Chapter Text
Shen Yuan didn’t remember how he died, but at some point, as he floated in the vast expanse of nothing, something must have made his consciousness —or what was left of it— aware that he had, in fact, ceased existing.
Which was a bit of a paradox, really. If he was actually dead, shouldn’t he stop being aware of anything at all? Seemed to him that his whole dying thing was a bit of a bust. What about the eternal sleep, or a proper afterlife? Instead he was — nowhere — waiting for —nothing—. Alone with his own degrading mind, as if the void was slowly eating at it.
Well, at the very least it was painless.
An eternity or so later, which could have been seconds for all that Shen Yuan’s consciousness could discern, he was aware of something else: a light coming from far away. It swallowed the void around what was left of the person called Shen Yuan, until it became something blinding.
His consciousness was aware of something else, an unfamiliar yet familiar voice, but before he could discern it, he was met with another kind of darkness, and he knew no more.
***
The child in Yue Qi’s lap struggled to open his eyes. He was still too warm to the touch, but at least he had managed to live through the night. Yue Qi’s whole body slumped with relief, and he hugged the little child to his chest.
At seven years old, he’d seen plenty of death already, and wasn’t eager to see more of it. This child had been bought recently, but had fallen sick that same night, as if his little body couldn’t understand what had happened to him, and was rejecting life entirely.
In the morning, the slavers had raged and cursed the person that sold them such spoiled goods, but didn't care much aside from that. They thought Yue Qi should take the little boy —Shen Jiu, they called him— to the market. People were sure to be moved by the display: a little boy taking care of an even smaller boy.
And indeed, some people were moved enough to give Yue Qi money, and someone even gave him a bit of medicine.
Shen Jiu had spent the whole day in a feverish state, unable to stay awake for long. Yue Qi had feared he wouldn’t make it through the night.
But he was staring up at Yue Qi, and the latter couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay,” he reassured him, petting his head carefully. “I’ll protect you.”
***
Meanwhile, in Shen Yuan’s mind:
【 Activation code: “Dumbfuck two-dimensional villain!”】, a voice reminiscent of Google Translate said. 【System automatically triggered. 】
The light that had swallowed up the darkness was actually a system interface. Shen Yuan squinted at it with what he thought were his eyes.
【 Welcome to the System. This System operates in line with the design concept “YOU CAN YOU UP, NO CAN NO BB”. 】
Shen Yuan couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be everywhere. Anyway, if a system was talking to him, it could only mean one thing—
【 We hope to provide you with the best possible experience. It is our sincere wish that during your time, you can fulfill your desires and, in accordance with your wish, understand the scum villain Shen Qingqiu’s character motivations and realize the origins of his “wretched personality”. We hope you enjoy! 】
Wait… Wait a minute…
Scum villain? Shen Qingqiu? Don’t tell him he’d transmigrated to that stupid novel—
【 The System was successfully activated! Bound Role: the slave “Shen Jiu”. Weapon: none. Starting P-Points: 5. 】
Shen Jiu? Who the fuck is Shen Jiu?
The name was a bit familiar…
【 Answering host: Shen Jiu is Shen Qingqiu, future lord of Cang Qiong Mountain’s Qing Jing Peak and Luo Binghe’s master. 】
Shen Yuan blanched.
Through the vertigo of waking up, his thoughts spiraled into a hysterical rant.
Why did I become the scum villain!? What stupid kind of transmigration package is this!?
WTF, all of this was because I trashtalked the scum villain!? Why would you punish me like this?? Scum villains are made to be hated!
As Shen Yuan slowly became aware of his surroundings, another voice floated toward his ears.
“…you hungry? I have half a bun for you to eat.”
It was a child’s voice. It probably belonged to the cool hand patting his forehead.
When Shen Yuan could open his eyes and take account of his new body, he was speechless.
The current Shen Jiu was a boy around four or five years old. He was skin and bones, so light that the boy taking care of him could carry him easily through the place they were taking cover in. Eventually the boy settled down next to the other children, and they all huddled for warmth against the cold winds battering the walls of what looked like an empty shed.
Was it winter? Had he transmigrated during winter? Unbelievable.
A part of his mind was fixating on these kinds of details— the state of his own clothes, what he could see of the floor and the ceiling from the other boy’s lap; it was easier than looking at the other children’s faces, a little gaunt and streaked with dirt.
The System had said “the slave Shen Jiu”… Shen Yuan could remember something about that from Proud Immortal Demon Way’s plot. It had been revealed during Shen Qingqiu’s trial. But somehow he’d never imagined it was something like this…
You really couldn’t understand some things unless you went through them…
He focused on the other boy, who had his head propped against the wall, eyes staring unsightly at the floor.
Shen Yuan tried to clear his throat. He coughed.
“G-gege,” he said with some difficulty. Damn, his voice sounded so small…
The other boy looked down at him with a smile.
It was like his tongue had forgotten how to make sounds turn into words.
“Name?” he managed to get out.
The boy smiled. “Yours or mine?”
“You,” Shen Yuan said, and coughed again.
The boy rubbed his back. “Yue Qi,” he said simply.
Shen Yuan committed the name to memory. He owed a great debt of gratitude to Yue Qi for nursing him back to health, probably from the brink of death.
“And you’re Shen Jiu,” Yue Qi said. “I’ll call you Xiao-Jiu, okay?”
Shen Yuan nodded. Yue Qi was his savior; he could call him whatever he wanted.
Although, these names… “Seven” and “Nine”. Ah, no wonder someone like Shen Qingqiu, with that personality, would try to bury this kind of shameful past.
As Shen Yuan got accustomed to his new circumstances and his body recuperated, the adult mind he still possessed despite everything could do nothing but think.
In a setting like the one of Proud Immortal Demon Way, you were as good as the class you were born in, or the talents that allowed you to rise above your station. Someone like Shen Jiu, who’d apparently lived as a slave for a decade or so after being sold by his parents… It was the kind of thing cannon fodder would drag up to belittle someone— Something to top off the various charges Luo Binghe and the cultivation world had leveled against Shen Qingqiu.
But it wasn’t like Shen Jiu —Shen Qingqiu— had chosen how or where he was born, or who his parents were… This was really just fucking unfair.
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky, just what you were thinking? Shen Yuan cursed, as he followed Yue Qi around and played the ill child act to get the people to hand them money.
Really, what the hell??? This kind of origin story is just depressing!! he exclaimed in his heart as they were chased out of the street for some reason or another.
No wonder Shen Jiu was such a bitter person, he muttered to himself as he toiled away for the men that would later take away their money to waste it on drinks and gambling.
Still, it didn’t explain why Shen Qingqiu would go to abuse Luo Binghe for years, or chase off other talented disciples in fear that they would surpass him. Not to mention what happened with Liu Qingge…
Ah, but that was years away yet. Shen Yuan focused on surviving the present.
***
Shen Yuan’s modern sensibilities and adult mind didn’t cope well with the fact that he had to beg in the streets for a living, but luckily the first few years he didn’t have to do much: his job was lying in Yue Qi’s lap looking pathetic and pitiful, occasionally shedding a tear or two for those onlookers that weren’t convinced by his sickly child act (As if the fact that they were a pair of homeless orphans wasn’t enough, really…). Even if his face couldn’t stand it and least of all, force himself to fake cry, the rest of it was quite easy, seeing as he truly was in the body of a malnourished child.
As they grew older, Shen Yuan followed Yue Qi’s example into doing other types of jobs, like patrolling, keeping a lookout… Even if he was way younger and looked small for a ten years old, he had a sharp mind for a child his age, and the slavers were quick to realize it. He got partnered with Yue Qi, who was bigger and older and didn’t have the face nor the ability to cry on demand either.
Since begging wasn’t really his thing and there weren’t many job opportunities for a slave child, Shen Yuan would talk his way into doing errands for merchants and shop owners. It helped that despite his low status, he could talk like someone that had been raised with good manners. These errands didn’t pay much but it was enough to keep the slavers off his case, and since he was good at managing the kids too (he had been an older brother in his past life after all), it allowed the slavers more time to get drunk and play dice. A harmonious working environment indeed.
Having the mind of a twenty something years old, he treated the other children as if they were his little brothers, and soon became somewhat protective of them.
This is child endangerment!! was something he wailed in his mind frequently. But that was the daily life of Proud Immortal Demon Way’s natives: it was shitty everywhere. People were generally shitty too, and didn’t care about them and would look upon them with disgust and distrust, or, in most cases, complete disinterest, as if they didn’t exist. Some of the merchants and shopkeepers would often chase them off the market and the streets because beggars were “bad for business”. On the times someone important or rich was about to go through the main streets, soldiers would appear out of nowhere and force the children to leave their spots.
Ah, Shen Jiu, no wonder you became a villain, Shen Yuan lamented in his heart more than once. If you were confronted with the ugly side of humanity from the beginning of your life, with nary a kindness or good people coming your way, it was a very natural path to follow.
Luckily for Shen Yuan’s sanity, his background was completely different. He would lie awake huddled with Yue Qi and the other children, and give motivational speeches to himself: Hang in there!! You can do this!! Shen Jiu went through all this shit and was able to become a peak lord; his mind and heart may have been troubled and blackened, but he nevertheless survived.
But it wasn’t as much about his own survival than what he was a witness to: children dying from common ailments, or the cold, or from not eating enough; children being sold to new masters, or as unpaid labor for someone who could afford to buy a slave but not to pay a worker his wages.
In those moments when they were ordered to bury the body of one of the children, or when the girls were sold off to serve as prostitutes and concubines, he would say to himself: this is a story and these are just NPCs. Just background characters to fill the world of the epic that will start in a few decades.
It didn’t actually work.
Helplessness had a way of eating at your insides, a flavor similar to guilt. It was worse when his mind conjured scenario after scenario, of him having an adult body, being powerful enough to save them all.
I’m useless.
He couldn’t protect them, he couldn’t steal them away, or find them more food or medicine; he couldn’t save himself, much less all the others.
A few times he had thought of running away. He’d use his encyclopedic knowledge of the world he was in, find a cultivation sect that wasn’t Cang Qiong Mountain, become a cultivator; he knew with Shen Jiu’s innate talent, he wouldn’t be turned away (unless he went to Huan Hua, which he wasn’t planning).
And even if he didn’t become a cultivator, there were some plants that could be valuable even in the secular world, good for making medicine or cooking. If he tried, he could clearly remember the passages describing some of them. Albeit he didn’t remember a lot, since he had fixated more on the monsters than the flora, but the little knowledge he did have would still be plenty useful.
But every time his mind strayed in that direction, the System would blare an alarm inside his skull.
【 Warning!! Violation of the terms of service will result in termination of esteemed user’s account! 】
Fuck you, you sadistic System!!!
He raged against the damned interface, but in the end he could do nothing. If he didn’t play by the System’s rules, he’d die.
(The one time he was desperate enough to try, he got a vomit-inducing headache that had him on death’s door in less than a minute. It had taken days to go back to normal.
He hadn’t tried again.)
The only thing he could do was try his best to survive and protect the children around him.
The plan of picking herbs to sell was still viable as long as he didn’t stray away from the path of the scum villain; however he didn’t have a lot of free time to devote himself to exploring the woods, and their handlers didn’t let them go far. If Yue Qi or some of the other children covered for him, and the handlers were too busy or distracted with something else, he could maybe do it once or twice a month. His findings weren’t that good, but what he did find he could sell for a few coins and buy everyone a meatbun.
Things would be easier if the cities he had been taken to had appeared in the novel, but so far, they had never been mentioned. None of the characters he met through the years had appeared in the novel either, though that was to be expected; it was many years before the main plot started. Luo Binghe hadn’t even been born yet!
And aside from the times it blared at him to stay put and threatened him with punishments, the System wasn’t very communicative. It gave him points here and there for adding complexity to the character of Shen Jiu, and occasionally issued a task that couldn’t even be counted as a low-level mission that would at most give Shen Yuan a dozen points or less. However, it was adamant that he should remain with these slavers for the sake of the plot.
What a load of bullshit! If he was put in this body before it had turned ten years old, he was the full owner of it by now, the master of his own destiny! The plot of the original story shouldn’t influence his actions this much!
Alas, his transmigration package came with the mandatory “Touristic Villain Route”, and since his activation code had been “YOU CAN YOU UP, NO CAN NO BB”, he was bound to go through the full villain experience, regardless of his own desires. If he refused, the System would simply cancel his account. Goodbye, second chance at life!
What kind of transmigration package was this! He should have been at the very least a disciple from a renowned cultivation sect! 0 stars, no recommend!
But despite the many difficulties, Shen Yuan didn’t want to die. There was still a whole world out there, with its demonic beasts, cultivation, demons, treasures and the like! It was what kept him going on his darkest moments. Once he became a cultivator, he could actually do something impactful, like getting rid of those damn slavers.
He would have plenty of opportunities in the future to make some changes. For instance, he wouldn’t be growing into a bitter man that would abuse children and murder sect siblings. Alright, he probably was gathering a bag-ton of trauma, but it wasn’t the same!
He hoped.
***
Shiwu was part of the new batch of children. He was a bit problematic and prone to get into fights over better spots. It had been some time since they’d gotten someone that stirred so much trouble.
“Shiwu, come here,” Shen Yuan said, beckoning him with one hand.
Shiwu looked distrustful, but Yue Qi was standing behind Shen Yuan, and Shiwu already knew the basics of how things worked here, so he reluctantly went over to Shen Yuan.
“What is it?”
Without saying a word, Shen Yuan pinched his ear.
“Ow, ow, what the fuck, let me go!”
“We are all brothers and sisters here,” Shen Yuan lectured patiently, letting go and crossing his arms. “You are a newcomer, so you have to follow our rules. If you don’t make friends, no one will help you when you get in trouble.”
Shiwu pouted angrily.
“Did you understand?” Shen Yuan asked, expressionlessly.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”
“Be more respectful. When you mind your manners, people take even more pity on you, and will give you their money.”
Shiwu looked at him with sudden admiration, and it seemed that he was seriously absorbing Shen Yuan’s words .
“Go on then,” Shen Yuan said, face softening a bit, and he patted Shiwu’s shoulder briefly.
Shiwu nodded repeatedly, made a point of —awkwardly— thanking Shen Yuan, and went back to the spot he was working for the day.
When Shen Yuan turned, Yue Qi was smiling.
Shen Yuan signed. “What’s so funny, gege?”
Yue Qi shook his head. “It’s always good to see you teach them what to do. You act like a mother, I think.”
Shen Yuan huffed, and started to walk. Yue Qi went with him. “These children— We just want to survive, that’s all. Shiwu probably has never been treated well in his life. And anyway, he needs the advice— He looks too eager, and that scares off the rich people.” He slapped his forehead. “Ah, I should have told him to clean his face too…”
Yue Qi chuckled. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
They continued to talk amicably for a while. Among all the children Shen Yuan interacted with every day, Yue Qi was what you could call his friend. Shen Yuan was friendly enough with the other children, and had worked to discourage competitiveness and encourage cooperation, but it wasn’t like their group stayed the same through the years. When the helplessness threatened to drag him into the pits of despair and madness, Shen Yuan would turn to his companion.
It staved off the loneliness, too.
Shen Jiu’s body was twelve years old. Shen Yuan knew he was approaching the first big miniclimax of Shen Jiu’s life: The Qiu state massacre.
But before that, Shen Jiu had become a servant to Qiu Haitang’s family, had he not? If she was to be believed, what on earth could have made Shen Jiu murder a whole state?
As he walked with Yue Qi and mused about these things, the System suddenly beeped; an interface floated in front of Shen Yuan’s face.
【 Upcoming mission: be prepared. 】
What? What do you mean? What’s happening?!
But the System didn’t explain and simply blinked out of existence again. However, as they headed down to the most prosperous street in town, there came the sound of thundering hooves, and it soon became apparent what this “mission” was.
***
The stall owners were clearing off the street in terror; having been warned beforehand, Shen Yuan knew to take Yue Qi to the roadside just in time before an enormous horse turned onto the street.
Shen Yuan saw that the horse’s bit was made of gold, and that riding astride the poor animal was a handsome youth full of haughty airs, his purple robes of the best quality; probably a young master from a rich family whose fun consisted on terrorizing the common people in the middle of the day when the market was full of activity.
Shen Yuan saw that the young master also had a jet-black whip in his pale hand, and dread curled down his spine as his suspicions were confirmed.
“Let’s go back,” Yue Qi murmured, and Shen Yuan followed him, not saying a word.
Not soon after this, the other children pounced on them to inform them in urgent words that, despite Shen Yuan’s warnings and earnest advice when it came to rich people, Shiwu and a few others had been caught by “the young master on the big horse”.
“All of you, head back,” Yue Qi said instructed the children, who were looking about to panic but held back their tears valiantly. “I’ll go back for them.”
“I’m coming with you,” Shen Yuan said, and they sprinted back to the street.
As he rushed down the road with his partner, time froze around him, and the System’s interface appeared again.
Heart beating madly, Shen Yuan read the new instruction:
【 Mission objective: Attack the horse to gain Young Master Qiu’s hatred. 】
He wanted to scream. What kind of masochistic mission is that?!
As he pounded down the road, he kept arguing with the System.
Just because the original was this suicidal and precocious at digging his own grave doesn’t mean I have to be the same! I don’t want to do it, opt out opt out!
But the System just repeated itself, over and over,
【 Mission objective: Attack the horse to gain Young Master Qiu’s hatred. 】
【 Mission objective: Attack the horse to gain Young Master Qiu’s hatred. 】
The message was clear: If Shen Yuan wanted to keep on living, he had to attack the damn horse.
Did he have to go up to a poor innocent horse and stab it? That didn’t seem right, whichever way you looked at it.
But as they approached the scene, Shen Yuan understood what was going to happen.
Just when Yue Qi was about to collide with the horse’s hooves, time froze again.
【 Do you accept the mission? 】
Motherfucker. If Shen Yuan didn’t do something, Yue Qi would be trampled to death.
Shen Yuan didn’t need any more convincing; even if he knew about the consequences of what he was going to do, he would do it anyway.
It was his turn to protect Yue Qi.
They had been practicing a few rudimentary immortal arts, sharpening sticks and pieces of metal with what little control they had of their inner qi. Shen Yuan suspected this was how the original Shen Jiu had started to practice his cultivation before he’d gotten proper instruction. So Shen Yuan steeled his own heart, apologized to the horse that was not to blame for any of this, and lunged with all his might at the poor animal.
He stabbed it on its side, straight to the bone.
【 Mission complete! 】
Despite the horse’s wild bucking and rearing, Young Master Qiu, who had been about to trample a child to death (and wasn’t that rearranging the cogs of Shen Yuan’s understanding of the novel, yet again), expertly managed not to get unseated from his mount. He spun himself and the poor horse around, furiously looking for the culprit.
“Who did that!? Who did it!?”
Shen Yuan didn’t stay around to watch the ensuing chaos. He grabbed Yue Qi and ran so fast his feet became a blur. He didn’t stop until he was sure they’d reached a safe place.
As they wheezed and got their breath back, Shen Yuan couldn’t stop thinking about the implications of what had just happened.
This was the event that started it all… Why would this Young Master Qiu take in a slave that had hurt his horse? What he was experiencing was too contradictory, and didn’t match up with Qiu Haitang’s testimony at the trial.
“Are you okay, Xiao-jiu?” Yue Qi asked between pants.
Shen Yuan gulped a breath, a hand stroking his chest. His heart was beating too fast. “I’m fine, I’m fine, you don’t have to worry. Are Shiwu and the others okay?”
“They are. Shiwu was crying a lot, but he got away.”
Shen Yuan wanted to smack the kid upside the head. Why couldn’t he be this sneaky before? Only when the danger was already over did Shiwu remember how to get away without being seen.
“Aah, that was close,” Yue Qi sagged against the wall.
Shen Yuan didn’t tell him that this was just the beginning, but still, he couldn’t stay silent.
“Gege, you need to be more careful and watch where you’re going,” he scolded him. “That was reckless. If I hadn’t— done something, you could have died.”
Yue Qi hung his head. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Shen Yuan sighed. “Don’t be. You did the right thing. But next time, try to be smarter about it.”
Yue Qi nodded. “I will, I promise.”
Shen Yuan hummed. “Good.”
He sagged against the wall too, and let his head rest on Yue Qi’s bony shoulder. He closed his eyes, and savored this moment of companionship. He had the feeling it would be the last one he would have in a very long time.
***
Later that day, Young Master Qiu came knocking. His full name was Qiu Jianluo, and he wanted to purchase the slave that had stabbed his horse.
It said something about the loyalties Shen Yuan had cultivated through the years that none of the children ratted him out. They stared down at the floor, hands behind their backs and head bent in a subservient gesture. Even Shiwu, known for shoving his foot in his mouth, bit his lips and said nothing.
This kind of display only enraged Qiu Jianluo further, who had already arrived in a fool mood.
“If none of you will talk, then all of you will pay,” he intoned, hand going to his whip.
"Ah, excuse me, Young Master," one of the handlers dared to speak. "If they get too damaged—"
"I'll pay you when I'm done," Qiu Jianluo said dismissively. The whip uncoiled from his fingers to the floor. "They won't die," he said with a smile.
Seeing this, Shen Yuan made to step forward.
A hand grabbed his arm. He looked to the side and saw Yue Qi’s wide eyes full of panic.
The hand that was holding Shen Yuan back was trembling.
This moment didn’t go unnoticed by Qiu Jianluo. He looked at the two of them, eyes narrowed. Seeing the older boy holding back the younger, he arched an elegant eyebrow.
“You,” he pointed at Yue Qi. Something in Shen Yuan’s chest froze. “Do you have something to say?”
Before Yue Qi could open his mouth and take on all the blame, Shen Yuan slipped from his hold and stepped forward, out of the line of slaves.
He could feel all the other children watching him, but made himself ignore it.
“It was me.”
Qiu Jianluo’s head snapped to look at him, eyes shining with malice. Shen Yuan thought about falling to his knees and apologizing for what he’d done, but there was something in this young master’s attitude that stopped him short. He didn’t like it one bit, and whatever he did, he was going to be taken anyway.
So Shen Yuan merely bowed his head, his face as impassive as the surface of a lake in winter.
It didn’t take very long after that; Qiu Jianluo bought him.