Qijiu AU

Qijiu AU

Pre-canon, HHPM decides YQY is too popular, too powerful and CQM is doing too well under the Qing generation. He feels threatened, so he starts conspiring to take out YQY and frame SQQ(J) for it.

After all, the animosity between the two is obvious and SJ is little more than a power-hungry dog dressing as a tiger.

However, HHPM's plan hinges on SQQ trying to take advantage of YQY's disappearance, or at least doing nothing.

HHPM's not expecting the full wrath of SQQ to descend the mountain like a hurricane bc yqy missed his monthly 'beg for forgiveness' tea that SQQ planned to once again snub him and refuse.

It results in a Xuan Su reveal and SQQ covered in blood while he breaks HHPM's neck with his bare hands

YQY is shocked into silence.

SQQ mutters to himself about how "Qi-ge is so stupid" and YQY cries in happiness

airplane as a cosmic force in the pidw universe except in a spinozic sense where he is one and the same with every being and thing without any real conscious control on airplane’s part. and this explains why everyone loves shen yuan so much. in their original world shen yuan was the one person that wanted more for airplane and airplane fell deeply in love with him, this witty insane caring person that stayed with him from pidw’s conception, and that love is imbued into the world. the people of pidw can’t help but be drawn to shen yuan. love for shen yuan is literally part of their essence. even the storms and the sun are gentler for shen yuan. not that shen yuan notices the affection he so naturally engenders or the little pocket of temperateness that follows him where ever he goes. and not that airplane himself is even consciously aware that that is what's happening either. just a thought to entertain x

Idk I just really want SY overwhelmed with guilt for taking SJ's life and going through hell to bring him back ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Maybe a no-system AU where SY has a full melt down on day one right all over YQY because *he didn't want this*. He didn't want to kill someone else just so he could have a second life.

MQF world be called in and suspect SJ just has a mental break or something, since that's far more likely than this soul usurpation, but YQY overrules him bc there's no way this is SJ no matter how addled

Bonus points if airplane DOES have a system and is sweating bullets throughout all of this.

Maybe LQG gets sent with SY to find whatever plot device while YQY keeps up appearances and LQG falls for this wet dog of a man who just bleeds self sacrifice.

Eventually they get back to the sect and SY is waiting while they prepare a ritual or whatever and goes "oh shit, wait, the protagonist???" And is like "hello, you're my child now. Liu-gege, help me raise my child"

SJ comes back, pissed, SY is a spiritual creature of some sort (Empty Blossom of Moonlit Purity? Withers instantly on contact with demonic qi). SJ is talked down from vengeance since SY did immediately try (and did manage) to save him.

SY just takes LBH with him to go live on BZ.

SJ and YQY have a knock down drag out fight about how dare YQY save his life this time. How stupid is he to bring back a critical weakness? SJ ends up injuring YQY pretty seriously (since he's not even trying to defend himself) and YQY confesses that SJ is with more than his own life and always has been.

(SJ now has no idea why Qige never saved him, still doesn't know about Xuansu, but there is some reconciliation)

(meanwhile poor Binghe is like "withers on contact? 🥺")

(if SY consumes the Sunlit Flower of Balance he loses that weakness, which he does, but then forgets to mention. So he goes traveling to observe demonic beasts and gives everyone stress ulcers)

I simply can't stop imagining what Shen Yuan must look like in Shen Jiu's eyes. There's no way that man won't be obsessed with him.

...

Shen Jiu hadn't expected to come across the rogue cultivator here, in an inn in the middle of nowhere, while on his way to a meeting set up between the four cultivation sects.

He had not expected to walk in, tired and annoyed from sharing the road with his martial siblings and a headache quickly forming. To be met with the tinkling sound of his laugh, filling the space with warmth and comfort. To see him sitting there, surrounded by villagers and travellers alike.

Shen Yuan was like a bright flame, attracting all those colorless and mundane moths to himself. Even his most complex topics of beasts and fauna gathering a mass simply because of how animatedly and passionately he spoke.

It would bothered Shen Jiu more, if it wasn't for how Shen Yuan seemed to look through every one of them, like they didn't exist.

No, he never treated them badly, and in fact conversed with them the same bright way he did with everything else, if they were able to catch his attention. And if they ever were to meet again later, he'd certainly be able to remember them.

But that didn't stop the way he looked through them, like they were simply leaves in the wind at the edge of his awareness. Like they didn't matter in the grander scheme of things.

It had vexed Shen Jiu immensely at the beginning, to be treated the same. Just like any other person, unimportant in Shen Yuan's life. But slowly as they had gotten to know each other, he had seemed to become more aware of him.

Then Shen Yuan had finally decided to visit Qing Jing Peak, finally met him as Shen Qingqiu as well, and not just Shen Jiu. He had seen him then.

It had been exhilarating to be looked at by Shen Yuan. Like he was a mountain on Shen Yuan's path, impossible to ignore, no longer a mere leaf blowing by.

And it was still just as exhilarating now, to see Shen Yuan look up from his group of admirers. For their eyes to meet, for Shen Yuan to smile at him. And for Shen Yuan to see him.

Shizun Binghe would be so freaking mad that Shang Qinghua is friends with Shen Yuan.

Okay see the most dangerous think about Shang qinghua being shen yuans friend is that binghe doesn't understand the appeal. With mu qingfang he's always worried mqf will abuse his authority as a doctor to feel up shen yuans body, or he sees shen yuan praising Liu qingges fighting skills and nearly goes crazy.

But Shang qinghua is the only person shen yuan will be outwardly rude with. They share secret letters. They're from the same hometown, and sometimes talk in its unintelligible dialect. They say they've known each other for years. The way they're so obviously close but don't feign politeness makes binghe SO envious. That should be HIM and shen yuan bickering like an old married couple. He hates it.

Binghe: Shang qinghua is one of your spies isn't he

Mobei jun: yes

Binghe: interrogate him. Torture him if you must. We need to find out what "memes" are and why they make shen yuan laugh so easily-

Mobei: they're jokes

Binghe: YOU ALREADY KNOW!?

They're all ambushed on a night hunt and the bandit leader says he'll allow binghe to surrender. Binghe looks dead at shen yuan and says "nah I'd win." Shen yuan is choking screaming . It's so corny. He's so bad at this. The protagonist is like an old person trying to be relatable to the youth. Its terrible. It's amazing.

Not Chronically Ill in first life SY enter's SQQ's body, who does have severe chronic illness as a result of his childhood and adolescence. SY is basically in constant musculoskeletal pain AND it feels like lava and or ice water to push qi through his meridians sometimes.

And he's stuck with the OOC lock like that. He goes to MQF before going to the Lingxi caves because he's honestly concerned this body is gonna have another fatal qi deviation if he does secluded cultivation in a place like that.

So after some therapy, MQF goes with him to find a spot to cultivate and therefore is there when LQG starts deviating.

All of this to say, he's in slightly better shape come the demon invasion and LQG is much better and quicker on the draw, so SY is saved w/o a cure, but he's still got everything else.

These horrible problems cause SY to push and bully the system to give him missions so he can learn SJ's actual backstory. Once he does, he understands and wants to redeem the scum villain bc he wants to see the best in everyone.

He finds a plot device flower to create a clone of himself (the wife who used it had taken in her sister's soul as teenagers and they were doing a timeshare on the body - a villain had used it to duplicate himself to try to overpower LBH)

He manages to find it before the IAC. SJ is not happy that some dumbass took over his body, but is somewhat mollified to have a much healthier body. He's less happy for the imposter, who is already on thin fucking ice, to read him the riot act about being aggro at YQY, he can't help that he was trapped i nthe Lingxi caves healing all of his broken bones

HE WAS WHAT

Uh oh, SY didn't know SJ didn't know that.

SY tries to run for it, but oh no, SJ is going to take full advantage of having an identical twin to deal with people and things he doesn't want. Imposter wanted his life? He can have it :)

LBH is ousted from the bamboo house, but SY still dotes on him.

YQY is very confused, but since SJ is a) back and b) talking to him, sure, yes, fine, Xiao Yuan has been here the whole time, he totally knew.

(They gaslight the other peak lords)