Chapter Text
Enjoy!
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"Shen Qingqiu!" Liu Qingge shouts.
Shen Jiu stares at Liu Qingge for a long moment before deciding to turn around and simply walk away.
"Stop!" Liu Qingge shouts as he chase after Shen Jiu.
Liu Qingge grabs hold of Shen Jiu's arm.
Shen Jiu flinches.
Liu Qingge is shocked by the reaction.
Shen Qingqiu flinched?
Shen Qingqiu was afraid of him?
What has happened to cause Shen Qingqiu to react in such a way?
The Shen Qingqiu that Liu Qingge knew would have punched Liu Qingge by now.
Shen Qingqiu would have made a snide remark about what a brute Liu Qinngge was.
But no, this Shen Qingqiu flinched.
"Peak lord Liu. This one is not Shen Qingqiu. This one is name Shen Jiu. If Peak lord Liu would be so polite as to let go of me." Shen Jiu says with a little tremble in his voice.
"Shen..."
Shen Jiu harshly pulls his arm out of Liu Qingge's hold.
"I am sure that Peak lord Liu is a busy man. If you will excuse me, I will take my leave."
Liu Qingge could do nothing more than watch as Shen Jiu walked away.
**********
All Liu Qinnge knows is that he woke up from a five year coma.
All his martial brothers and sister made a commotion about him finally waking up.
He was told that he suffered a severe qi deviation in the spirit caves.
He remembers somewhat that his body was burning and the pain he was in.
But further than that, he couldn't recall much.
"You probably wouldn't have ended up in a coma if that bastard wasn't so vile." Qi Qingqi tells him.
Liu Qingge is confused about this.
"Bastard?" Liu Qingge questions.
Qi Qingqi nods.
"Yes! That bastard Shen Qingqiu was in the cave with you. He saw you suffering from a qi deviation, and took advantage of it. He attacked you and tried to burn away what remained of your qi, but good thing that you were stronger so you simply fell into a coma."
"When we found you, you were barely breathing. You only had a small amount of qi circulating through your body. It took awhile to get your qi to flow properly again." Mu Qingfang explains.
"Turns out that Shen Qingqiu was no match for you. When Zhangmen-Shixiong and Mu-shidi entered the cave, they found you two completely knocked out. You were on the verge of death, while Shen Qingqiu was suffering a qi deviation." Wei Qingwei shares his own recollection.
Liu Qingge frowns at this.
"If we were both passed out and if we were the only two in the caves at the time then how were you all able to determine that Shen Qingqiu tried to kill me?"
Qi Qingqi scoffs.
"Isn't it obvious? He has always been jealous of you. He even stated on multiple occasions that he will kill you one day. Luckily, that bastard is a weak whimp and he was unable to kill you."
Liu Qingge feels like something doesn't seem right, but he can't remember, and he trusts his martial siblings.
"What about Shen Qingqiu? Was he okay? Didn't he suffer a qi deviation?" Liu Qingge asks.
"There's no need to worry about him." Wei Qingwei tells Liu Qingge.
"Why?"
"Xiao Jiu is no longer here." Yue Qingyuan tells him.
"What!? Why not?" Liu Qinnge really doesn't like what he is being told.
"What do you mean why? Obviously, he was kicked out of the sect. He tried to kill you!" Qi Qingqi shouts (she can't believe that Liu Qinnge is even asking why).
"But no one is sure." Liu Qingge tries to understand the whole situation.
"I think Liu Shixiong should rest. You have just woken up from a five year coma." Mu Qingfang tries to change the topic.
Liu Qingge is trying his hardest to remember what happened in the caves, but the harder he tries to remember, the more his head hurts.
He can trust his martial siblings, right?
They must have done their best to investigate the truth before throwing Shen Qingqiu away, right?
**********
It has been 5 months since Liu Qingge had woken from his five year coma.
He is still trying to get used to things.
Nothing has changed much though.
The only major difference is that there is no longer a short tempered and prickly scholar around.
Liu Qinnge no longer has someone to bother and someone to spar with.
Every so often, Liu Qinnge couldn't help but stare towards where Qing Jing peak is.
He wonders how Shen Qingqiu is.
Could someone like Shen Qingqiu survive on his own?
How would a young master like Shen Qingqiu fare by himself?
**********
Liu Qingge couldn't bare it anymore!
For 5 months, he has been forced to do nothing.
He was not allowed to leave the sect.
But, he cannot do it anymore!
He needs a mission.
He needs to go down the mountain.
He needs a long mission where he can think without his martial siblings trying to twist his memories.
He needs some peace to himself so that he can try and remember what happened in the caves.
So at the next peak lord meeting, Liu Qinnge offers to take the mission that is going to take at least three days to travel to.
"Liu shidi..."
Before Yue Qingyuan can deny him, Liu Qingge cuts him off.
"I am fine! Mu shidi already confirmed that my five year coma did not affect me physically. I am going to take this mission."
Yue Qingyuan sighs.
"Okay. But maybe someone should go with.."
"No. I am fine doing this mission on my own. It does not seem to be a task that needs two peak lords."
"Fine. Liu shidi can handle this mission then."
With no other choice, Yue Qingyuan hands Liu Qingge the scroll with the information about the mission.
**********
It has been five years now since Shen Qingqiu...no he is simply Shen jiu now.
It has been five years since Shen Jiu had left Cang Qiong Mountain.
A place where he had hope would be home to him.
But he knows now that it was more of a prison than it was a home.
Everyone was quick to accuse him of trying to kill Liu Qingge.
No one even cared to ask for his side of the story.
He was a scum who took advantage of Liu Qingge's weak state, and tried to murder Liu Qingge in cold blood.
That was the story that formed in everyone's mind and there was no changing it.
Shen jiu had denied the accusations.
But he was told to "shut up!" and to "stop lying!"
Why bother defending your self when your truth will not be accepted?
Shen Jiu had looked pleadingly to Yue Qingyuan to help him.
But the asshole simply gave him a guilty look and a thin smile.
Oh. So even Qi-ge did not believe him.
If Qi-ge did not even want to help him then who else would?
Without a proper investigation, Shen Jiu was voted to be kicked out.
It felt so painful.
But Shen Jiu kept his calm.
All the eyes glaring at him as if he truly was just a monster.
All the sneers as he made his way down the mountain.
Wei Qingwei's little smirk as he had to return Xia Yu.
Qi Qingqi's little snarky remarks.
"About time we got rid of trash."
Yue Qingyuan's disappointed look.
No one!
No one cared about him or the truth.
He was the one who was attacked!
The one who was assaulted... and yet...
he was painted to be the villain.
He was the victim was he not?
A simple medical examine would have cleared everything up, but Mu Qingfang did not even spare him a glance.
All Mu Qingfang's effort went into trying to help Liu Qingge.
Shen Jiu had to use so much of his qi to heal himself.
He almost suffered another qi deviation from just trying to survive.
N one was even there to comfort him when he had just experienced something traumatic.
Shen Jiu left the mountain with a heavy heart.
He has spent his first few months with his sisters form the Warm Red Pavilion.
Within three months, Shen Jiu begin feeling strange.
"A'jiu you are with child." Madam Cheng had told him.
Shen Jiu was in disbelief.
What!!!?
"No..." Shen Jiu wanted to die right then.
"We will take care of you." The sisters of the Warm Red Pavilion tried to assure him.
However, there only so much a few prostitutes could do.
Shen Jiu still remembers the day when it was finally time to give birth.
It was so painful.
The was no proper equipments to assist him.
None of the ladies had any medical knowledge.
They could only simply encourage him and stay by his side.
It was a sad and lonely time.
Shen Jiu really thought he was going to die.
Without the proper equipment, after giving birth to a healthy baby boy, Shen Jiu had to rely solely on his cultivation to heal.
It took him three whole months to heal fully and properly.
He remembers laying in so much blood.
He remembers wanting to give up and just dying.
But the ladies had encouraged him and so kept pushing.
For those three months that he was healing, he couldn't even move.
He had so much time on his hand as he laid useless and did his best to heal.
So much time to contemplate his life.
So much time to cry to himself.
So much time to reflect on how worthless his life was.
So much time to question why fate hated him.
So much time to wish that there was just one person who would love him.
The ladies helped take care of his baby as he healed.
"A'jiu... it seems like you are fully healed now. What do you plan to do?" Madam Cheng asked him.
"I think I am going to live for myself now and... for Shen Qiao."
Shen Qiao squeals happily.
Madma Cheng chuckles at Shen Qiao's cuteness.
"umm... I agree that Shen jiu should live for himself and no one else. It seems like little Qiao agrees."
And so, after thanking Madam Cheng and the ladies of the Warm Red Pavilion, Shen Jiu set off with his little baby Shen Qiao to start a new life.
A life where he wasn't tied down by senseless loyalty.
A life where he would not be judged for his every move and every word.
A life where he didn't need to keep up a proper image.
So why is it that after five years of having forgotten about the sect that abandon him, is this brute standing in front of him?
TBC