Fic: And There Was Only One Bed (4/4)
Mar. 2nd, 2025 10:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetFandom: The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Chapter Summary: Luo Binghe comes home
Mirrors: Chapter Four
Wordcount: ~1900
Ships: Pre-Bingqiu
Notes: System activation text taken from the Seven Seas translation of book two.
Acknowledgements: Once again, thanks togwogobo for the beta work, as well as the podfic 💖
Fic: And There Was Only One Bed
Chapter Four
If it had been up to Luo Binghe, the first cut he made with Xin Mo would have taken him home to Qing Jing Peak and Shen Qingqiu. His numerous qainkun pouches (more than twice as many as he remembered packing for the Immortal Alliance Conference, and he suspected Shizun's overly-cautious hand in that) had been nearly emptied of their original supplies, and since refilled with incredible treasures and information on the creatures he'd found in the Endless Abyss. He longed to present his finds to his teacher as the first of many courting gifts, but even more to simply be welcomed home by those warm, loving arms.
Unfortunately, the sword was not so accommodating. Instead, it spat him out in the Demon Realm, in the middle of a fight between two warring clans. Subduing both of them took very little time, all told, but the aftermath? Even with how much practice he'd gotten in the Endless Abyss, turning down a place in his "future harem" for the leaders' respective daughters took nearly twice as long.
Binghe rolled his eyes when they weren't looking. Imagine, him with a harem! Shizun was the only one he needed.
Things didn't improve from there. An inquiry about the date informed Binghe that he'd been in the Abyss for more than eighteen months, which was much longer than he would have preferred to leave Shizun alone; who knew what pests might have moved in without Luo Binghe to chase them away! Liu Qingge was already far too familiar with Shizun, and he even had a legitimate reason to visit occasionally. (Though once Binghe found a way to get rid of Without a Cure, even that would be gone.)
His one stroke of good luck was that one of the clan leaders had an alliance with the demons who ruled the Northern Kingdom, one of whom used portals to travel. It seemed likely that this demon would be able to help Luo Binghe learn to control where Xin Mo took him, and Binghe was fully prepared to take advantage of his new position in the clan's hierarchy to redefine terms with said kingdom in his favor.
Since Xin Mo had deposited Luo Binghe roughly in the middle of the Demon Realm, though, he had a considerable trek to make before he and his apparent subjects reached the Northern Kingdom. Even worse, none of the ruling parties between his starting point and his destination seemed to be willing to communicate with anything other than fists or blades. Luo Binghe ended up simply conquering his way through those lands, which at least helped control the sword's blood lust, but the increasing number of rejected harem candidates was becoming a problem.
He solved it by assigning most of them positions in his growing empire, as according to their talents and interests. This seemed to please the majority of them; while not joined through marriage, assigning the former harem candidates to positions of political power showed that Luo Binghe still valued their clans' contributions and gave them a voice in his empire. Similarly, most of the demon women were quite satisfied by the opportunity to put their long-honed skills to use. Luo Binghe in turn was grateful not to have to deal with as much of the minutiae of running a growing empire.
The remaining few would-be brides who insisted on attempting to court him he instead shunted off to the far reaches of the lands under his control, ensuring that he wouldn't have to deal with them. In the mean time, all the talk of marriage alliances had the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind.
It was six months after his arrival in the Demon Realm when Luo Binghe finally made it to the Northern Kingdom. Given the skill's rarity, he wasn't surprised to learn that the portal-wielding demon that first clan leader knew was the same demon who had challenged him at the Immortal Alliance Conference. Mobei-Jun, for his part, seemed somewhat impressed that Luo Binghe had not only survived the Endless Abyss, but escaped to tell the tale—at least from what Luo Binghe could glean from his minimal facial expressions.
The two of them had a formal rematch the day after Luo Binghe's arrival at the Northern Palace. Binghe was pleased to thoroughly trounce the demon who was indirectly responsible for his separation from Shen Qingqiu, and for his part, Mobei-Jun seemed perfectly content to hand Binghe authority over the Northern Kingdom in exchange for lessons in portal control.
From there, it took Binghe three months to get the hang of portalling with Xin Mo, and a further month to master the skill, though the sword itself was still proving difficult. He took another month after that to be certain he wouldn't endanger anyone (Shizun) with it, and then began talks with his advisors about forming an alliance with the Human Realm. Not many of them liked it, but the few who dared voice such an opinion were quickly silenced by Xin Mo. This also prevented any dissent when Luo Binghe named his first diplomatic target: Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.
Binghe planned for the first delegation to leave two weeks after his announcement; Mobei-Jun said he had an ally on the peaks whom they could rely on—a human he was courting—which gave them an in with the sect that didn't require Binghe to out himself. Those two weeks would allow Mobei-Jun and his ally to set the groundwork on Cang Qiong Mountain for the new Demon Emperor's arrival. Since Binghe wasn't sure yet how Shen Qingqiu had taken the revelation of his heritage, he readily agreed to let Mobei-Jun's ally set things up.
Still, it had been two-and-a-half years at this point since Binghe had seen his master! With their reunion so close, and Xin Mo's effect on his moods, he was concerned about how he would react if he had to wait another two weeks to see Shen Qingqiu. So that night, Binghe sorted through the clothing available at the Northern Kingdom, dressed in the closest match he could find to Qing Jing disciple robes for camouflage, and opened a portal to the grounds outside the Bamboo House.
When he stepped through, the familiarity almost knocked him to his knees. Inasmuch as Binghe considered home to be a place rather than a person, this was it: the cozy house where he had learned that kindness not only existed outside the memories of his mother, but had welcomed him in with warm smiles and head pats.
Swallowing against the wave of emotion, Luo Binghe crept up to the Bamboo House. All the lights were out, so Shen Qingqiu was surely sleeping; Binghe would look in on him briefly, then return to the Demon Realm until the official diplomatic meeting.
It was easy enough for him to slip inside; hadn't he done the opposite often enough as a disciple, when he went to prepare Shizun's breakfast? Making his way to his master's room was even easier, the path well worn from hundreds of journeys in the dream realm. Silently, he slid open the door and entered Shen Qingqiu's bedroom.
There, at last, was his Shizun. He was a bit thinner than Binghe remembered, and there was the crease of a frown between his brows, even in sleep, but the way he had latched onto his bedma—
There was someone in Shen Qingqiu's bed with him.
White-hot rage flooded Binghe's senses and he gripped Xin Mo tightly. Who would dare take his place in Shizun's house, in his bed? Luo Binghe would—
Binghe slammed down on the torrent of rage from the sword, his head swimming from the enormity of it. No, he commanded Xin Mo, forcing the sword to behave. Luo Binghe had sensed only one qi signature from the Bamboo House: he would trust his teacher and investigate properly. And if it indeed turned out to be some interloper who had discovered a method of disguising their qi, Binghe would deal with them then.
Cat-quiet, Binghe crept up to Shen Qingqiu's bedside to see what his shizun was so thoroughly wrapped around. He almost dropped Xin Mo when he saw what it was.
No wonder he'd mistaken it for a person! Shizun was cuddling a human-sized pillow or roll of cloth that had been dressed in some of Binghe's old clothes. Moreover, it had talismans attached that, if Binghe was reading them correctly, appeared to be preserving his... essence? Was that it?
The thing that made him actually tear up, though, was its face. Painted on in an unusual style, the eyes were large and expressive with tiny white sparkles standing out against the black pupils, and the mouth curved up in an adoring smile. But what truly caught Binghe's attention was the bright red zuiyin inscribed on its forehead.
The pillow-thing was him; there could be no mistaking it. Not only had Shizun missed Binghe, he accepted every part of him, literally embraced him, demon heritage included.
Suddenly, Luo Binghe couldn't imagine going back to the Demon Realm that night. His place was here, preserved for him by the man he loved. Uncaring of the chaos it would surely cause in the morning, Binghe stripped down to his innermost robe and piled his outer layers in a corner, laying Xin Mo on top of them. Then, very carefully, he extracted his cloth double from Shen Qingqiu's arms. His shizun whimpered lightly and groped the empty air for a moment, but his expression settled when Binghe slipped into his arms. Even the frown he'd been wearing in his sleep was replaced by a gentle smile.
Feeling truly safe for the first time in more than two years, Binghe leaned into his master's embrace and drifted off to sleep.
---
Shen Qingqiu woke from the best sleep he'd had since before the Immortal Alliance Conference to a comfortable weight in his arms and the unwelcome sound of the System starting up.
[Hello. System activation successful.]
[Universal activation key: Luo Binghe.]
[Self-examination results: Central power source is operating normally and in good condition.]
[Hibernation mode suspended. Normal operation mode activated.]
[Download and installation of update complete.]
[Thank you for your continued use of our services.]
'Thank you?! What thank you?! I never asked for this service!' Shen Qingqiu wanted to rage at the System. What was going on? How was it even back?
[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Important things must be repeated three times! Critical quest: Endless Abyss and Sleepless Nights has been completed! +5,000 B-Points.]
That caught Shen Qingqiu's attention. It was over? But surely it hadn't been five years yet; he could have sworn it hadn't even been three when he'd fallen asleep...
He finally took stock of the unusually warm and heavy state of the dakimakura he had wrapped around in his sleep, and then froze.
That was not the Luo Binghe dakimakura that Airplane had put together for him. That was the actual Luo Binghe. Who appeared to be... sleeping?
[+500 Satisfaction points!]
WTF?! Where did those come from!
[Current quest: Only One Bed. Please continue to work hard and earn points!]
Shen Qingqiu stared at the notification for a long moment before blinking it away. Useless System; useless notification! As if Mu Qingfang would let him sleep alone now that Binghe was back! There was no reason to tie it in with that ridiculous quest package he'd bought!
Grumpily, Shen Qingqiu hugged Binghe tighter. He was too tired to deal with this bullshit right now; he'd figure things out in the morning.
--fin--
Actual video of Luo Binge getting rid of his cloth replacement!
SQH the next morning: *bursts into the Bamboo House, already speaking in English* "Bro, you'll never believe what I just heard from Mobei-Ju—what the fuck, Bro!"
LBH at the diplomatic meeting: I'm given to understand that marriages are a common way to seal alliances. I wouldn't be so crass as to demand the hand of the first ranked peak lord for such a deal! However, I understand that the second ranked peak lord is as yet unspoken for...?
YQY:
LQG:
SQQ: ...eh?
MQF: Well, at least this way I can be sure he'll continue his treatment plan!
Chapter Summary: Luo Binghe comes home
Mirrors: Chapter Four
Wordcount: ~1900
Ships: Pre-Bingqiu
Notes: System activation text taken from the Seven Seas translation of book two.
Acknowledgements: Once again, thanks to
gwogobo for the beta work, as well as the podfic 💖Fic: And There Was Only One Bed
Chapter Four
If it had been up to Luo Binghe, the first cut he made with Xin Mo would have taken him home to Qing Jing Peak and Shen Qingqiu. His numerous qainkun pouches (more than twice as many as he remembered packing for the Immortal Alliance Conference, and he suspected Shizun's overly-cautious hand in that) had been nearly emptied of their original supplies, and since refilled with incredible treasures and information on the creatures he'd found in the Endless Abyss. He longed to present his finds to his teacher as the first of many courting gifts, but even more to simply be welcomed home by those warm, loving arms.
Unfortunately, the sword was not so accommodating. Instead, it spat him out in the Demon Realm, in the middle of a fight between two warring clans. Subduing both of them took very little time, all told, but the aftermath? Even with how much practice he'd gotten in the Endless Abyss, turning down a place in his "future harem" for the leaders' respective daughters took nearly twice as long.
Binghe rolled his eyes when they weren't looking. Imagine, him with a harem! Shizun was the only one he needed.
Things didn't improve from there. An inquiry about the date informed Binghe that he'd been in the Abyss for more than eighteen months, which was much longer than he would have preferred to leave Shizun alone; who knew what pests might have moved in without Luo Binghe to chase them away! Liu Qingge was already far too familiar with Shizun, and he even had a legitimate reason to visit occasionally. (Though once Binghe found a way to get rid of Without a Cure, even that would be gone.)
His one stroke of good luck was that one of the clan leaders had an alliance with the demons who ruled the Northern Kingdom, one of whom used portals to travel. It seemed likely that this demon would be able to help Luo Binghe learn to control where Xin Mo took him, and Binghe was fully prepared to take advantage of his new position in the clan's hierarchy to redefine terms with said kingdom in his favor.
Since Xin Mo had deposited Luo Binghe roughly in the middle of the Demon Realm, though, he had a considerable trek to make before he and his apparent subjects reached the Northern Kingdom. Even worse, none of the ruling parties between his starting point and his destination seemed to be willing to communicate with anything other than fists or blades. Luo Binghe ended up simply conquering his way through those lands, which at least helped control the sword's blood lust, but the increasing number of rejected harem candidates was becoming a problem.
He solved it by assigning most of them positions in his growing empire, as according to their talents and interests. This seemed to please the majority of them; while not joined through marriage, assigning the former harem candidates to positions of political power showed that Luo Binghe still valued their clans' contributions and gave them a voice in his empire. Similarly, most of the demon women were quite satisfied by the opportunity to put their long-honed skills to use. Luo Binghe in turn was grateful not to have to deal with as much of the minutiae of running a growing empire.
The remaining few would-be brides who insisted on attempting to court him he instead shunted off to the far reaches of the lands under his control, ensuring that he wouldn't have to deal with them. In the mean time, all the talk of marriage alliances had the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind.
It was six months after his arrival in the Demon Realm when Luo Binghe finally made it to the Northern Kingdom. Given the skill's rarity, he wasn't surprised to learn that the portal-wielding demon that first clan leader knew was the same demon who had challenged him at the Immortal Alliance Conference. Mobei-Jun, for his part, seemed somewhat impressed that Luo Binghe had not only survived the Endless Abyss, but escaped to tell the tale—at least from what Luo Binghe could glean from his minimal facial expressions.
The two of them had a formal rematch the day after Luo Binghe's arrival at the Northern Palace. Binghe was pleased to thoroughly trounce the demon who was indirectly responsible for his separation from Shen Qingqiu, and for his part, Mobei-Jun seemed perfectly content to hand Binghe authority over the Northern Kingdom in exchange for lessons in portal control.
From there, it took Binghe three months to get the hang of portalling with Xin Mo, and a further month to master the skill, though the sword itself was still proving difficult. He took another month after that to be certain he wouldn't endanger anyone (Shizun) with it, and then began talks with his advisors about forming an alliance with the Human Realm. Not many of them liked it, but the few who dared voice such an opinion were quickly silenced by Xin Mo. This also prevented any dissent when Luo Binghe named his first diplomatic target: Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.
Binghe planned for the first delegation to leave two weeks after his announcement; Mobei-Jun said he had an ally on the peaks whom they could rely on—a human he was courting—which gave them an in with the sect that didn't require Binghe to out himself. Those two weeks would allow Mobei-Jun and his ally to set the groundwork on Cang Qiong Mountain for the new Demon Emperor's arrival. Since Binghe wasn't sure yet how Shen Qingqiu had taken the revelation of his heritage, he readily agreed to let Mobei-Jun's ally set things up.
Still, it had been two-and-a-half years at this point since Binghe had seen his master! With their reunion so close, and Xin Mo's effect on his moods, he was concerned about how he would react if he had to wait another two weeks to see Shen Qingqiu. So that night, Binghe sorted through the clothing available at the Northern Kingdom, dressed in the closest match he could find to Qing Jing disciple robes for camouflage, and opened a portal to the grounds outside the Bamboo House.
When he stepped through, the familiarity almost knocked him to his knees. Inasmuch as Binghe considered home to be a place rather than a person, this was it: the cozy house where he had learned that kindness not only existed outside the memories of his mother, but had welcomed him in with warm smiles and head pats.
Swallowing against the wave of emotion, Luo Binghe crept up to the Bamboo House. All the lights were out, so Shen Qingqiu was surely sleeping; Binghe would look in on him briefly, then return to the Demon Realm until the official diplomatic meeting.
It was easy enough for him to slip inside; hadn't he done the opposite often enough as a disciple, when he went to prepare Shizun's breakfast? Making his way to his master's room was even easier, the path well worn from hundreds of journeys in the dream realm. Silently, he slid open the door and entered Shen Qingqiu's bedroom.
There, at last, was his Shizun. He was a bit thinner than Binghe remembered, and there was the crease of a frown between his brows, even in sleep, but the way he had latched onto his bedma—
There was someone in Shen Qingqiu's bed with him.
White-hot rage flooded Binghe's senses and he gripped Xin Mo tightly. Who would dare take his place in Shizun's house, in his bed? Luo Binghe would—
Binghe slammed down on the torrent of rage from the sword, his head swimming from the enormity of it. No, he commanded Xin Mo, forcing the sword to behave. Luo Binghe had sensed only one qi signature from the Bamboo House: he would trust his teacher and investigate properly. And if it indeed turned out to be some interloper who had discovered a method of disguising their qi, Binghe would deal with them then.
Cat-quiet, Binghe crept up to Shen Qingqiu's bedside to see what his shizun was so thoroughly wrapped around. He almost dropped Xin Mo when he saw what it was.
No wonder he'd mistaken it for a person! Shizun was cuddling a human-sized pillow or roll of cloth that had been dressed in some of Binghe's old clothes. Moreover, it had talismans attached that, if Binghe was reading them correctly, appeared to be preserving his... essence? Was that it?
The thing that made him actually tear up, though, was its face. Painted on in an unusual style, the eyes were large and expressive with tiny white sparkles standing out against the black pupils, and the mouth curved up in an adoring smile. But what truly caught Binghe's attention was the bright red zuiyin inscribed on its forehead.
The pillow-thing was him; there could be no mistaking it. Not only had Shizun missed Binghe, he accepted every part of him, literally embraced him, demon heritage included.
Suddenly, Luo Binghe couldn't imagine going back to the Demon Realm that night. His place was here, preserved for him by the man he loved. Uncaring of the chaos it would surely cause in the morning, Binghe stripped down to his innermost robe and piled his outer layers in a corner, laying Xin Mo on top of them. Then, very carefully, he extracted his cloth double from Shen Qingqiu's arms. His shizun whimpered lightly and groped the empty air for a moment, but his expression settled when Binghe slipped into his arms. Even the frown he'd been wearing in his sleep was replaced by a gentle smile.
Feeling truly safe for the first time in more than two years, Binghe leaned into his master's embrace and drifted off to sleep.
---
Shen Qingqiu woke from the best sleep he'd had since before the Immortal Alliance Conference to a comfortable weight in his arms and the unwelcome sound of the System starting up.
[Hello. System activation successful.]
[Universal activation key: Luo Binghe.]
[Self-examination results: Central power source is operating normally and in good condition.]
[Hibernation mode suspended. Normal operation mode activated.]
[Download and installation of update complete.]
[Thank you for your continued use of our services.]
'Thank you?! What thank you?! I never asked for this service!' Shen Qingqiu wanted to rage at the System. What was going on? How was it even back?
[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Important things must be repeated three times! Critical quest: Endless Abyss and Sleepless Nights has been completed! +5,000 B-Points.]
That caught Shen Qingqiu's attention. It was over? But surely it hadn't been five years yet; he could have sworn it hadn't even been three when he'd fallen asleep...
He finally took stock of the unusually warm and heavy state of the dakimakura he had wrapped around in his sleep, and then froze.
That was not the Luo Binghe dakimakura that Airplane had put together for him. That was the actual Luo Binghe. Who appeared to be... sleeping?
[+500 Satisfaction points!]
WTF?! Where did those come from!
[Current quest: Only One Bed. Please continue to work hard and earn points!]
Shen Qingqiu stared at the notification for a long moment before blinking it away. Useless System; useless notification! As if Mu Qingfang would let him sleep alone now that Binghe was back! There was no reason to tie it in with that ridiculous quest package he'd bought!
Grumpily, Shen Qingqiu hugged Binghe tighter. He was too tired to deal with this bullshit right now; he'd figure things out in the morning.
--fin--
Actual video of Luo Binge getting rid of his cloth replacement!
SQH the next morning: *bursts into the Bamboo House, already speaking in English* "Bro, you'll never believe what I just heard from Mobei-Ju—what the fuck, Bro!"
LBH at the diplomatic meeting: I'm given to understand that marriages are a common way to seal alliances. I wouldn't be so crass as to demand the hand of the first ranked peak lord for such a deal! However, I understand that the second ranked peak lord is as yet unspoken for...?
YQY:
LQG:
SQQ: ...eh?
MQF: Well, at least this way I can be sure he'll continue his treatment plan!
