Xiao Jiu died.

Right in front of that little beast.

And that demonic scourge couldn't save him.

But then Xiao Jiu was back, in his real body, not the Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seed body, but the real one.

But Yue Qingyuan had no opportunity to properly say anything before they were preparing for a war against Luo Binghe's father, Tianlang Jun, who seemed all too ready to merge the two realms and end humanity.

They really were father and son.

Yue Qingyuan was weak, weaker than he had ever been, the backlash of unsheathing Xuan Su again and again, affecting him.

For a moment, just for a moment, he really wanted to let Xiao Jiu know the truth, if only to make Xiao Jiu look at him with care too, if only for a little while.

But no, Xiao Jiu wouldn't look at him with care. Xiao Jiu would only hate him for being weak at such a time, and to letting it show. He would say, "Do you want me to feel guilty about Xuan Su, Zhangmen Shixiong? Do you want me to bow down to you for deeming to come back for dirty old me at all?"

( I would never! I would've been glad! YOU DON'T KNOW ME! OR A YUAN! STOP PRETENDING YOU DO!)

When he realised what had happened all those year ago with Tianlang Jun, how his shizun and the other peak lords had been tricked by that old coot, he couldn't help but feel disgusted for all those times he had had to socialize with that man. It reminded him, again, of Xiao Jiu, what he had said on first meeting that palace master as a peak lord.

"He's bad news Zhangmen shixiong, you need not show him such courtesy. The way he gazes at others disgusts this master. Sleazy old man with too much money and time on his hands..."

He had thought, then, that his Xiao Jiu was a hypocrite, to call another man sleazy, though now he was beginning to doubt his presumptions, or was it that like men recognised like men? Was that why the old palace master had accused Xiao Jiu of being a lecher? Because he himself was one?

(Indeed...whatever you wish to think... you can't hear me anyway...why should I justify myself...)

When he heard what that demonic brat Luo Binghe had to say to his shizun, to justify his reckless decision of merging the realms, Yue Qingyuan wanted to laugh. He thought he was abandoned? That nobody loved him?

What a joke!

When he was believed 'dead' nobody mourned him as much as Xiao Jiu did. Even when Xiao Jiu died, he died for him! After coming back, Xiao Jiu chose to go with him! Xiao Jiu constantly thought only of him! And that demon scourge has the gall to say otherwise! What impudence? Why was it always Xiao Jiu who suffered? Had he not done enough for that ungrateful brat?

What did he know of Xiao Jiu's hatred, of his indifference? Yue Qingyuan knew, only he knew so well what living in Xiao Jiu's disregard felt like!

But Xiao Jiu still chose that beast...

And all Yue Qingyuan could do, while his Xiao Jiu was maimed by that scourge, was to lay unconscious in a medical ward because of Xuan Su!

He had told his Xiao Jiu the truth as the ridge fell apart, because he really couldn't bear to die with that knowledge weighing him down, couldn't bear to carry the burden of that guilt anymore.

But his Xiao Jiu had shaken his head, repeatedly telling him to stop, as if he didn't want to listen to his explanation anymore.

But his Xiao Jiu had always asked him for the truth, hadn't he? Why didn't he want it now?

Yue Qingyuan wanted to die fulfilling his Xiao Jiu's wish...

(You're so cruel Qi-ge, so cruel... After knowing this, did you want me to live on with this knowledge as you happily reincarnated? How selfish! You're so selfish Qi-ge...A-Yuan is right, not about the fact that the person who deserved your pathetic explanation was not there, BECAUSE I AM, but that it really is... too late...)

These words echoed in his head and haunted him as he was carried on the back of the Zhao Hua temple's master, fading into unconsciousness. Finally a sense of wrongness, as if he really was hearing somebody else's, Xiao Jiu's words, filled him.

But that was impossible right?

Yue Qingyuan didn't think more on it, even as the words Who is A Yuan? echoed through his mind.

■□■□■□■□■□■

The little beast was lucky, even after everything that he put his Xiao Jiu through, Xiao Jiu decided to stay with him, and if he'd guessed right, to even marry him!

While his own explanation was left unacknowledged, just like that.

Xiao Jiu pretended as if that conversation didn't even happen.

Sometimes he would caress his Xuan Su right in front of Xiao Jiu, just so Xiao Jiu would come forward and gently place his hand on his, as a subtle gesture of No. It was just enough to satisfy Yue Qingyuan though, helped him understand that the conversation really did happen and was not a made up fantasy of his.

And also that Xiao Jiu did care, still.

But then...

It was a simple mission, a partnership between himself, Xiao Jiu, Mu Qingfang and that demon, about a village infested with a wierd disease that caused blindness. He was there because this area was actually under the nuns of Tian Yi, but they weren't able to solve the problem because of some reason, and he had to personally inform them that Cang Qiong was taking over. Shen Qingqiu was there because of his intellect and almost endless knowledge, Mu Qingfang was there to treat the patients, and Luo Binghe was there because he was everywhere that his shizun was.

Then Xiao Jiu got doused in some unknown pollen and fainted, and Luo Binghe arrogantly took Xiao Jiu in his arms, as if Xiao Jiu being doused in unknown substances right before that beast, was a normal occurence.

Just this time, his Xiao Jiu did not wake up for a month. The only reason they even got informed was because a very frantic Luo Binghe barged into a Peak Lord meeting that had yet to start (they were waiting for Xiao Jiu, that demon had turned his Xiao Jiu lazy) and took Mu Qingfang away.

It seemed that whatever it was that doused Xiao Jiu all those days ago had caused it, and it was demonic too. Mu Qingfang had to stay in the demon realm with them to find a cure while at the same time tend to Xiao Jiu.

Yue Qingyuan wanted Xiao Jiu on Cang Qiong Mountain, their home, but all things demonic were in the demon realm and Mu Qingfang needed them. That little beast would not give Xiao Jiu away so easily either.

And thus Xiao Jiu slept.

And Yue Qingyuan grew frantic.

This had happened too many times, too many times to count. His Xiao Jiu would fall unconscious, or worse yet, die and he could only watch.

And it was as he was fretfully searching the Bailu mountain for the Sun and Moon Dew flower seed, just in case, that he came upon a peerless seer.

All seeing, she called herself, face hidden under her cloak.

A fake, she called Xiao Jiu, a smile in her voice.

Pathetic, she called him, for not even realizing.

He told her to stop, denied her words (even if something inside him settled as if all it needed was confirmation) but then she showed him.

She showed him in a glass orb, what happened all those years ago when Yue Qi had run from the Qiu household, the untold promise only he and Xiao Jiu had known. She showed him their reunion, of how he was saved by Xiao Jiu from Wu Yanzi, that no one else witnessed because no one would take in the disciple of a demonic cultivator. She showed him his Qi deviation, that no one, not even Xiao Jiu, had seen.

"You already know it is true... you've always known it, you were just denying the truth, don't be a fool now..."

Yes.

He had been denying the truth.

Just so he wouldn't have to think that..

He had been lied to..

Those smiles...

The reassurances..

Lies...

They were all lies of an imposter whohadkilledhisXiaoJiuandtakenoverhisbodyandwasparadingaroundinitshamelesslylikeallofhisXiaoJiu'shardworkwashistoenjoy!

Lies. Everything.

Because of course they were! There were all these signs, the kindness, the tolerance, all those things that weren't Xiao Jiu, and he'd wilfully ignored them to get some affection! Affection he did not deserve, that Xiao Jiu would never give. LIKE A FOOL!

He'd been the only one who'd ever known Xiao Jiu, he was the only one who could've helped Xiao Jiu, the only one who could have recognised him, and he had greedily made up excuses to not see what was right in front of him!

And now Xiao Jiu was dead.

He was dead andthatimposterwasstillalivehappilylivingamarriedlifewhichcouldhavebeenhimandXiaoJiuandTHISWASALLHISFAULT!

"What do I do?" He asked the woman as he laid lifelessly on the ground, resting his back against a rotting tree stump.

"Revenge of course..." She whispered, like a spider weaving a glamorous net for her prey, completely assured that she'll catch it.

He, the prey, let himself get tangled in the web, as he asked, "how?"

"He, Shen Yuan, owes you a lot, kill it, take the debt back, merge it with your life, it owes you after everything it did to you..." The words weaved around him, surrounded him, as if in a fascimile of a warm hug, except it was cold, cold, and chilled him to his bones.

''Then live, live for him, for your love, let that demon scourge know what an imposter it is, save your martial siblings from trickery, get stronger so that the demon doesn't kill you..."

"You know what to do...free yourself.. finally.. freedom.."

Yue Qingyuan never even thought about why the name Yuan kept ringing in his head.

■♤■♤■♤■♤■♤■

In the gloomy night, a pair of ruby red and another of emerald green, snapped open.

The emeralds, filled with pain, seemed to seek for a pair of warm silver, but only met rubies.

Shen Qingqiu, Shen Yuan, Shen Jiu, sighed.

"You saw it all?"

"Yes Shizun.."

"Binghe..Luo Binghe...I..."

"Shizun..shizun is shizun...and all this time you were suffering, incomplete..."

"That does not justify-"

"It was Shen Jiu that I respected and wanted the acknowledgment of, and it was Shen Yuan I fell in love with. This disciple is, after all, Shizun's disciple. I had always known you were different since the qi deviation all those years ago, that is why...All this time..I hadn't called Shizun by his name...(A gasp of realisation)...Is it wrong that it brings me joy that you're both the same? That all I hoped for, I have gotten it? Your acknowledgment and love?"

"...No .. but..''

"And even if it had been confirmed for me that you are, in fact, not the master who took me in, I would have still loved just for being Shen Yuan..I am a greedy person, Shizun, and you have always indulged me. I will keep on being greedy until I win you over too, Shen Jiu...''

"I... you don't need to.. you already have Shen Yuan's love, but how can you come to love me? "

"Ah shizun, I love you so much, your good and your bad, I admire how you came to the top after endless struggles, I admire how you adjusted to a whole new world and a whole new custom, took over a whole peak as a mere 22 year old man (Binghe was younger when he took over the demon realm!) with no experience, pre-knowledge doesn't help you with managing kids shizun. I admire how selfless you are, how you persevered to survive as a slave, I admire you...And even if it was Shen Yuan that I fell in love with, it was you that I knew first, and with time, I'll come to love you too.."

"Even after all that I.."

"Yes... even then...and I'll definitely win you over too!"

"Cheeky boy, and you probably won't have to, I and Shen Yuan are one now...and I.. I feel..."

"You feel...?"

"Brat, don't make me say it!"

A chuckle. Then a sigh.

"Binghe, I need to.. you know I need to..."

"Zhangmen Shibo?"

"Yes."

"..I understand... anything for you.."

"You're not..?"

"Jealous? A bit, but now that I know how much shizun loved me, even before knowing me, I am reassured that Shizun will come back. After all, all those pictures and that body pillow-"

A snap of a fan against a head full of lustrous curls and the two men cuddled together in bed dissolved into laughter, already falling into place as if meant to be, as if Shen Jiu had always been Shen Yuan.

A rustle of sheets.

"Tomorrow, shizun? Zhangmen Shibo is out anyway."

"Out?"

"Yes, he went to find something for you to wake up, you were asleep for a month after all."

"A month?! And you're telling this now? Oh no I'm not going to think about that right now, it's too much. Just send him a communication talisman to say I have woken up."

"Yes shizun, and shizun...?"

A questioning hum.

''All this time... you were separated from Shen Yuan...Where were you as Shen Jiu..?"

"You saw for yourself, it's all a blur... just intense emotions, mostly negative ones...but..."

"But..?"

"But..I think I was tethered to Zhangmen Shixiong...I heard his voice.."

"Ohh.."

"Binghe, I know I am asking for too much, but, is there a way we can save him from Xuan Su? Would you help?"

"Shizun isn't asking for too much, shizun cares for him..and in the original....fate...of shizun...he had come back for you....and even if they are two different people, he still cares for you, and you still trust him, so of course I will help.."

"Thank you..Binghe.."

"Let's sleep shizun, tomorrow is a long day after all."

"En, good night. "

♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡

Yue Qingyuan didn't come back for 3 whole months. But he sent a communication talisman saying he had found a way to save himself from Xuan Su and would tell Shen Qingqiu about it soon.

Shen Qingqiu waited in anticipation for Qi ge, giddy, wishing to ask him if he had noticed his presence when they were tethered together. Even if a small part of him was sad that Qi ge had not known he was different, he was reassured that his Qi ge had been doubtful anyway and had tested so many times for possession. Those tests probably came negative because Shen Yuan was also him. His Qi ge had still been doubtful, so that was enough.

He knew he wouldn't be so gullible if he was still simply Shen Jiu.

But he was not.

Guess being Shen Yuan wasn't so bad, if he was loved...

But then... He couldn't help thinking with a soft smile about Luo Binghe's words...

I am still loved as I am, aren't I?

■○■○■○■○■○■○■

Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu, along with the rest of the peak lords, reached the clearing Yue Qingyuan had called them to.

It had been quite a weird thing, really. All the peak lords, including shizun, had received a message to come to the clearing to help Zhangmen Shibo in a ritual. No other details than, "It is about Xuan Su, Shen shidi will explain." was given. Indeed Luo Binghe called that sect leader Zhangmen shibo even though the sect didn't acknowledge him, only because shizun insisted, as he, and he quotes shizun here, "keep on calling me shizun anyways, might as well go all the way." So even inside his head, he practised calling him Zhangmen Shibo, because he was a meticulous and good disciple like that.

Luo Binghe was somewhat miffed that they had been called on so abruptly, really. He had just discovered the joys of eating tanghulu with shizun. Apparently, when it was tanghulu, Shizun could not resist gobbling them down, dropping his aloofness for a brief moment to let loose. It was something he knew Shizun would not do before anyone, whether before or after the...merging. But before him, shizun was open. Shizun was trusting. And Binghe loved it, loved these glimpses that only he had access to, though thinking about the fully-planned talk shizun would have with a certain sect leader and the closeness they'll definitely recover after said talk....He'd rather not think about it, really.

It was a joy watching shizun's face change in food-pleasure, and the little appreciative moans were like heaven themselves. Of course the highlight was the syrup that slid down a pale neck and almost dirtied his collar. And of course Binghe couldn't let that happen as the filial disciple that he is! Things had gotten more heated as the moans became louder, this time for a different reason (he loved every hint that his techniques were getting better, indeed shizun's brothel jiejies were the best) before a stupid piece of paper hit him straight on his face and Zhangmen Shibo's monotonous voice destroyed the mood. And the creepy thing was the monotonous voice, it certainly removed all arousal from either of them.

Guess this was the solution to his problem after all, he sure sounded pretty serious.

So here they were.

A gigantic array had been drawn meticulously on the ground and Zhangmen Shibo stood in the circular centre of it, Xuan Su placed horizontally on his palms. On either side were triangular lines and there was another circle, this time larger, passing through the first circle.

As they approached, Yue Qingyuan smiled tensely. Luo Binghe nodded when their eyes met. He did not know if he imagined it or that there really was, for the briefest of moments, a hint of ridicule in his eyes.

Must be his imagination, he thought when the sect leader naturally greeted his martial siblings, though oddly enough, tense around his shizun.

Then Luo Binghe focused on the array, and found that it looked oddly familiar. He almost felt as if it should be larger still and voiced the question.

Yue Qingyuan tensed but said it was the perfect size.

Weird, something was weird about him, Luo Binghe thought as he stared the sect leader down. Dark circles under his eyes and a morose aura surrounding him. Shizun too noticed it and stepped forward, calling out, "Qi-"

But the sect leader stepped away and clapped his palms together, drawing the attention of his conversing peak lords. That was when he noticed the two unfamiliar women by the side, standing on one of triangles.

"Who are they, Zhangmen Shixiong?" Liu-shishu, brash as he was, asked straight to the point.

"Outsiders should not be here for such an important sect event Shixiong," Shizun commented.

"They are the ones that helped me out, they should be treated with the respect they deserve." came the sharp reply. Shizun flinched, as if reprimanded. Luo Binghe steppes forward, hating the tone, as if Yue Qingyuan was talking to a misbehaving child.

"Watch your-"

"Let us start, shall we?" One of the women spoke, a hint of amusement in her voice. Luo Binghe bristled, angered that he was interrupted, and only nodded along because of shizun's grip on his sleeve, pulling him back.

"For this ritual, other than the person in the smaller circle, another has to stand in the larger one to supply huge amount of spiritual energy, and only one person. They have to inject huge amounts of spiritual energy into the array. A third person, this one closest in relation to the person in the smaller circle, must stand on the other triangle and make sure that the other person's qi is not deviating. The rest can stand as witness to the ritual."

"And what are you going to do?'' Qi Shigu questioned.

"We will maintain the array structure."

And then Luo Binghe, being the one with the largest amount of spiritual energy, started injecting his spiritual energy like instructed, all forced into the array together immediately, making him feel exhausted as it sucked at him. The person closest to Yue Qingyuan was, of course, Shizun, who took his position as well. The women started to make hand symbols while the rest of the peak lords stood aside confusedly, not knowing what their purpose was.

It was too late by the time Luo Binghe noticed the small scattered runes on the ground, and they had already started glowing a deep red. Shang Qinghua, who was standing with Mobei Jun with the others and had been frowning all this while as he stood staring at the array, suddenly paled in horror as he cried out, "Junshang step out!"

But it was too late. Huge red chains made of pure demonic energy, his demonic energy, wrapped around him in a chokehold as he felt his spiritual and demonic energy being rapidly pulled out of him. He couldn't even suck his energy back from the chains. He was trapped, he realized, as his thoughts that were till now disconnected from shock pulled themselves together.

Before he could say anything Shang Qinghua shouted, "Zhangmen Shixiong we have been tricked! This is the array that sealed Tianlang Jun! Those women lied! "

The other peak lords jerked in surprise but then quickly unsheathed their swords, pointing them at the two women, but a transparent veil suddenly covered the array. Shizun tried to run towards him but a barrier erected between them, stopping his advance. He could only turn desperately towards Yue Qingyuan

But Yue Qingyuan's next words chilled them all.

"Tricked? Indeed we have been tricked, but not by them, by it! " and he glanced at Shizun as he said this.

Luo Binghe jerked as he watched shizun's face pale. The chain tightened and burned through his clothes and his skin, easily, too easily restricting his motions.

"Qi Ge?" Shizun questioned as he stepped forward. But the very next second Xuan Su was impaled through his heart.

"SHIZUN!!"

"SHEN SHIXIONG!"

"ZHANGMEN SHIXIONG WHAT- BY THE GODS SHIXIONG!"

Yue Qingyuan growled as he pushed the sword in more, ignoring the tears of blood trickling down Shizun's eyes. Or the blood that spilled from his mouth. Or the blood from the wound on his heart, dying his robes crimson. Shizun's eyes were dazed, as if he was not even there.

Luo Binghe wailed as he tried to get himself out of the chains.

"IT IS NOT SHEN QINGQIU! STOP CALLING IT THAT! AND YOU DARE CALL ME QI GE AFTER TRICKING ME FOR SO LONG?? SHEN YUAN?"

The peak lords and Mobei Jun stilled as they watched everything unfold. Then Mu Qingfang was banging against the barrier again, hands slowly turning bloody.

"Shixiong you are making a huge mistake! Please let this shidi in! Shen Shixiong can still be saved!"

"Mu Cheng, believe me, no one here needs your saving." Then he started muttering in a foreign language to himself. It was, Luo Binghe realised, the soul merging spell. Luo Binghe's desperate attempts to free himself slowed, as the reality of it all hit home.

No..

Please no..

Not this...

"No Zhangmen Shixiong, that pollen- that pollen makes-"

"Qi-ge..."

Shizun's quiet voice put a stop to it all. Luo Binghe started shaking his head, as if trying to deny the inevitable. Because his heavenly demon blood was not working, on him or on Shizun. And the soul merging spell, once started, couldn't be stopped...

♤■♤■♤■♤■♤

"Other than me.. Nobody else can call Qi ge Qi ge right?" the soft, broken voice, with the last of its strength, whispered. Yue Qingyuan stilled, even as he continued muttering the curse.

"Qi ge was right...I was really wrong in my judgment...of you...I remember now..." Yue Qingyuan's eyes widened, and he tried to stop from muttering more, but it was as if his lips weren't under his control anymore.

"A-Yuan trusted Qi ge, thought you'd protect him..." Why were these words familiar?

"By my dying wish...just don't hurt Binghe, Qi ge, he loves me so much..." The imposter? sobbed.

"You have failed me many times already, don't do it again..." No, stop stop STOP!

"Binghe... don't hurt Qi ge okay? Please..." Xiao Jiu? turned towards Luo Binghe as he said this. Then turning back, his deep emerald eyes met his own silver ones.

"I told you.... don't be impulsive..." Yue Qingyuan sucked in a harsh breath as the spell finally finished. But he couldn't find words anymore.

"Because you suffered all these years for me...because you came back... I'll do this for you too, I owe you after all...."

And then Xiao Jiu willingly merged with Xuan Su.

■●♤●■●♤●■●♤■●

The woman who had met him and given him the soul merging spell had actually been a demon from the seer clan, whose father had been killed for trying to fight against Luo Binghe's rule. The other lady was Xiao Gongzhu, who had stolen this array from Huan Hua palace when she found out the truth about her own father's death.

The two women had come together on shared pain to bring pain to their common enemy, Luo Binghe.

And what better way to do that than to kill the love of his eyes right before him?

Even if the sealing was not completed and they were killed, they'll get their revenge.

And they had the perfect person to trick.

It was Yue Qingyuan.

It was also very easy to look into his heart demon for the seer.

Yue Qingyuan's heart demon was Shen Qingqiu.

Being a seer really came in handy sometimes, haha.

■□■□■□■□■

''The pollen was not a sex-pollen, it was a pollen of memory resurgance, a demonic one we hadn't tried yet, it was all planned shixiong."

"Shen shixiong remembered everything after he woke up a month later, and I knew because he told me as he came to get checked over. We planned on telling you... but you didn't come back..."

"There had always been two of them- Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu were once just Xiao Jiu. But during his Qi deviation in the Qiu manor, Shixiong's soul split in two, one of them reincarnating into another world, brought back only on that fateful qi deviation all those years ago. That was Shen Yuan. Shen Jiu became a ghost that tethered himself to you. They merged in Maigu Ridge. Shen shixiong said something about 'self saving' but this shidi did not understand. This was what Luo Binghe made out when he entered shixiong's mind to help him remember easier...."

"Without his other half, Shen shixiong had been suffering all this while in those qi deviations....."

"But we never bothered to know..."

♤■♤■♤■♤■♤

" I understand, zhangmen shixiong, what you were thinking...."

"But that doesn't make it right..."

"Even though I am a brute, and it's true I know, even then I did know that something was different about Shen Qingqiu.."

"But he was loyal to the sect...he died for the sect...And I have realised that Shen Jiu himself had been loyal as well.."

"You wanted revenge for your sibling, you should've come to us, we could have confronted them together, not this mess.."

"Without even asking Shen Yuan... you..."

"You killed an innocent.."

■♤■♤■♤■♤■

''Zhangmen shixiong, as a woman I am naturally good about sensing some things...So I knew you were concerningly invested in Shen Qingqiu.."

"But if I had known..."

"I don't know whether I should be angry at myself for ignoring all the signs and being petty about your favor towards Shen Shixiong.."

"Pity Shen Shixiong for his fate..."

''Or be disgusted in you..."

A pause.

"You were the one that told Shen Shixiong to value and care for his martial siblings, to trust them, because martial siblings always have each others' back.. you scolded him for being rude.. but between the two of you, who was the one who actually didn't see us as brothers, Zhangmen Shixiong?"

■♤■♤■♤■♤■♤■

" Zhangmen Shixiong... The soul merging spell worked well, now Shen Qingqiu's soul has merged with Xuan Su and replaced your own soul with himself. He probably won't reincarnate again..."

"Your lifespan won't be decreased.. in fact... it has been added..."

"Shen Shixiong's centuries of immortal lifespan has been added to yours.."

"Are you happy? To know he really cares about you..?"

"Oh, don't look surprised, I've always known what you thought.."

"Perhaps I should have thought deeper before giving that type of life to either of you.."

"I wish I hadn't made Shen shixiong meet you.."

"Now my only friend is dead..."

■♤■♤■♤■♤■♤■

"Trying to kill yourself?"

"I won't let you have that pleasure...Shizun killed himself for you after all..."

"Gods how I wish to kill you.. end your pathetic little life...."

"But I am bound by my beloved's promise. So you'll suffer... in this cage... you'll live with this regret..."

"I wish to take shizun's soul back, but you'll die immediately, and even after your lifespan is up, you'll feast on shizun's own.. and when that is over... would even fragments be left of him?"

"But don't you worry..as a heavenly demon, I'll live long... let this shizi accompany you..shibo.."

"Xuan su will stay with me..As much as I hate this parasite, Shizun is in there, and I certainly won't let your dirty hands touch him..."

"After you're dead, even if it is just fragments... I will take my A-Yuan's fragments.."

"He hated that name, you know? 'Xiao Jiu'. He had fantasies about a different, real name.."

"I know, I was in his head after all."

"His mother gave him the name Yuan, of the character 'wall'. In both lives. He remembered when he relived life as Xiao Jiu, the name stitched on the bundle of clothes he was wrapped in, the bundle you found him in, the name he couldn't read then, because he didn't know how to..."

"Don't you dare...Don't you ever dare say that name...or I will rip your tongue out..."

"Yuan..."

■♤■♤■♤■♤■

On a quiet corner of Bailu mountain, in a bamboo hut that his good son-in-law arranged, accompanied by a demon nurse, Tianlang Jun's eyes snapped open as he felt the all to familiar and chilling energy of the array that had trapped him for all those decades. Right on the other side of the mountain. He heaved his breaking body up, tense, but immediately relaxed when the array came down too quickly. His son, the only other heavenly demon, must be safe. He must have gotten out already. The array was for heavenly demons alone, after all. It was called 'Heaven's cage' for a reason.

As he patiently sipped on a cup of tea, he glanced at the painting of Zhuzhi-lang that Master Shen had done.

His son-in-law was really too nice.. Someday perhaps he'll agree to paint his Xiyan too, he trusted Master Shen"s skills.

If he had seen what was going on on the other side of the mountain, he would've found the scene all too familiar.

Just that while before the Great Xuan Su sword was impaled through his heart..

This time it was his son in law...

His peaceful morning was destroyed by a heart wrenching wail from an all too familiar voice.

His tea cup shattered on the ground.

Notes:

Yqy is tongueless..

oof what a long chapter!!

if you've read this on ao3, the author is Tanyingzhan, and that's me itself okay??

btw how many of u guessed about sj? i had been leaving clues after all, subtle ones i believe!

If you're unsure about any detail, tell me! I will try to answer your questions!

and pls leave comments and tell me what you thought of this!
This is my first completed fic after all! show this poor one some mercy!

also, did you notice how quickly baby bingbing lost his resolve to address yqy as shibo?