XXX

Luo Binghe carried a small bundle into the room with him the next time he came to visit his Shizun. As much as he liked seeing the uptight man wearing his pajamas, something he never got to see as a disciple, he did think he should probably let the man get dressed at some point. And now that Shen Qingqiu could walk around the room, it seemed like a good time to do so.

It had taken a surprisingly long time for Shen Qingqiu to regain the use of his limbs and tongue, much longer than he had predicted. He now doubted that it was just a matter of his brain not remembering how to use them or a little weakness. Perhaps he'd been a bit too eager in digging the man up, and he had needed to stay underground a little bit longer. Maybe he wasn't really finished growing.

Well, it wasn't as though he could change that now, and everything was turning out fine regardless. It may have taken a while, but Shen Qingqiu was practically back to normal. And in the meantime, Luo Binghe had been able to watch him struggle to do basic tasks, which was amusing in itself and also gave him an 'excuse' to do things on his behalf (not that he needed one- he could do whatever he wished).

This time, when Luo Binghe entered the room, he found Shen Qingqiu sitting next to the bed rather than on it. He didn't appear to be doing anything, just sitting there and staring at the opposite wall.

"Hello, Shizun."

The older man blinked and seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts. Had he taken up meditating again?

Shen Qingqiu turned to look at him, his usual glare on his face.

"Beast."

"Oh, so you're talking today?"

Though he could speak just fine now, the man still often decided to remain silent. Most likely, he didn't think Luo Binghe deserved a response. He could also guess that, to a certain degree, choosing whether he spoke or not was the man's sad attempt at controlling something. Luo Binghe could, truly, make him do just about anything he wanted. But making someone speak using his blood was very difficult. It was much easier to stop them from talking. He could probably do it, but he found the man's actual responses much more amusing.

As if he could hear Luo Binghe's thoughts, Shen Qingqiu pointedly didn't reply to the question.

He walked further into the room, kneeling down so he could get closer to Shen Qingqiu's face. He liked seeing how uncomfortable it made him when he did that.

"I brought you something today, Shizun~" the demon lord announced. "You're probably tired of wearing pajamas all day, aren't you?"

Shen Qingqiu's eyes darted toward the bundle in his arms for one second before he turned his head away.

"Hm, do you not like green anymore? You always wore it before."

Really, Luo Binghe had the robes made to be as close as he could get to the ones the man used to always wear. Partially, he did it because he wondered how the man would react to a reminder of his old peak, the one that Luo Binghe had already destroyed with his own hands.

Also, he always thought they suited him.

"Stand up."

This order was denied, and Shen Qingqiu remained just as he was. Not even bothering with the demon blood this time, Luo Binghe just grabbed him by the arm and dragged him up. This was immediately met with resistance, Shen Qingqiu attempting to wrench away from him, but Luo Binghe just tightened his grip. After all, he didn't even need the demon blood most of the time- he was strong enough to force him anyway. The blood just made things a little easier and gave the added bonus of clearly scaring his old master a little.

"Settle down. I'm just going to help you get dressed."

"Bastard!"

Luo Binghe let his grip tighten painfully for a moment before letting up a little. As much as Shen Qingqiu was willing to use his sharp tongue to lash out at people, he was most likely just using the word as a general insult. Despite teaching him in his youth, his Shizun never really knew much about him personally. All the man really knew was that he had a mother, a good one who cared for him. He had no idea whether she was married or not, or even whether she was his birth mother or not. Even what he did know, he likely forgot, not finding it important enough to remember some random handful of sentences uttered by his most hated disciple.

He wasn't insulting his mother (though if he had really meant to, the demon likely wouldn't have been able to hold back from snapping the arm still held tight in his grip).

"Your insults aren't as harsh as they used to be. Are you out of practice?"

Shen Qingqiu tried to pull away again, to the same result. Not that it mattered- he could activate his blood in a moment if he needed to. Doing it this way was more fun, though.

As such, he started to remove the robes, eventually letting them fall to the floor, with Shen Qingqiu continuing to struggle the entire time. He almost fell once or twice, and it certainly would have been faster if he would just cooperate, but it's not as though the demon lord expected him to meekly allow his clothes to be changed for him without the blood to keep him still. With the old clothes removed, Luo Binghe picked the new robes back up and began to put them on the other man.

"I'm not a doll!"

He might as well be. After all, wasn't that how Luo Binghe was treating him? Certainly better to be a doll than a plaything, though.

"You're going to wrinkle them," Luo Binghe warned.

"You think I care?!"

"Ah, Shizun has gotten far too used to being unkempt," Luo Binghe noted. "You've really lowered your standards for being presentable."

"W-Who do I need to be presentable for?!" Shen Qingqiu shot back. "You?! What'sss the point?"

That was true- after all, Luo Binghe had seen this man in just about every form of disarray possible at this point, much worse than this, and it's not like anyone else would see him. Still, there would be a time when Shen Qingqiu would have cared to be presentable for his own sake. Perhaps that had been one of the things Luo Binghe had beaten out of him.

"The point is that the robe you've been wearing needs to be washed," he ended up saying. "Now, stay still."

Once the robes were in place (as neatly as they could be with all of Shen Qingqiu's wiggling around), Luo Binghe looked the other man over. With the similar robes, he really did look so much like he did back then. Except Luo Binghe would have never been able to touch him like this, hold him painfully tight by the arm while he struggled. He'd never have been able to look down at him and revel in the fact that this man was at his mercy. He'd never have been able to so much as touch him, let alone dress him.

With his other hand, Luo Binghe reached out toward the man's face, barely even thinking about the motion as he did it.

Shen Qingqiu's eyes widened.

He moved.

And bit Luo Binghe in the hand.

Shocked, the demon lord didn't react at first. He just felt the man's blunt teeth dig into the flesh of his hand. And then Shen Qingqiu blinked and let go. After that, he just stared at Luo Binghe's hand, as if he was shocked at what he had done.

"Hahahaha!" Luo Binghe couldn't help but laugh. "You bit me! You actually bit me! Hahahaha!"

Shen Qingqiu flinched.

"Careful, Shizun… You're on your way to switching which one of us is the beast."

The older man lowered himself to sit on the bed, and though he kept his face turned away, enough of it was visible that Luo Binghe could see a fiery blush spreading across the man's pale cheeks.

"Awe, are you embarrassed?" Luo Binghe continued to tease.

"Ssshut up!"

"What were you even trying to do?" the demon lord asked, still amused. "You didn't even break skin."

Shen Qingqiu didn't answer, his face just getting redder. Luo Binghe continued to laugh at his expense. Really, the bite barely even hurt, and any pain there was had faded only a moment after he'd let go. His Shizun hadn't really thought he was going to be able to fight him, did he? And if he did, why would he choose to bite him, of all things? His chances, as low as they were, would have been better if he tried to punch or kick him.

Suddenly, though, a thought occurred to him.

Perhaps Shen Qingqiu hadn't meant to bite him- or, more accurately, he hadn't thought about it before he'd done it. Had he truly just reacted- out of what, fear? That thought was a little funny but also a little pathetic.

Luo Binghe sat on the bed beside him, definitely much closer than Shen Qingqiu was comfortable with. He could hear his breath get just a bit faster again.

Getting an idea, Luo Binghe grabbed the man again, pulling him into his arms.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" Shen Qingqiu shouted at him as he tried to push him away.

"It's alright, Shizun. I'll forgive you," Luo Binghe told him. "This time. Don't try that again, though. Remember, no matter what you try, you'll never be able to defeat me."

"Get off me!"

"Hm, no," Luo Binghe denied. "You bit me- this is your punishment."

"Fucking brutish bastard! What ridiculousss game are you even trying to play?!" Shen Qingqiu spat. "Get. Off!"

"No."

"Beast!"

"Calm down, and I'll let you go."

He tried to jerk away again.

"Go die!"

"Nope."

Instead of words, the next thing to come out of the older man's mouth was a strangled noise of frustration. He continued to struggle for a while, and as such, Luo Binghe continued to hold him. The both of them were mostly silent, and Luo Binghe spent the time wondering how long it would take before Shen Qingqiu gave up.

In the end, it was longer than he would have preferred but shorter than he'd expected. Eventually, Shen Qingqiu had tired himself out, and with a final attempt at a shove, he slumped into Luo Binghe's chest. The demon lord held him for just a moment longer before releasing the man and letting him sit back.

"I did tell you I'd let you go if you calmed down," Luo Binghe huffed. "And now your hair's a mess again, and your clothes are definitely wrinkled."

"Fuck off."

Luo Binghe sighed.

"Do you like being a mess?" he asked. "Maybe you've grown tired of being a stuck-up peak lord."

"Fuck. Off."

"Well, you've certainly got the mouth for that."

"I hate you."

"Yes, I've noticed."

XXX

Staring down at the documents in front of him, Luo Binghe sighed. There was some trouble with a group of cultivators attacking some of his subordinates. And apparently, those subordinates weren't strong enough to deal with the issue themselves. He was almost tempted to ignore the request for help, let them suffer if they weren't strong enough to deal with this on their own, but the more rational side of himself told him that letting rebels defeat his subordinates out of spite was a bad idea. He couldn't have people thinking he was so easy to defeat, even if indirectly.

He would have to go deal with this himself.

He would, however, probably be gone for at least a few days, since he had no way of knowing when exactly the next attack would be. And that left him with a problem:

Shen Qingqiu.

As it was, his servants were only informed of his existence on a need-to-know basis (and they knew what would happen if the news of Shen Qingqiu's return got out). He was sure the servants, for the most part, could handle him for a few days. They were demons, after all, and Shen Qingqiu couldn't access his cultivation and wasn't very physically strong anymore. So it's not like he'd be able to overpower them and escape.

But Luo Binghe also wouldn't really be able to control him from so far away. He technically could, but without seeing him, it was practically impossible for him to control him to the degree he'd been employing thus far. Long-distance, his blood parasites did well at keeping people still and inflicting pain. Forcing people to eat, however, required a few too many intricacies to do without seeing the person he was controlling. Trying would very likely result in Shen Qingqiu choking, if the food ever made it into his mouth at all.

There hadn't been a single time Shen Qingqiu had willingly eaten the entire time he'd been back. And while it wouldn't be a big deal for him to starve himself for a little while before, with his cultivation sealed away, he was much more dependent on things like food and sleep.

He crossed his arms.

Perhaps it wasn't an ideal scenario, but normal humans could go a few days without eating. Water was a bigger problem, but the man seemed marginally more willing to drink than to eat.

It was fine. Not like he could let that scum cause problems in his domains. Shen Qingqiu was a grown man- he didn't need a literal demon lord to babysit him.

And it's not like Luo Binghe was worried about leaving him alone.

XXX

Apparently, Luo Binghe had to go away for a few days to deal with some kind of business. That left Shen Qingqiu alone, which he certainly didn't mind.

Or, it didn't until one of the demon lord's servants came in to give him food.

The demon had placed the food on the table, and obviously, it expected him to eat it. Except Luo Binghe wasn't here to force him to eat, and Shen Qingqiu was going to take advantage of that.

And so, the demon continued to stare at him and he continued to ignore both the demon and the food for what must have been a few hours. Honestly, he expected the demon to give up after a while, but apparently, it wasn't going to.

"You know, I'm not going to eat that," he said eventually.

"His Highness Lord Luo has ordered that you eat. I am to watch until you do."

Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes.

"Well, you're going to be sitting here a long time, then."

XXX