Chapter Text
Being a coward and trying to save your own skin has its price.
A large abandoned manor stuffed with various rejected deus ex machina style artifacts for saving Luo Binghe’s future wives seems too good to be true. Shang Qinghua says that while writing PIDW, he had started shoving ideas that he wanted to scrap onto a draft page about this residence. So that when inspiration failed him, he could pull one of them to use on a later wife plot.
It sounds great in theory, until they arrive and are met with towering piles of magical items. Naturally, Shang Qinghua can’t remember what the majority of them do. They all allegedly perform some sort of healing or life sustaining purpose, but the potential for them to have a fuck or die element attached is too high. The two cultivators start combing through the items carefully, sorting them into piles of things that Shang Qinghua vaguely remembers, but deems unhelpful, and stuff he knows nothing about.
After several hours of looking through useless junk, Shen Qingqiu gets a little too careless. He goes to grab a scroll that he spotted deep in a set of dusty shelves, in hopes that it will have some information. But while reaching over a messy table for it, he accidentally slices his right hand open on the jagged edge of an ornate choker necklace. If that wasn’t alarming enough, the blood that wells from the gash gets sucked right into the necklace. The blood then seemingly pools into the necklace’s colorless gem turning it a violent red.
Well. Fuck. That can’t be good.
Shang Qinghua freaks out, but the hack author’s memory doesn’t get shaken up enough to recall anything helpful about the necklace, such as whether Shen Qingqiu triggered a dangerous wife plot item or not.
Shen Qingqiu forces Shang Qinghua to take off a robe so that they can wrap up the necklace for transport and avoid touching it further. Considering the immediacy of some enchanted artifacts, it is best to bring it directly to the Cang Qiong sect and get help figuring out what he just did. Ugh. Of course, it was the same limb that he got hit with Without a Cure on. What a truly cursed appendage of his.
After disturbing that sect of mother hens with the knowledge that Shen Qingqiu got himself into trouble again, nothing happened for a while. The information was restricted to just the peak lords to limit gossip. They all tried to investigate the necklace in their own ways, but no headway was made.
Shen Qingqiu wants to be mad at Shang Qinghua, but whenever he gets the urge to hit him with a fan, the author gets a big pathetic look on his face and he can’t muster the will. Plus loathe as he is to admit it, it is his own fault. That level of stupidity was something right at home in a PIDW plot. Ah, on second thought, maybe he can blame Shang Qinghua for this.
After so long of nothing happening, everyone comes to the tentative conclusion that it must be harmless and not very powerful. The only change that Shen Qingqiu notices after his slip-up is that there is a slight uptick in nagging comments. People have been on his case for practicing inedia and looking too pale and thin for the past 2 years, though, so it isn’t a very significant difference. Other than giving up on trying out questionable PIDW draft items, not much changes after that episode.
That is the case, until Without a Cure flares up a month after the manor visit.
He starts to feel his qi stagnate and is proactive for once. He heads over to Qian Cao Peak to grab some medicine. All is normal at first. He is waiting for Mu Qingfang to finish preparing his refill, when Liu Qingge enters clutching a lightly bleeding forearm. It looks like a mild scrape, so Shen Qingqiu isn’t overly concerned. Liu Qingge is probably just here to grab a bandage.
Normally, Shen Qingqiu would just sit back and go back to zoning out while waiting, but for some reason his eyes keep getting drawn back to Liu Qingge. A cherry red stream trickles down his pale forearm. His skin looks as delicate and soft as a rose petal. Based on appearances alone, it seems like it would take just the slightest pinch to pierce. Shen Qingqiu watches as the blood drips down and collects into a growing teardrop that will soon become heavy enough to spill onto the floor. He involuntarily swallows.
Shen Qingqiu just barely tears his eyes away to try to shake the fog out of his head. The action does nothing to refocus him, because immediately after, his qi flow screeches to a halt.
A distant call of “Shen-shixiong?” barely enters his now ringing ears before his consciousness snaps like a string.
* * *
Shen Qingqiu comes to in a hospital bed. He goes to sit up, but is prevented by… restraints?
Hello? Offline System?? Why am I strapped to a bed!? What kinky fan service chapter did I fall into?
His struggles quickly alert the peak lords in the room. Mu Qingfang approaches cautiously, but after making eye contact with Shen Qingqiu, he seems to see something in his face that alleviates that wariness.
“Pardon me, Shen-shixiong,” is the only warning that Mu Qingfang gives before poking and prodding Shen Qingqiu’s face.
Mid splutter, while getting his face twisted to the side so that his doctor can get a better look, Shen Qingqiu lays eyes on Liu Qingge from across the room. The Bai Zhan peak lord’s stormy gaze sends a shiver down his spine. The man is sat clutching a bandage to his neck looking worse for wear —wait wasn’t it only an arm injury that he had before entering the Medicine Peak. Who could even be able to get the jump on Liu Qingge to the extent that he would be bleeding through a neck bandage? Just what happened?
He looks to the side where the Sect Leader is standing. Yue Qingyuan hadn’t been there before Shen Qingqiu passed out, so whatever occurred must have been serious enough to warrant his presence.
Shen Qingqiu chuckles awkwardly, “Would someone be able to inform me of what transpired here?”
The peak lords look to each other as if none of them want to be the one to explain. Mu Qingfang loses the silent staring contest. Letting go of his patient’s face, he steps back to deliver the explanation from a polite distance.
“Shen-shixiong… I fear we may have discovered what curse you acquired during your excursion with Shang-shixiong. You had a Without a Cure flare up and lost consciousness. Do you remember that?”
At Shen Qingqiu’s nod, he continued, “Well… your mind might have gone dormant, but your body stayed awake. One moment, you looked like you were about to pass out and the next you had lunged across the room to attack Liu-shixiong.”
He did that? What, was his body hijacked to finish the old Ling Xi Caves plot? He already went through a lot of trouble to save that former canon fodder, why was his body messing that up now?
He takes a glance at Liu Qingge. The man looks all bloodied up and pissed off. Shen Qingqiu gulps. He is going to have to work to make up for whatever this was.
“Liu-shixiong restrained your body before any damage was done. But he didn’t expect for you to… attack with your teeth… Shen-shixiong, you bit down hard on your Shidi’s neck. Liu-shixiong and I tried to pry you off, but I had to call for Zhangmen-shixiong’s help. You were snarling and fighting quite animalistically. It was almost beyond what I have seen from qi deviations. Zhangmen-shixiong was able to help me get you secured on this bed here, but you just continued to thrash. Given your actions against Liu-shixiong, I had a theory. And it appears to be a success considering we’re talking with you now.”
Mu Qingfang hesitates. Revealing what he tried seems to be especially uncomfortable.
“It is my professional opinion that the necklace you found passed on a vampiric curse to you. When I brought your body a blood donation, it was quickly appeased and stopped struggling. It seems to me that you were in a blood frenzied state out of starvation. Considering you had been experiencing minimal side effects since acquiring this curse and that it was only fully triggered when your qi stagnated, it makes me wonder if this curse was primarily targeted to mortals with no cultivation ability. Of course, more testing is required. Regardless, I am happy to have your consciousness with us again.”
WTF.
Vampires? Airplane-bro really??? Of all things, straight-up Hollywood vampires is what he decided to add to his Xianxia Cultivation novel? What waifu was he saving this up for, huh?
Shen Qingqiu tugs at his hair in his head, but outwardly tries to maintain a cool expression that no sane person should have upon hearing this news. Taking a peek at Liu Qingge makes him wince with guilt. He mauled that poor pretty boy’s neck, apparently. Also, how does being a vampire even work in this setting? Is he going to get hunted down or stripped of his peak lord title? What would a cure even be? There’s no Catholic priests to perform exorcisms in PIDW. This is so not the right setting for this style of monster. What was Airplane even thinking? Or… is this just going to be another case of the only cure being the heavenly pillar?
“Zhangmen-shixiong, what is to be done with me...?” Shen Qingqiu tries to give the most pitiful eyes up at Yue Qingyuan, but there isn’t much more he can do.
* * *
The accusations of corruption in Cang Qiong may hold some water. For a sect that hunts down any demons it encounters, the peak lords were quick to band together to hide Shen Qingqiu’s new monstrous secret and help manage his condition.
For the first few months, Shen Qingqiu is heavily restricted and monitored until they are able to determine that he doesn’t pose a threat. Mu Qingfang makes him perform countless tests and consult with him on any headway Shen Qingqiu is able to make in researching the rare condition. There are no traditional vampires in the PIDW world, instead there are demon species with vampiric elements and rare curses that can instill a dependency on blood. It doesn’t seem like Shen Qingqiu has the ability to pass along the curse himself, but Yue Qingyuan draws the line at messing with the necklace on live test subjects, so the inquiry of inheritance is temporarily shelved.
The focus of the research stays on how to allow Shen Qingqiu to survive and stay in control in lieu of a cure. Mu Qingfang deduces the initial blood frenzy to be because Shen Qingqiu hadn’t fed on blood before and was starved by the time the curse was able to take over his body. The incident shakes up Shang Qinghua’s memory enough that he remembers who the original waifu was. It was some rich mortal without a Golden Core or anything, so she underwent a more complete vampiric transformation. In comparison, Shen Qingqiu doesn’t feel uncontrollable hunger for blood except during Without a Cure flare ups.
They are able to determine that, much like regular qi circulations are essential for managing the stagnation of his qi, ingesting blood periodically keeps Shen Qingqiu’s health and sanity from rapidly deteriorating. After implementing new measures of drinking blood regularly on top of his meridian cleansing appointments and medicine, Shen Qingqiu doesn’t lose his consciousness like the first time he fed again and is able to safely ride out the flare ups. That being said, the stakes for taking care of himself have risen significantly. The poison and the curse compound each other into an unholy concoction that make it so that if he doesn’t manage both conditions, he could end up not only bringing himself to the edge of death, but also being a danger to those around him.
Liu Qingge inserts himself into the research process to test how the curse impacts Shen Qingqiu’s strength. The constant spar requests are particularly hard to run away from, since he still feels guilty. The Bai Zhan peak lord determines that Shen Qingqiu’s strength is usually unaffected or weakened—if he is slacking on getting his blood dose. However, when Without a Cure flares up or Immortal Binding ropes are used, Shen Qingqiu undergoes a slight transformation that significantly increases his physical strength and durability. Liu Qingge is particularly satisfied when he discovers the strength buff. Shen Qingqiu reflects to himself that Liu Qingge may have still been upset about being unable to win the fight with Shen Qingqiu’s unconscious blood frenzied self and is now relieved to confirm the reason.
In that sense, the fortification of the body that the curse grants is a life preserving measure. For those with no cultivation power, the vampire body will give them strength and survival ability in exchange for drinking blood. However, the benefits are pretty useless for a cultivator, since Shen Qingqiu was already given prolonged youth and a stronger body. Not that any of that matters since he is going to meet his end under the hands of Luo Binghe soon. It isn’t like vampires are impossible to kill. The only benefit is that it may make him less vulnerable when his qi stagnates.
Researching his new condition is already a pain, but actually managing it, isn’t much better. Somehow Liu Qingge doesn’t get terribly put off by his first bad encounter and steps up to offer himself for Shen Qingqiu to regularly drink from. He is appalled at first, but it is made clear quickly that this was the best option. The blood that Mu Qingfang was giving him, while they were still testing things out to make sure that Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t suddenly go monster mode and drain some poor disciples, was of a mystery source. He doesn’t want to ask too many questions, but it always leaves him feeling uneasy when he has to grab his dose from Qian Cao Peak. Mu Qingfang doesn’t offer his own blood to drink either. Yue Qingyuan offered to give blood once, but the idea made Shen Qingqiu feel so weird that he turned him down.
Loathe as he is to admit it, but after months of managing the condition by drinking mystery blood that Mu Qingfang had lying around, Liu Qingge’s blood tasted delicious. He tries to muster the same disgust he would have to blood before the stupid necklace, but he just can’t do it. Or well, not to Liu Qingge’s. The weird hospital blood sometimes tasted a bit sickly or muddy. Shen Qingqiu already abuses inedia out of distaste for Qing Jing Peak’s kitchens, he isn’t going to suddenly overcome his distaste for unpleasant foods.
At first, it does feel deeply embarrassing to suckle at Liu Qingge’s wrist, but he is so fair and delicate looking that Shen Qingqiu can pretend that it is a woman’s arm in his hands to push through the psychological hurdle of pressing his mouth to a man’s tender skin. However, that hesitance doesn’t last long. After getting his first taste of Liu Qingge’s blood while conscious, he loses all propriety. It isn’t too dissimilar from the first time that Luo Binghe made congee for him. It is just too heavenly after having to endure distasteful things. He was starting to wonder if getting cursed with blood drinking was his punishment for refusing to eat bland meals by sentencing him to having to drink gross things to survive. But here comes a benevolent ray of moonlight to bless him with such a delectable meal.
Shen Qingqiu may be too enthusiastic the first time he drinks from Liu Qingge, because when he finally wipes the blood from the corner of his mouth, he realizes just how woozy his Shidi has gotten.
Mu Qingfang fixes Liu Qingge up with the classic post blood donation package and delivers a warning about Shen Qingqiu being more careful about experimenting with drinking from live subjects.
When Liu Qingge recovers and Shen Qingqiu’s need for blood returns, they try again. He gets the hang of how much to take and the state of his generous donor’s body over the course of a few sessions. Liu Qingge is still as charitable and eager to help about this as he is with Without a Cure. Shen Qingqiu is a bit worried about the pain and impressed with Liu Qingge’s tolerance at first, so he asks Liu Qingge after taking his meal.
With a faint blush—stark considering he was just drained—Liu Qingge refutes, “There is only a slight pain at first. There must be a paralytic in those fangs of yours. It quickly numbs and even gets a bit pleasant.” Liu Qingge gestures with the hand not clutched in Shen Qingqiu’s lap to his teeth.
Shen Qingqiu feels self-conscious. It was good to hear that he isn’t causing undo pain, but a bit embarrassing to have his fangs acknowledged. They only descend when he’s about to feed or hungry, but it takes a while for them to retract afterwards. Though holding an arm filled with strongly pumping blood isn’t helping. Shen Qingqiu near throws the arm back. He is starting to salivate. Liu Qingge is already being so kind, taking too much is wrong and he needs to return to his senses. This is just gluttony not hunger though, he had never been good at restraining himself from taking too many sweets after all.
Temptation does get better to handle once they get in the habit of it. Liu Qingge ends up being the main provider of blood. With blood drinking sessions being added on top of meridian cleansing ones, Shen Qingqiu spends far too much time with the Bai Zhan peak lord. They can’t do the sessions at the same time either and have to stagger them lest Liu Qingge turn truly anemic and sickly. Shen Qingqiu doesn’t actually want to drain him for all he’s worth, but it sure feels like that’s what he’s doing sometimes. The routine does make it so that he eventually needs to drink very little from Liu Qingge to sustain himself and his control improves.
Drinking outside of flare ups is the least risky and does mitigate how hungry he feels during them. However, it is essentially embracing being a discount vampire. The changes are most prevalent when his qi fails him, but the enhanced perception of blood and slight physical changes while feeding still happen when he’s at his best.
Being well-fed does a lot to curtail any blood thirst, so for the most part, he is able to keep the secret from his disciples with ease. That being said, they do seem to be under the impression that him and Liu Qingge have a special bond now. He overhears one particularly salacious piece of gossip that makes him want to jump off of the peak.
That is a straight man, you hear! Look at Liu-Qingge. The epitome of a straight man. So what if two bros hang out every week, is that really so scandalous? A man can leave another’s company flushed each time without it being like something from one of my sister’s BLs.
The post feeding flush does get quite intense, Shen Qingqiu admits. His normally unflappable face turns quite red as if he’s drunk. He can’t very well explain to his disciples that this is just a purely physiological reaction to suddenly getting filled with fresh blood, though. Oh well, that stray comment was probably just from a disciple with too much imagination and not a commonly held belief.
After those few months, the peak lords agree to let Shen Qingqiu off of home arrest under the condition that he can only be allowed out of Cang Qiong if he has another peak lord with him. He is getting really stir crazy from being forced to stay on the peaks—after spending most of the past 2 years running around the mortal world on constant missions—so this is a relief. Shen Qingqiu really can’t bear being trapped on Qing Jing peak for so long. Keeping visits brief was serving him well before, so no matter how happy his disciples are to see him more often now, he can’t stand being on his peak for so long anymore.
It doesn’t take long before the new restrictions started to chafe, even though he understands that they are for his own and other’s safety. Stuck with only being allowed out under a buddy system leads Shen Qingqiu to recall all his experience of being a younger brother to pester his coworkers to death. Liu Qingge is his most frequent victim, due to their standing appointments, and he drags him out on any old hunt he can find. Several months of this convince Yue Qingyuan and Mu Qingfang about the treatment being effective and Shen Qingqiu being able to manage his condition.
Shang Qinghua occasionally comes out with him, but considering his role in leading Shen Qingqiu to being cursed with vampirism, he is too scared to go far. He whines to him about how he can’t bear Yue Qingyuan’s disappointed looks and refuses to go farther than the nearest town.
“Cucumber-bro, he’s going to kick me out of the sect if even a hair on your head gets damaged while I’m supposed to be responsible for you! And if I get kicked out, then I won’t be of use to my king. So then, he’ll kill me. And the Sun-Moon Dew Mushroom bodies aren’t ready yet, so I’ll die for real!”
After he finishes hyperventilating, the argument concludes and Shen Qingqiu just settles on finding any problem he can investigate in the city. They visit so often that the well of interesting cases dries up. At one point, they spend their entire trip chasing rats out of a restaurant.
Shen Qingqiu has made do with drinking from Shang Qinghua a few times during these trips, even if it was partly motivated by spite the first time. But the author cries so quickly and generally acts pathetic to the point that Shen Qingqiu’s predator instinct gets triggered and he has to back off lest he drink too much.
So when Mu Qingfang and Liu Qingge are assigned to an actually interesting and important case in Jin Lan City, Shen Qingqiu jumps at the opportunity. He borderline begs—or well more accurately manipulates—Yue Qingyuan to let him go with. He is deeply bored and if he doesn’t go now, he will be trapped near Cang Qiong until Liu Qingge returns. Naturally, the argument he actually gives Yue Qingyuan is more in line with how his doctor and borderline blood bag are leaving on a trip without him. But the important thing is that he succeeds in worming his way into the mission. Freedom, here he comes!