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Shen Qingqiu, when Liu Qingge steps foot on the scorched clearing in the heart of Jue Di gorge next to Yue-Zhangman-Shixiong, looks unaffected by the day's tragedy. He is frowning, lip lifted almost into a sneer. His skin is pale as milk and thin as water, anemic and wan looking. He does not look like a Peak Lord who has faced some of the heaviest losses among the sects, he does not look like a Peak Lord whose most promising student is dead.
Because that is what he is.
Shen Qingqiu stands among the shards of a broken spirit sword, sheathes Xiu Ya, looks Yue Qingyuan in the eye and says, "Luo Binghe is dead."
No one questions him.
Murder would have once been Liu Qingge's first conclusion. It still is. He cannot help his first thoughts, seeing Shen Qingqiu's aloof arrogance amidst the devastation of the Immortal Alliance Conference. He'd always hated that Luo Binghe, seeing his magnetic rise in spite of his master had curdled Shen Qingqiu even more. Of course Shen Qingqiu took the opportunity and murdered his disciple.
Exactly how, when given the chance, Shen Qingqiu would stick Xiu Ya through Liu Qingge.
Except Liu Qingge isn't dead, and Shen Qingqiu has had the opportunity twice over now.
The dichotomy sits uneasy in Liu Qingge's chest as it has for the last four or so years. Shen Qingqiu is terrible, an unpleasant person. He haunted Liu Qingge's disciplehood with sneak attacks and maliciously uncooperative "team" work. He leverages his connection with the Sect Leader to avoid punishment or rebuke, he flaunts his debauchery like he doesn't taint the entire sect with it.
He did not kill Liu Qingge.
Liu Qingge doesn't like introspection. He trusts himself enough that he rarely feels the need to interrogate himself.
This has gnawed at him for years.
In what world does Shen Qingqiu murder a comparatively insignificant disciple and leave Liu Qingge, his hated enemy, alive? Does Shen Qingqiu simply hate that child more?
Liu Qingge dismisses this thought summarily.
The only person Shen Qingqiu can be said to disdain more than Liu Qingge is Yue Qingyuan. Since Shen Qingqiu stepped foot on Cang Qiong their enmity bloomed like a spider lily, as if some unseen hand pit them against each other, as though the gods had forged them each to be opposed.
There's no amount of talent that disciple could have that would make him more hated to Shen Qingqiu than Liu Qingge.
Liu Qingge deliberates upon it in his own head. Speaking up won't matter, Yue Qingyuan has already swallowed Shen Qingqiu's explanation. He can only continue to keep a close eye on the Qing Jing Peak Lord.
One might assume that having his life saved by Shen Qingqiu might change Liu Qingge's opinion of him. One would assume incorrectly.
His abdomen doesn't ache, not even phantom pains, with the wound Shen Qingqiu inflicted him with in the Ling Xi caves. Mu Qingfang's care and his own cultivation saw to that. There is no scar. That doesn't stop it from lingering in Liu Qingge's mind.
The red haze fading from his vision as pain started to creep up his body, opening his eyes to see Shen Qingqiu over him, looming. The slow realization that no, Shen Qingqiu wasn't killing him, but using Xiu Ya as a conduit for his own spiritual energy.
Of course Shen Qingqiu would save him with as much stabbing as possible.
It did not reframe Liu Qingge's understanding of Shen Qingqiu.
Liu Qingge cannot figure out why. Why did Shen Qingqiu save him? Was it to save face as Liu Qingge naturally recovered? Was he too cowardly to commit to murder? Did he have some scheme that required Liu Qingge alive?
All these years and Liu Qingge is no closer to understanding. Perhaps he has been correct all along and there is nothing hidden behind Shen Qingqiu's fan, nothing more than opportunistic cruelty and arrogance.
Recovering from the Immortal Aliance Conference makes Yue Qingyuan withdrawn and solemn. The loss of so many disciples would be enough, however Yue Qingyuan also has to work with the other sects to discover why everything had gone as badly as it had. Huan Hua Palace is losing some face. Liu Qingge is glad he doesn't need to be apart of those meetings often, but when he is he's not surprised Shen Qingqiu bays for blood.
Power hungry, Liu Qingge thinks.
Shen Qingqiu blames Huna Hua for the loss of his disciples. He always names a number one short. He doesn't mention Luo Binghe.
He cracks his fan and gestures powerfully as he tallies his losses against Huan Hua Palace, as he tries to corner the Old Palace Master into a concession. Yue Qingyuan leaves him too much room to work.
Huan Hua Palace suffered losses heavier than any other sect, but Shen Qingqiu keeps bringing up their culpability or incompetence. Shen Qingqiu mentions his disciples as if he cares about any of them. Liu Qingge can only stomach so much of his targeted asides, sewing discord into the already harrowing meetings to heal from this blow.
The anger bursts out of him, unchecked when Shen Qingqiu sneers from behind his fan.
"The great Huan Hua Palace coffers must be feeling empty if they cannot provide compensation for even the fourteen disciples lost from this Master's Peak."
"What about Luo Binghe," Liu Qingge's voice is flat and he makes no attempt to quiet it, drawing the attention of more than the gossiping cultivators Shen Qingqiu was cavorting with.
Shen Qingqiu's flashes pale before he sends a loathsome glare at Liu Qingge, knuckles white against his fan.
"Surely you would seek compensation for all your disciples."
"This master isn't unfair. There is no holding Huan Hua Palace for life lost because of that one's own inability and disgrace." Shen Qingqiu's fan covers his face, unreadable, burning eyes the only part of him visible.
"Just for the disciples you couldn't save," Liu Qingge accused.
"Liu-Shidi. Enough."
Yue Qingyuan's order doesn't dampen the unexpected heat in Liu Qingge's chest at Shen Qingqiu's casual disregard of the boy he'd stolen from Liu Qingge—from Bai Zhan, but he subsides as requested.
His presence isn't required at any of the following meetings.
Liu Qingge doesn't believe in luck or fortune. That he can avoid Shen Qingqiu's face isn't a blessing, it's a result of the way Liu Qingge lives his life: leaving the sect for months at a time, limiting his appearances at meetings, keeping his reports concise. He is the War God of Bai Zhan, but he has also developed a reputation for being uncooperative and difficult to communicate with.
If it allows him to miss Shen Qingqiu then he's glad of it.
The only negative consequence that comes from Liu Qingge's dogged avoidance of Shen Qingqiu's untrustworthy face is that his hard won tolerance for the man's outrageous behavior dramatically decreases. He spent four or so years stepping on the man's heels, scrutinizing his every move for an ulterior motive, and though he could never reconcile the duality, never solved the mystery Shen Qingqiu kept, he at least learned to tolerate him.
Now, when Liu Qingge comes back from his Night Hunts, even the briefest hint of Shen Qingqiu makes his blood heat. He tries to keep his cool, he knows chipping away at Shen Qingqiu shows weakness in Cang Qiong's ranks. He knows it puts more stress on Yue Qingyuan. He owes Shen Qingqiu some small amount of respect, if not for being his Shixiong than for saving his life in the Ling Xi Caves.
Still, he has to bite his tongue to keep his words docile.
Meetings with the other Peak Lords becomes unbearable. Paying attention to the long, rambling reports and presentations has never suited Liu Qingge, but each word that slips from between Shen Qingqiu's soured milk mouth makes his hackles rise.
He's an action oriented man, he knows, and his own Shifu had to teach him discipline in his disciplehood, but he's never had this struggle before. Shen Qingqiu scoffs at Shang Qinghua's presentation and Liu Qingge, who holds no great favor towards Shang Qinghua and agrees that the long-winded drivel he is presenting lacks direction, finds himself out of his seat, leaning heavily on the table and snarling at Shen Qingqiu.
"If you have a problem, you should present Qing Jing's accounts yourself." He can barely feel his face, is only dully aware of his fingers digging against the sturdy wood he's leaning on.
Silence falls over the meeting room, even Shen Qingqiu looking surprised at his outburst. His throat clicks as he swallows, dry and loud. His gaze flickers to Yue Qingyuan, mouth parted in quiet, refined shock.
Shen Qingqiu is the first to recover, of course.
"Is Liu Qingge accusing this lord of mismanaging his Peak?"
"I'm tired of—" he sees Yue Qingyuan shake his head, that resigned, sad look before a defense for Shen Qingqiu falls from his lips and feeling returns to his face: white bot and burning.
"Nevermind," he hisses, pushing away from everything. "I'm leaving."
True to his word, he leaves.
It takes far too long for the anger to bleed off.
He wouldn't notice anything amiss except that instead of feeling chastised, when Yue Qingyuan opened his mouth to rebuke him Liu Qingge felt like he could punch the words from Yue Qingyuan's tongue.
He's never wanted to do that before, in all the times Yue Qingyuan turned a blind eye or bent under the weight of excusing Shen Qingqiu. Everytime Yue Qingyuan sat Liu Qingge down and tried to explain that, no, Shen Qingqiu is a good man and had depths to him Liu Qingge would appreciate if he only tried. Liu Qingge had only ever felt admiration for Yue Qingyuan, the lengths he would go for those he cared for and the immense weight he carried. Admiration and a sort of tender pity that made Liu Qingge embarrassed to think about.
Even those times Liu Qingge had wanted to fight Yue Qingyuan it was born out of respect for his strength and talent. Never anger.
He'd never wanted to drive his bare fist as hard into Yue Qingyuan's face as he could, as if he could punch whatever tethered him to Shen Qingqiu's defense out of his head alongside his teeth.
When he finally calms down, sweat drips in his eyes and his hair is damp and sticks to his skin. His knuckles ache. The times he's been this out of control he can count on one hand, even without making exceptions for poisons or qi deviation. Except for his qi deviation, all incidents had been in his childhood, before he'd learned how important control was.
He doesn't waste time returning to his house, merely dropping into a meditative pose there in the Bai Zhan training grounds. If he has developed some heart demon because of Shen Qingqiu's behaviour—
He stops himself. If he's developed a heart demon, Shen Qingqiu himself isn't the cause. Instead, it is Liu Qingge's own reactions to him that would be the cause.
He remembers this lesson from his disciplehood well, at least. Liu Qingge cannot control anyone but himself, as such neither can others control him if he doesn't let them. Shen Qingqiu's actions may make him angry, even upset, but it's his choice on how to process and react to those moments of emotion. His shifu and Mu Qingfang—then not yet Qingfang—had repeated these words to him often enough.
He has to sit with it, follow it back to its root.
Shen Qingqiu keeps making him angry, and he is letting that push him out of control. Why?
Making him spend the night thinking about impractical things like emotions and interpersonal friction is another reason to dislike Shen Qingqiu. Interesting how that thought doesn't make him irritated. In the meeting it felt like merely the sound of Shen Qimgqiu's breath would make him want to put the table through the wall.
He probes this thought with all the grace of a child unable to leave their loose tooth alone.
Shen Qingqiu is featuring an obscene amount in Liu Qingge's introspection. As a disciple, thinking this much about Shen Qingqiu would have been intolerable. Had been some days. More often than not Liu Qingge had been able to ignore Shen Qingqiu. He was Liu Qingge's shixiong, but Liu Qingge had his measure quick enough and Liu Qingge didn't make a habit of ruminating on those beneath him.
After ascension, Liu Qingge had the freedom to leave the mountain as he pleased. He turned Night Hunts into months long journeys, went where he pleased, and rarely came back to check on his Peak unless recalled. As Peak Lord, there was only Yue Qingyuan who could force him on an assignment and he already knew to keep him off of missions involving Shen Qingqiu, so there really was no need to dwell on the Qing Jing Peak Lord.
Then the caves, the qi deviation. Shen Qingqiu saving him, and suddenly Liu Qingge had so much reason for Shen Qingqiu to linger in his thoughts.
After the Demon Invasion Liu Qingge had spent the longest uninterrupted stretch of time at Cang Qiong since his ascension to Peak Lord. He's not sure the Bai Zhan Peak Disciples appreciate his increased presence even now that he's ostensibly back to avoiding the mountain range. He stayed because he thought something may have possessed Shen Qingqiu, to save him as he had.
But no, Shen Qingqiu was and still is as hateful as ever, still neglectful of his disciples.
He pauses here, but he feels calm except for a faint, familiar spark of disdain.
Shen Qingqiu isn't just neglectful of his disciples. Liu Qingge thinks cautiously of Luo Binghe.
There's nothing—no. There is something, it's just so small and dull compared to the angry inferno from the meeting. His familiar disdain bleeds into a small seed of anger in the pit of his stomach.
So that's it. Luo Binghe? That's the thread his mind is snagged on? That tiny little kid and his potential that Shen Qingqiu stole only to spite Liu Qingge. A blade Bai Zhan could have honed, that Shen Qingqiu coveted and then discarded out of Liu Qingge's sight.
Strange. Liu Qingge doesn't take personal disciples, he doesn't take interest in others at all. Potential isn't everything, and obviously Luo Binghe wasn't meant for Bai Zhan or he would have made the climb. That Shen Qingqiu abuses his disciples and teaches them nothing but deceit and how to climb over others is a poor reflection of Shen Qingqiu. That man should not have the chance to nurture his wretched ways in others. However, Liu Qingge isn't prone to empathize with the forlorn disciple.
Every disciple has a choice. A choice to enter the trials to join Cang Qiong, the choice to accept a Peak Lord's invitation, the choice to work hard on that peak or fail. In the case that a disciple finds their chosen peak to not be to their capabilities, An Ding and Bai Zhan always accept transfers. If only a Qing Jing disciple could stomach dropping rank, if they made their way up the steps of Bai Zhan they were welcome to get beaten with the rest of them.
Liu Qingge doesn't usually spend time considering the lots in life of his own disciples let alone those that aren't his, let alone those who by all accounts should have let their masters chase them off from the beginning.
That dull anger flares again, but not nearly so hot or as distracting.
It is Luo Binghe then, that has his mind troubled.
Shen Qingqiu's treatment of Luo Binghe?
Liu Qingge prods again.
That day of the demon invasion, Shen Qingqiu had left the caves before him. Liu Qingge had followed but not fast enough to stop Shen Qingqiu from setting up a baffling tournament and entertaining those demons. His sister had stepped up and fought admirable, and so had Luo Binghe from what Liu Qingge heard after the matter.
When Liu Qingge had landed on the scene he had focused on chasing the demons away, not letting the disciples distract him. He does remember Luo Binghe, though. His sister, shame-facedly explaining her defeat to him, had brightened, a curious look in her eyes, as she talked about Luo Binghe and his tenacity.
"Not like those other Qing Jing Disciples," she had said. "He fought hard and straight forward. He didn't stay down."
It seemed no one had known Luo Binghe before this fight. Even Liu Qingge hadn't remembered right away who the biy was. He remembers now, of course.
He still can't find a reason his heart could develop a demon over this one disciple.
That Shen Qingqiu stole him? Shen Qingqiu stole many things, chiefly Liu Qingge's peace of mind. One could-have-been disciple should mean nothing.
That Shen Qingqiu abused him? Shen Qingqiu abused more than just Luo Binghe. Liu Qingge had already made it known how he felt about Shen Qingqiu's trips to the brothel.
So what then?
Liu Qingge remembers Shen Qingqiu, in the gorge, Xiu Ya flashing as it was sheathed.
Had Xiu Ya been stained red?
If it had been, could Shen Qingqiu not say it was due to the demons he'd fought?
Liu Qingge doesn't know if anyone had gathered the shards of that sword.
Luo Binghe dead, his spiritual weapon shattered in the wake of some abyssal demon, and his master placid as he explains this.
That seed of anger flares into an ember. Still not as all consuming as before but there.
So Liu Qingge has found one end of the tie that makes up the knot of this heart demon. Unwinding it is a daunting task, he wants to put it aside. He doesn't want to look at it. So what if he gets mad at Shen Qingqiu, so what if he gets angry at Yue Qingyuan for defending him at every turn.
Shouldn't Liu Qingge have gotten angrier at Yue Qingyuan sooner? Made his misgivings about Shen Qingqiu so loud and unavoidable Yue Qingyuan would've had to keep Shen Qingqiu at the sect?
Liu Qingge shakes his head and deliberately unclenches his fist. He takes a deep breath and breathes out with the anger coursing through him. It snuck up on him this time, and the way he wants to avoid looking this anger in the eye is all he needs to know that he should face it head on.
He hates not being in control.
The dawn of morning makes the sky a dull, misty sort of blue. His clothes are damp from the cold dew and the birds are slowly waking and singing. Soon the first disciples on the peak will wake and find their ways to the training grounds. Liu Qingge stands and turns towards his house. That was enough meditation for now. He'll finish untangling this heart demon soon enough, where his unruly disciples won't bother him.
Without realizing it, Liu Qingge falls out of his well worn patterns. When he's not on the Peaks it's impossible for him to observe what he cannot see but as he finds himself lingering once again he feels the tension in his martial siblings ratchet tighter and tighter. It was like this after the Demon Invasion, everyone waiting for Liu Qingge or Shen Qingqiu to snap at each other.
It had died down when Liu Qingge had returned to longer missions. At least, this is what Liu Qingge assumes. He's not unobservant, it's just that normally he doesn't care. His martial siblings are unduly sensitive however, and making Liu Qingge take note.
It's not that he doesn't understand their concern. Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu have a volitile history, prone to cause friction whenever their orbits meet, historically mitigated only by the fact that Shen Qingqiu preferred to stay inside the sect while Liu Qingge chose to wander. It was strange that more abrasion hadn't occurred during Liu Qingge's first round of Shen Qingqiu observation.
Whatever had facilitated those odd moments of quiet is no longer in effect as Liu Qingge finds himself snapping more and more often at Shen Qingqiu. He takes less away missions and sticks to his Peak and keeps an eye always on Shen Qingqiu's movements and poisonous tongue. He's taken aside by Yue Qingyuan multiple times to delicately ask when he's returning to his natural order of things.
Liu Qingge finds himself scoffing at his Sect Leader under his mild mannered requests for Liu Qingge to stop getting underfoot. The feeling stays like a thorn in his thumb, irritating and out of place. Liu Qingge can't quite unravel the knot of his heart demon enough to banish the surges of anger it gives him, though he knows the shape of it now.
No matter how he looks at it he still can't piece together how or why the death of one disciple, one of Qing Jing's disciples no less, is affecting him this way. The irritation with Shen Qingqiu is natural but allowing it to bleed onto the rest of his martial siblings, to infect his dedication to the sect is unforgivable. He tries to pay attention to exactly what pisses him off, exactly which miasmic word from Shen Qingqiu's mouth makes his vision bleed red.
This is more difficult than it sounds. Sometimes he gets so angry all sound drains from his perception, and all he can see are the dark, tired eyes of Shen Qingqiu. Is he not sleeping?
A flash of righteous vindication bolts through him.
The vicious delight cuts through his temper enough to give him pause. Anger at Shen Qingqiu's villainy is familiar yes. However, Liu Qingge has never been one to revel in the misery of others.
He is reluctant to consult with others over this matter. Conversation with Yue Qingyuan is just as likely to trigger one of his new moods and make the discussion ineffective and he dislikes making a habit of visiting Qian Cao for anything less than open fractures. The danger of an intended heart demon isn't benign, and he's intimately aware of the dangers of pushing his cultivation beyond what his mind is capable of handling.
It is a cruel sort of irony that Liu Qingge's body is so tempered and reliable. It makes him slow to realize danger when it ceases to be physical. He's used to overcoming every challenge he comes across that he stumbles when a condition becomes chronic.
He starts writing things down.
If he remembers why, he makes a note detailing why he got angry. After staring at a page that simply says "Shen Qinqgiu said something" he starts adding times.
Like any mindful practice, Liu Qingge easily adapts to this and it, too, becomes an easily conquered routine. The pages become more ordered and detailed as he continues with the practice. Unhelpful, half remembered incidents stop being recorded as "Today, Shen Qingqiu spoke ill of the fourth peak's contributions to the meeting" and start becoming "At the ri zhong meeting, Shen Qingqiu interrupted Zhangman-Shixiong" which then turn into "at bu shi, witnessed Shen Qingqiu start an argument with Zhangman-Shixiong. I stepped in. Zhangman-Shixiong told me to calm down".
He will never be as profuse with his words; these writings aren't chronicles of his days. Seeing it written down does not make it so he is able to instantly untangle his own thoughts but it does feel helpful.
Reading it collected shows him no pattern, other than an increased duration of his anger and how honestly insignificant Shen Qingqiu's infractions are. His upset at Shen Qingqiu trying to milk treasure from a sect recovering from worse injuries than Cang Qiong is justifiable and righteous. Having to leave a meeting because he noticed Shen Qingqiu disapproved of the tea service m is less so.
More concerning than this, though, is finding gaps of time he cannot account for.
Time between Shen Qingqiu pissing him off and recording it in his notes gets lost. Liu Qingge has never been forgetful in his anger before. When he was younger he had been impulsive yes, concerningly prone to fits of irritated overstimulation in which he'd felt no other recourse than to get violent. His perfect memory of those losses of control were what helped him grow with the help of his Shifu's guidance.
That he's becoming so furious he has trouble recalling his own actions bides ill.
He may have to consult with Mu Qingfang after all.
Tempting as it is to push his way through this road block on his own, his qi deviation still lingers in his mind.
Liu Qingge had never felt so out of control. As a child and then disciple succumbing to his own temperamental nature, he'd had no skills of the kind required to mitigate the way the world sometimes grated him. In the end he could only blame himself for so much, and, having learned the skills to temper himself, he'd never struck out without intending to while under his own power.
Even being poisoned doesn't affect him the same way. Whichever poison he comes into contact with, be it aphrodisiac or tailored for loss of control, he simply waits it out. Rarely is he pushed into a corner his cultivation can't overcome by itself.
The qi deviation was something entirely different, his body acting without him. His mind not disambiguated from his physical self but lost entirely. His memories are flashes of color and smears of impressions. There is no thought in them. The clearest thing from that time is the sudden ice flow of spiritual energy flooding his lower dantian and his vision coming into focus onto the sharp, unpleasant face of Shen Qingqiu.
Liu Qingge remembers him: hair loose and askew, face pale and clammy. Shen Qingqiu's black eyes wide, cold, as dark as jet and as piercing as Xiu Ya's blade. His sharp features drawn with the effort it had taken him to stand against Liu Qingge, and then, recognizing the comprehension in Liu Qingge's eyes, the sneer that spread across his face like ink bleeding across silk.
Shen Qingqiu hadn't escaped unscathed and as much as Liu Qingge has no reservations about fighting the man, not being able to remember any of it often rises up his spine in thick, bile tinged tracts.
For as out of control he had been during the deviation, it was entirely of his own doing. Not listening to his body, his mind, pushing because he could.
Unacceptable.
Succumbing a second time would be unconscionable.
Mu Qingfang is extraordinarily level headed and has been since Liu Qingge met him as a disciple. He has to be, to deal with the pressures his Peak Lord title gives him and herd his martial siblings. Shen Qingqiu's frequent qi deviations and lazy foundation alone would break lesser doctors, even before taking into account his unpleasant personality.
Liu Qingge in contrast, doesn't burden his shidi with unwarranted visits, even so Mu Qingfang looks aggrieved to see him.
"Liu-Shixiong," he greets and waves away the disciple he was conferring with. He glides across the space to start herding Liu Qingge towards one of the private rooms with the well practiced ease of a shepherd. He adjusts the spectacles perched like a flightful bird on his nose before slipping a sheaf of papers from his sleeve.
Liu Qingge let's himself be led to the room but he doesn't sit when directed to, crossing his arms as Mu Qingfang sighs.
"What can this one assist Shixiong with?" Mu Qingfang asks. He ties back his sleeves as he waits for Liu Qingge's response but he doesn't wait before reaching for Liu Qingge's wrist.
Liu Qingge let's him have it. Mu Qingfang has an intricate ritual he must perform, either by trade or superstition, and Liu Qingge has found it more expedient to let his shidi assuage his compulsions as long as they remain reasonable. Liu Qingge also finds it more expedient to wait until Mu Qingfang has completed the list of tasks to his satisfaction than to try and interrupted him with the cause of his visit.
If Liu Qingge interrupts him with a crushed ribcage or the symptoms of an envenomation, Mu Qingfang gets twitchy. Interrupting him for something that doesn't even have a physical cause may make him worse.
So it's better to let Mu Qingfang satisfy himself by marking Liu Qingge's consistent weight and height, the state of his vision and hearing. He lets Mu Qingfang count and record his breaths and heartbeat, and answers succinctly when Mu Qingfang asks the regular line of questioning.
"How often have you been practicing inedia in place of sleep?"
"Nightly."
"And for eating?"
"Most meals. I drink tea."
"Has your cultivation program changed?"
"…" Liu Qingge pauses before answering, as this hits close to the reason of his visit. He decides Mu Qingfang would prefer the entirety of the situation now.
Mu Qingfang's eyes narrow as Liu Qingge thinks of how to answer. "Has your cultivation changed in any unusual way? Blockages? Breakthroughs?"
"Perhaps," Liu Qingge starts, gathering his words.
Mu Qingfang slows and reaches for Liu Qingge's pulse point again. "I didn't sense anything amiss," he observes.
"Mm," Liu Qingge debates and then takes out the hastily tied together papers he's been using to track his thoughts. "I've been experiencing a heart demon," he says.
Mu Qingfang raises his brows, then raises them further as he looks at the papers Liu Qingge offers him.
"I've been trying to clear it away on my own, but I believe it's starting to affect me faster than I can resolve it."
Liu Qingge feels his nose scrunch at this confession. There's no reason to view asking for expertise as weak, and fixing vulnerabilities is what Mu Qingfang is sworn to fo, but it still picks at Liu Qingge's pride to admit he cannot shoulder something himself.
"Who told you to make these notes?" Mu Qingfang asks as he shuffles through the pages.
"No one." Liu Qingge crosses his arms again and Mu Qingfang lifts a placating hand.
"It's a good strategy," Mu Qingfang soothes. As he reads further on his brow furrows more. "This record encompasses the moment you noticed the heart demon?"
"No, I started it when I stopped being able to keep track of every incident in my head."
Mu Qingfang wilts, sighing with the loss only a spoiled dog can match. "Of course," he says, "and will Liu-Shixiong privilege this Mu Qingfang to know when you noticed the heart demon and your observations?"
Liu Qingge makes a face, because his observations are in Mu Qingfang's hands, but complies anyway. He describes his symptoms, how he became aware of them, which parts are impeding his responsibilities as Peak Lord, which are impeding his cultivation, and the conclusions he has already drawn.
"I didn't feel this way before the Immortal Alliance Conference."
"No, I suppose you didn't. You were surprisingly courteous to Shen-Shixiong for a time. When you two started back up again, I believe the rest of us thought things were returning to the natural balance between you." Mu Qingfang sighs and adjust his glasses.
"Still," Mu Qingfang continues, "That's nearly two years ago now. You should have come to me, or Yue-Zhangman-Shixiong, sooner."
Liu Qingge's face does something complicated and Mu Qingfang blinks in mild surprise. Liu Qingge shakes his head, trying to wipe his expression clear.
"Ah," Mu Qingfang says in the tone of voice someone would use while nodding their head and saying yes, yes, I see your point. Liu Qingge's sudden low tolerance for Yue Qingyuan is concerning to more than just himself.
They continue to discuss Liu Qingge's observations and what meditations he has already started following. It's validating but not particularly helpful when Mu Qingfang nods approvingly at the groundwork Liu Qingge has already laid. It's an unfortunate fact that most often, ultimately, Heart Demons must be resolved by the person they affect. Mu Qingfang can offer his insight but he cannot know with perfect accuracy what lays at the heart of Liu Qingge's affliction.
"Do you think the Immortal Alliance Conference is the start of it?" Mu Qingfang asks after sighing again over how long Liu Qingge spent not telling his martial siblings about his health.
"I'm not sure," he replies. At Mu Qingfang's inquisitive expression he adds, "Shen Qingqiu's treatment of his disciples has never been something I've bothered myself over. But I find myself increasingly frustrated about the state of Luo Binghe's death."
"Mmm. Did you know this Luo Binghe?"
"No." He pauses. "Well, I knew about him. Not by name certainly until the Demon Invasion."
"How did you know of one of Qing Jing's disciples?"
"Shen Qingqiu stole him from me!"
Liu Qingge and Mu Qingfang both blink at the unexpected vitriol in Liu Qingge's voice. Liu Qingge shakes his head and paces the small room, agitated and unhappy about it.
"That's not quite right," Liu Qingge corrects himself, "Shen Qingqiu only picked him for Qing Jing because he'd caught my eye, but I don't pick personal disciples. It was always up to Luo Binghe to climb Bai Zhan and he chose not to."
As he says the words he feels his chest constrict, tight with emotion he refuses to acknowledge. This is why he can't untangle his Heart Demon. It doesn't make sense.
"I never thought of Luo Binghe beyond that day. It took me a moment to even connect the disciple who defeated that demon to the boy from the entry trials. If I thought of him after then it is only because Liu Mingyan sometimes mentioned him when we spoke." Liu Qingge shakes his head. The words taste like grit in his mouth as he speaks them, but he forces them out.
"Out of all of the disciples Cang Qiong lost at the Conference I don't understand why it's Luo Binghe that my Heart Demon has caught."
Mu Qingfang looks thoughtful as Liu Qingge clenches his fists and paces. It's like breathing through smoke.
"Do you have some sort of misgivings surrounding Luo Binghe's death?" Mu Qingfang delicately probes.
Liu Qingge frowns and gives the question some thought. His mood feels darker, that unfamiliar anger thick in his throat like the choking undergrowth of an unhealthy forest. Obviously he has some misgivings; he's almost positive Shen Qingqiu murdered the boy in the chaos. Is that all it takes for a Heart Demon to take root? He offers this observation to Mu Qingfang.
"Forgive me for my bluntness," Mu Qingfang starts and Liu Qingge rolls his eyes, "you've never been one to shy away from… trying to expose Shen-Shixiong's misdealings before, yet you haven't brought this up? Though I suppose some of your comments these past meetings make more sense."
"Yue Qingyuan was there with me when Shen Qingqiu informed us of his disciple's death." Yue Qingyuan had seen exactly the same things Liu Qingge had seen, heard the tone Shen Qjngqiu had used.
"And he approved Shen Qingqiu's word?"
"There was nothing at the scene that incriminated Shen Qingqiu," Liu Qingge says closing his eyes as his voice comes out thick with anger. "There were signs of a battle; the prints were consistant with the black moon rhinoceros python heard throughout the gorge. I could face it alone. Shen Qingqiu doesn't do well with head on battles." He doesn't say that even a promising disciple stood little chance against that demonic beast but he figures it's well enough implied.
"So there is no basis for your suspicion?" Mu Qingfang asks.
"Of course there is!" Liu Qingge yells, whirling around to glare at Mu Qingfang.
Mu Qingfang doesn't flinch or let his expression change, he doesn't admonish Liu Qingge. Liu Qingge doesn't need him to, he does it readily enough himself. The fury is back and he wants to storm away, wants to punch Mu Qingfang for questioning him, wants to find Shen Qingqiu and drag him up every stone step that leads to Bai Zhan and then kick him off the summit.
He knows he doesn't actually want these things.
He grits his jaws so hard his teeth creak, and keeps his eyes closed and he tries to breath. He circulates his spiritual energy, trying to ground himself and only manages to subdue the anger by what feels like a fraction.
"Shen Qingqiu is opportunistic and hated that child," he manages to say. "If it suited him, he wouldn't hesitate in getting rid of a disciple he no longer wanted."
"Zhangeman-Shibo stopped having you two assigned on missions together because everyone knew he'd try to kill you when your back was turned," Mu Qingfang agrees.
Liu Qingge opens his eyes and breathes. The response mollifies that anger in his chest but it pricks his own sensibilities.
"But he didn't."
"He said he was going to kill you all the time."
"In the caves," Liu Qingge starts, "Shen Qingqiu could have killed me. I was qi deviating. If anyone could tell I hadn't killed myself he could claim self defense."
"Surprising." Mu Qingfang doesn't sound surprised but at least he doesn't sound patronizing either.
"I don't know why he didn't take the chance."
"I believe that's the crux of what you need to resolve," Mu Qingfang adjusts his spectacles again as he speaks. "Shen Qingqiu is a private, capricious person. You may never find out his reasons for how he acted that day, or any day, beyond what you can infer. My advice to you would be to seek to make peace with that. Your Heart Demon seems to be feeding on the strife between you and your martial siblings as well as your internal confusion."
Mu Qingfang must see the frustration on Liu Qingge's face because he reaches out a friendly hand that he rests on Liu Qingge's shoulder. "I know you may think of that as giving up, but in this case winning the fight doesn't lie in defeating your opponent. Though Shen Qingqiu and that disciple may trigger the feelings of your Heart Demon, fighting them will not help you. You have to resolve this within yourself."
Liu Qingge nods grudgingly. Mu Qingfang is right, though Liu Qingge hates that it means more thinking.
Mu Qingfang prescribes Liu Qingge qi balancing pills, a restorative insense, and calming tea, as well as a schedule with Mu Qingfang to assess progress. Liu Qingge dislikes the micromanaging but acquiesces to it. He slips the prescriptions into his sleeve and takes his leave from Qian Cao.
Liu Qingge tries to follow Mu Qingfang's instructions, he really does. He just can't stop chasing himself around in circles. He sits to meditate and just makes himself angry imagining Shen Qingqu's face. He has to carve out at least an incense length's time to take Mu Qingfang's pills and tea before any meeting he may run into Shen Qingqiu just to avoid derailing it.
It helps, but not enough.
Mu Qingfang's words float around his head, rolling like a marble in a bowl. He follows after them in tighter and tighter spirals. Sitting still gives his thoughts more room to make his skin itch.
Cheng Luan is in his hand before he realises it and it feels so good. The hilt of the spirit sword has always fit comfortably in Liu Qingge's hands, even as a boy welding Cheng Luan had been no feat of difficulty for him. Some of his peers had been told they would grow into their swords but Cheng Luan had fit from the beginning. The tips of his fingers tingle and his thoughts storm.
Never had Liu Qingge been so completely unable to trust his body before.
Mu Qingfang had advised that he keep up with his notes and they confirm his suspicion that his rage induces blackouts occasionally. Small ones, inconsequential ones. He doesn't register what happens between the moments of storming out of a meeting to landing on his Peak. He imagines he sees Shen Qingqiu below him on the rainbow bridges and almost before he can register the anger he blinks and is walking the garden paths of Qiong Ding.
They haven't increased in frequency or length as far as he can tell but the fact that it keeps occurring concerns him and Mu Qingfang.
He sheathes Cheng Luan.
He doesn't sit down though. Instead he moves through the familiar foundational steps of Bai Zhan's cultivation style. They're easy but he doesn't let his mind wander away from the purposeful movements. He slows down the movements to half speed, then quarter speed, forcing himself to stay smooth and fluid.
He's always been a sharp student. He doesn't need to understand the academic arguments for why something works and he rarely needs things explained in minute detail. He has an intuitive understanding of his body, how to use it, what it needs.
If only sorting out his mind was as easy as placating his body.
Things would be so much easier if he could just corner Shen Qingqiu and hit him until he confessed what went on behind those dark eyes of his. If he could just figure out why—
Liu Qingge tosses his hair out of his face, leaning back into the well worn series of steps that built the beginning foundation of his peak's cultivation. There are too many questions that have made a home in Liu Qingge head.
Everything Liu Qingge knows about Shen Qingqiu tells him that Shen Qingqiu murdered his disciple. Everything he knows about Yue Qingyuan tells Liu Qingge that Shen Qingqiu could have confessed to the murder right then and there and nothing would have come of it. Shen Qingqiu is a coward and opportunistic, shallow and arrogant, lazy, deceitful, untrustworthy. For all of that though, the question in Liu Qingge's heart is:
If Luo Binghe is dead, then why is Liu Qingge still alive?
He wants to make Shen Qingqiu tell him. But what would that reveal? Liu Qingge can't trust Shen Qingqiu to speak the truth even if it would kill him to lie and if he would tell the truth what answers are Liu Qingge expecting?
Shen Qingqiu to confess to every misdeed and validate each one of Liu Qingge's suspicions? Naturally, this would resolve the conflict within Liu Qingge, and quite a bit of conflicts outside of Liu Qingge as well. Liu Qingge could pursue justice then and foil whatever schemes Shen Qingqiu has lying in wait.
The chance that he could get Shen Qingqiu to talk is negligible. Snow in summer, or seeing a dragon bring rain. Is Liu Qingge meant to follow perpetually after Shen Qingqiu in the hopes of plucking clues from the shadows of his footsteps?
Or worse: what if Shen Qingqiu explains everything, manages to convince him that every judgement Liu Qingge has ever made of him is based on assumptions and lies. That would leave Liu Qingge with nothing.
Liu Qingge's sense of self, the conflict in him, can't be dictated by catharsis another man can withhold from him. He makes a quiet noise of understanding as his body slides effortlessly into a resting position.
It's a simple reframing of the question, cutting through the knot instead of unpicking it's threads. Liu Qingge cannot care about the explanations Shen Qingqiu won't give him, he can only work with the information he has. He thought that by saving him, something fundamental in Shen Qingqiu must have changed and Luo Binghe's death challenged that, but it doesn't need to.
Shen Qingqiu is Shen Qingqiu after all and Liu Qingge does not understand him.
Writing it plainly down, for Mu Qingfang's sake really, makes it seem so small of an understanding. There's no shining light of revelation or insight, he has exactly the same information as when his Heart Demon sprouted, but he feels the breakthrough in his core. He doesn't understand Shen Qingqiu. He doesn't need to. He trusts himself to react to the information he's given as well as he can and he won't overthink it.
He defeats his Heart Demon.
He expects himself to be able to behave around Shen Qingqiu now, to dismiss the petty anger that sparks inside him with ease. He expects to return to being exasperated at Yue Qingyuan's attempts at capturing Shen Qingqiu's favor instead of furious. He expects to be better.
His followup with Mu Qingfang supports this. Mu Qingfang inspects his meridians and praises Liu Qingge for his breakthrough, praises him more for reaching out to Mu Qingfang and following through on his advice.
Liu Qingge rolls his eyes and crosses his arms but lets Mu Qingfang be smug.
It's perfect timing as well. Liu Qingge's presence is required on the same mission Shen Qingqiu's is, as well as Mu Qingfang's.
"If Liu-Shidi doesn't feel comfortable spending so much time in the company of his Sect siblings, this Yue-Shixiong understands. This one can schedule the time to take the mission himself."
Liu Qingge knows that while Yue Qingyuan would prefer this, he would have just arranged it to be so if there weren't other pressing concerns. If Liu Qingge hadn't just resolved his Heart Demon he would still take Yue Qingyuan's offer, but as the situation is as it is, Liu Qingge accepts the mission.
Because Shen Qingqiu is involved, a carriage is chartered. Liu Qingge bears the delay in their travel speed with enough grace. At least, Mu Qingfang doesn't frown at him for purposefully antagonizing Shen Qingqiu.
There's a lightness in his chest where all that anger used to sit. At first he keeps pace with the carriage on foot but as each step passes he feels like he might float away without his Heart Demon weighing him down. He taps the side of the carriage Mu Qingfang sits by and makes some excuse to draw Cheng Luan and fly.
A spiritual sword is so much faster than a carriage so he entertains himself by flying casual, concentric loops with the carriage as his epicenter. Ostensibly he is scouting. With each loop he casts his cultivation enhanced senses out farther and farther before returning to the carriage and starting over.
It's nice, not having to worry about his actions.
He holds no illusions about not clashing with Shen Qingqiu at all. Their personalities rub against each other the way steel scrapes against porcelain. If Liu Qingge—or Shen Qingqiu for that matter—woke one morning and treated the other with the kind of humility and respect needed to repair their relationship, it would be a sign of possession!
Liu Qingge also isn't expecting to find anything as he flies off his bouyant energy but he does run across the remains of a recent land slide on their path. He reports it to Shen Qingqiu and Mu Qingfang.
They can, as cultivators, pick up the carriage and horses and cross the landslide themselves. Liu Qingge can manage that himself. Shen Qingqiu, of course, can't lower himself to the indignity of crossing like that and so rerouts them.
It adds to their travel time of course but it is well within Liu Qingge's expectations. He always marks missions where Shen Qingqiu is allowed his carriage with a generous time table that allows for many delays. It's easier to assume their travel time will bloat three or seven times because Shen Qingqiu has an aversion sensible travel.
The detour even means that they will be skipping the planned overnight at an inn. Surely Shen Qingqiu will complain but Liu Qingge would rather have the fresh air.
He estimates their speed of travel and preemptively finds an area they can pull the carriage to the side of thenroad and hitch the horses. Sheltered enough and free from any signs of immediate danger, Liu Qingge does some minor tasks while waiting for Shen Qingqiu and Mu Qingfang to arrive, namely kicking down brush and making sure the ground is flat.
He could not care less about his martial siblings' comfort but it's something to do and at least Mu Qingfang will appreciate the work done already.
Camp space cleared, Liu Qingge returns to the carriage and finds it unchanged as the horses trundle along. Liu Qingge really can't imagine why Shen Qingqiu insists on travel by carriage. Even walking is faster for cultivators.
He knocks on the carriage side again and informs them about the are he'd prepared for the coming night. He sees Shen Qingqiu think about being petty and insist on a different location. He clenches his fist and restrains himself from saying anything until Shen Qingqiu cracks open his fan and accepts Liu Qingge's proposal as adequate.
Prick.
The carriage makes it nearly exactly as Liu Qingge predicted. There remains enough light to set up their overnight comfortably enough and Liu Qingge finds himself helping with more enthusiasm than is usual. Mu Qingfang makes knowing eye contact with him. It is nice to have his Heart Demon behind him.
Liu Qingge heads into the brush to grab firewood without consulting. It's just what he normally does. He hears Mu Qingfang mention the plants in this area and his intent to see if he can find—something. The name doesn't sound familiar to Liu Qingge and he resolves to keep an eye out for his shidi if Mu Qingfang gets too lost in looking at the ground instead of his surroundings.
The evening light gets thinner as the sun starts setting and Liu Qingge returns to camp with a second bundle of light firewood. Shen Qingqiu sits with a cup of tea in his hands, gaze directed off into the distance. His eyes only flick towards Liu Qingge on his approach and he doesn't make any move to greet him.
Liu Qingge places the firewood down and intends to turn right back around to find Mu Qingfang.
Shen Qingqiu's voice stops him.
"Is Liu Qingge finished antagonizing this master now that's he has had his breakthrough?"
Liu Qingge freezes. He should ignore Shen Qingqiu completely, he should find Mu Qingfang.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's an unorthodox method to be sure," Shen Qingqiu observes, blowing gently on his tea, "but Liu Qingge seems keen on pushing the limits of his boundaries."
Liu Qingge's nose wrinkles as he puzzles out Shen Qingqiu's meaning.
"I didn't pick up a Heart Demon just to force a breakthrough," Liu Qingge says slowly.
"Ah, so you did pick one up." Shen Qingqiu takes a measured sip from his cup.
"Anyone would, having to deal with you."
"Mhmm, the rest of our sect siblings running to Qian Cao must have slipped my notice."
Liu Qingge's nails bite into the meat of his palm.
"Shut up."
"Apologies," Shen Qingqiu snaps open his damnable fan, his glittering eyes peaking above its edge. "This master thought it appropriate to make sure Liu Qingge was fit to travel."
He sounds amused, voice rounded with unspoken laughter. Liu Qingge can't see his face, just his eyes. Have they turned slightly crescent in shape? Is Shen Qingqiu smiling under his fan?
Liu Qingge hates this man.
"Of course I am! The only person anyone should be worried about is you!"
Shen Qingqiu stands abruptly, pointing his fan. "Me? I'm not the one constantly undermining the unity of the sect, or walking out of meetings before they're finished!"
"No, you just pull your strings from the shadows and hide behind Yue Qingyuan's skirts!"
"I do not hide behind that man!"
Liu Qingge doesn't remember but it is probably him who throws the first punch.
Everything is red and black until the ringing in his ears is cut through by Mu Qingfang's shouting voice. He's dropped back into his body so fast he feels his stomach hit the soles of his feet. He has barely seconds to filter and process everything.
His knees wet with crushed grass, his fingers wrapped in a reverse grip on Cheng Luan's guard, a warm body underneath him, all his strength poised behind his blade in an arc that will land planted in Shen Qingqiu's chest.
He stabs Cheng Luan into the loam beside Shen Qingqiu's pale, clammy face.
The moments that follow are disconnected only because Liu Qingge isn't paying attention. There's blood rushing in his ears, his chest pounds, his skin prickles with unspent adrenaline. It's delayed, all delayed, onset a beat too late for having been locked in a fight with Shen Qingqiu that he does not remember starting.
Mu Qingfang checks Shen Qingqiu, checks Liu Qingge. He's summarily ignored by both, though Liu Qingge catches fragments of Mu Qingfang's speech, the self-defacing apology thick in his voice as he laments not imposing a mandatory rest period after Liu Qingge's break through.
Liu Qingge sits back on his heels.
For a single moment, Cheng Luan had not felt familiar in his hands.
When his vision cleared he instinctually corrected his grip on its hilt. Cheng Luan is like another limb, one he weirds effortlessly. Even mindless he wouldn't hold her in such an undisciplined manner.
"I'll fly back to the sect," Liu Qimgge interrupts whatever discussion Mu Qingfang and Shen Qingqiu were having between them. "I'll report to Zhangman-Shixiong and someone else will replace me."
He doesn't wait to listen to their arguments, for or against. He simply leaves, hurtling through the night sky back towards Cang Qiong. He makes it in a fraction of the time the carriage had taken and imposes upon Yue Qingyuan's hospitality with little regard for propriety.
There's a chill on his spine, his shoulder blades tense. The fine hairs on the nape of his neck prickle.
He doesn't turn to look behind him, knows that just looking won't reveal anything.
He gives Yue Qingyuan his report, abrupt and succinct as always under Yue Qingyuan's worried face. He's ordered to stay in the sect while he departs to meet up with Shen Qingqiu of course, suspending any investigation or punishment until Shen Qingqiu is taken care of first.
Even though that suits Liu Qingge's purposes just fine, it makes him frown at Yue Qingyuan's priorities. He shakes his head and let's Yue Qingyuan do as he will.
Liu Qingge has a suspicion and there's only a handful of ways to test it. He considers Wan Jian Peak but decides to confront this on his own first. Bai Zhan doesn't deal heavily with talismans or spells, focusing on physical cultivation, but that doesn't mean Liu Qingge doesn't know the basics.
His mother's qin is in Liu Mingyan's rooms. Liu Qingge was fond of the memories he held of his mother and the qin, but it wasn't a tool he needed on Bai Zhan. Liu Mingyan takes immaculate care of it, and Liu Qingge is only a little sorry to slip into her room and remove it from its pride of place.
From there it's only natural that he finds himself on Qing Jing. He needs to pass by it to reach Bai Zhan but the moment the bamboo scented breeze passes him he decides that he might as well utilize the meticulously refined Feng Shui of Qing Jing to his own advantage.
He rarely has cause to visit Qing Jing since his ascension to Peak Lord. He finds that some areas have changed since he was a disciple, some pavilions removed or renovated. His feet take him past a wood shed, away from Shen Qingqiu's bamboo house, and through the forest. Not the bamboo forest, but one with pine, not wild grown but lacking the oversight Shen Qingqiu gives his bamboo forest.
There are clearings plucked bare of trees dappled throughout, where disciples over harvested for wood.
It's in one of these man made meadows that Liu Qingge stops. Neatly away from any sleeping ears, Liu Qingge carefully settles his mother's qin in the grasses under the light of the moon and seats himself.
The first few notes come out less than ideal but muscle memory kicks in and soon Liu Qingge's fingers pluck out a sweet melody he remembers from his mother's soft hands. His recalls that the first calluses he'd ever gotten as a child were from the strings of the qin and not the handles of his wooded weapons.
As the clear notes ring through the meadow, in the shichen before the cold air condensed into dew, Liu Qingge plays an invitation. More so, a demand. A challenge. Imbuing the silk strings with his qi and playing an arrangement he's only ever heard after handful of times, Liu Qingge summons the dead.
"I never really appreciated how beautiful Qing Jing Peak is."
Liu Qingge stills the quivering strings of the qin with the pads of his fingertips before raising his head.
A young man stands to the side of him wearing the stained and threadbare uniform of a Qing Jing disciple. Liu Qingge narrows his eyes. So Luo Binghe is dead, then.
"Well, I suppose any place would be beautiful compared to the Abyss," Luo Binghe smiles, deceptively sweet. His eyes are hidden by the shade of his hair. "But I've gotten to see a lot of Bai Zhan and the other peaks now and I understanf why people praise Qing Jing's beauty."
Luo Binghe wanders closer to Liu Qingge, the air cooling with his proximity. He doesn't walk or float so much as glides through the meadow grasses and plants, disturbing not a single leaf with his movement. He leans down, almost childishly as he grins wider at Liu Qingge. His hair tumbles thick across his face and over his shoulders.
"But you've always seen the rot Shen Qingqiu lets fester here, haven't you? Liu Qingge, Cang Qiong's War God of Bai Zhan Peak? You've never let the beauty of Qing Jing or it's master blind you to the scum investing this sect."
"What do you want?" Liu Qingge finally speaks.
"The same thing as you do."
"And who are you to presume what I want?"
Luo Binghe laughs, low in his chest his voice a timbre deeper than Liu Qingge remembers coming from him in life.
"Someone Shen Qingqiu tried to murder—though this one isn't a War God who could survive the attempt."
Liu Qingge frowns in irritation. "You don't know me at all—"
"Oh, but I do!" Luo Binghe interrupts. He rests his hands on the qin, leaning into it though his weight is less than that of a bug's. "I know you, Shishu. You're the only one who ever calls Shen Qingqiu on his shit. The only one who sees past his lies and twisted words. You want him gone as much as I do, don't you? Don't you think he poisons the sect by his actions alone?"
It's cold. Whatever moisture is in the air starts freezing in delicate swirling patterns on the plants under Luo Binghe's boots, on the qin under Luo Binghe's hands, on the fine hairs of Liu Qingge's eyelashes where Luo Binghe's breath would reach. There is no noise save Luo Binghe's voice and Liu Qingge's breathing.
"Shen Qingqiu is Cang Qiong's burden to deal with," Liu Qingge says.
"Are you not Cang Qiong's sword? Am I not Cang Qiong's disciple? Did Shen Qingqiu disown me after throwing me to my death in the Abyss?"
"Whatever you were in life, the dead has no right to interfere with the living."
"Is that how it is."
Luo Binghe hangs his head. His hair falls onto the qin, making the strings shiver the barest amount under Liu Qingge's palms. Liu Qingge hardens his stare, glaring at the presumptuous disciple, siphoning from his energy and his emotions to seek petty revenge against a master he doesn't respect.
Whatever tragedy Luo Binghe's life held, Liu Qingge's sympathy ran short of helping resentful ghosts murder a Peak Lord.
The resentful emergy hangs heavy and foreboding in the air, oppressive. Liu Qingge straightens his shoulders under it. Cheng Luan is at his side, he needs only draw it and put this ghost to rest.
His hands are cold where Luo Binghe is gripping them, so much closer than he was before. Liu Qingge perks back, but finds himself perfectly still as Luo Binghe raises his head.
His eyes are blacker than the night sky, abyssal and absent of any light. There's a demon crest on his forehead, black. Liu Qingge rips one hand out of Luo Binghe's grasp, fingers brushing the hilt of Cheng Luan—
"Troublesome," he says as Cheng Luan refuses to be drawn from its sheath.
He leaves the qin behind.