swallow you up. That is all."
“It’s a bug, ” Liu Qingge said more to himself than to the other man. “I’ve faced plenty before. This much I can endure…”
“En, Shidi,” Shen Qingqiu responded to his mumbling. “Though that was to kill them. Which, I’d argue, feels a little different than petting them as a pass-time activity.”
“In what world is getting sucked into an artefact a pass-time activity?”
“This one,” He sighed. “Relax. At worst, everyone who was sent in here is knocked out somewhere outside, possibly fatally injured. At best, everyone made it out without losing control of themselves. Though where they are is still a mystery to me.”
Liu Qingge went quiet for a long time after that, and eventually even stopped being so stiff. This man, as talkative as he’d become around Shen Qingqiu recently, did also have moments where he’d get too tired of talking, or just couldn’t think of anything to say and as such would drop the conversation completely. At times, he’d get too agitated to speak. The Qing Jing Peak Lord only figured this out after having more joint missions forced on the two of them.
He didn’t blame him. Actually, some of Shen Qingqiu’s own disciples were the same. A lot less convenient on the scholarly peak where they were supposed to wield their words like their sword, but not something impossible to accommodate for, or even to practise getting over.
So, instead he waited for Liu Qingge to restart the conversation if he wished to. He settled into a comfortable silence.
"You know," Liu Qingge eventually said, his voice quiet. "From time to time, you get this really terrifying look on your face. It's… weird."
"..Weird?"
"I never know what to make of it. For some reason, that scary, intense look like you're… I don't understand what it means… But it never seems like it's you making it," He grimaced. “It’s you, but it’s not the you I know.”
Liu Qingge sighed at his own inability to convey what he meant. He continued; “Shen Qingqiu, are you… hiding something?”
The Bai Zhan Peak Lord watched as the other man looked here and there, seemingly trying to recall when he’d ever made this expression he was talking about.
“I can’t say I know what you’re talking about, but since you’re going to find out through this damned artefact anyway whether I like it or not… I suppose I am hiding a lot of things,” He at least tried to not look irritated as he spoke. “Nothing dangerous to the sect.”
Liu Qingge considered him for a little bit before asking; “What are you afraid of?”
To be honest, sometimes Shen Qingqiu was a little grateful for his martial siblings’ lack of tact. Though he did suppose being able to prepare their hearts for what they might see would be useful. So he honestly thought about it.
“..It used to be dogs that I was afraid of,” He admitted. “Now, I’m not sure. There’s nothing I can think of that could be pulled out against us, especially this early.”
“That’s stupid. Did… S–.. Shixiong … get bitten by one or something?”
“Did Liu-Shidi get bitten by a spider?”
“..I’m not afraid of spiders.”
Shen Qingqiu shot a look at the creature sleeping in Liu Qingge’s lap, but didn’t say anything else on this topic. If Liu Qingge said he wasn’t afraid, then who was to say he was? How unreasonable.
“I watched another child get mauled to death by a pack of them,” He just said. Then, he turned to pointedly stare at the man sitting across from him. “You should treat me to a meal after this. I hate telling you people about my life. Of course I had to get into some kind of mess which practically forces me to.”
“You don’t have to.”
“It’s only fair now that I know you’re afraid of spiders.”
Liu Qingge glared at him. While they spoke the Basilisk-Boned Arachnid had begun to turn to firefly-like dust. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the next one.
“What about you, then?” Shen Qingqiu moved on. “What else are you afraid of?”
“Whatever makes An Ding disciples act the way they do.”
“Your handwriting.”
“Shut up.”
The Qing Jing Peak Lord, pleasantly, laughed at this exchange. “You know, you’re a lot easier to get along with when you’re terrified half to death. It was like this in the Ling Xi Caves as well…”
“It’s hard to not be scared of you when you’re suddenly being nice to me.”
“I threw you at a wall, Liu Qingge.”
“You’re doing that a lot, lately.”
The two of them stood up, and almost immediately looked back down once they felt resistance against their steps.
This was... water?