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I hope those of you who celebrate Halloween had a good one :3

I dressed up as a clown :]

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Luo Binghe watched a handful of his demon servants filling a tub with warm water. It was just about full, which was good, because he guessed that Shen Qingqiu would be waking up soon. The man's sleep schedule had shifted to him waking up in the early afternoon rather than the early morning, though the man himself didn't know that. After all, it's not like this room had any windows to see the sun through.

The last bucket was poured in, and with a series of respectful bows, the group of demons left the room, closing the door behind him. Meanwhile, Luo Binghe continued to watch his Shizun sleep.

He was surprised Shen Qingqiu slept as often as he did now. As far as he knew, the man often opted to meditate rather than sleep back when he was still a peak lord. He definitely didn't sleep every night. Now, he did- or, he slept every morning, technically. Perhaps having his cultivation blocked made meditating difficult or useless. Perhaps he wanted to dream and pretend he was somewhere else. Or perhaps he was just bored.

Though he slept, Shen Qingqiu's face didn't look particularly peaceful this time. He wasn't exactly thrashing around, but he was moving more than he seemed to normally, and his face twitched every minute or so.

The demon lord wondered what he was dreaming about. He could find out, he supposed, but just as he was considering it, the older man's eyes shot open. All he got was a short, cut-off gasp before the man composed himself.

Definitely a nightmare of some sort, then. Maybe he was dreaming about all the things Luo Binghe had done to him before.

He grinned.

"Good morning, Shizun," he greeted sweetly, smile only widening at the small jump his words elicited.

Apparently, the other man hadn't immediately noticed him. Or maybe he had, but he was still feeling the effects of his nightmare and was easier to spook than usual.

That would certainly make this next part quite fun.

Without giving a warning, he took control of the parasites to make Shen Qingqiu freeze in place.

"I already know you're not going to like this, so I'm just going to make this easier on both of us," he said, approaching.

He grabbed Shen Qingqiu and had him sit up. Then, he began to undo his robes.

Shen Qingqiu's eyes immediately widened, proving that Luo Binghe had been right to keep him from moving.

"W-What are you doing?!"

"You need to bathe," Luo Binghe informed him. "I cleaned you after your body finished growing, but not since. And after I used all that oil to detangle your hair yesterday, you're all greasy. So, you're going to have a bath."

"I can… do it… m-myssself!"

Luo Binghe continued to remove the robe, pulling it off of Shen Qingqiu's shoulders.

"Hm, I doubt it," he retorted. "I feel like you'll fall getting in and out of the tub. Or try to drown yourself or something."

He pulled the man's arms out of the sleeves.

"Besides, I've already seen you completely naked before, both in your old body and this one. So it's not like it matters."

"Demon!"

"Yes, I'm a demon. A demon lord, I'll remind you," Luo Binghe chuckled. "I've risen to be a demon lord while you've fallen from being a peak lord. And now, you can't even stop me. I can do anything I want to you."

Luo Binghe leaned closer, their faces almost touching.

"Including giving you a bath."

With that, Luo Binghe finished removing the rest of Shen Qingqiu's clothes and scooped him up. Of course, the man couldn't so much as try to struggle.

"You-!"

Luo Binghe quickly dropped him into the basin, making Shen Qingqiu gasp. It wasn't as though the water was cold, so he must have just been surprised. Internally shrugging, Luo Binghe grabbed some soap and began to lather it between his hands.

"See, Shizun, you're completely at my mercy," he pointed out again. "Funny how I'm using it to treat you like a little child. Tell me, how much does this bother you? Did you prefer it when I tore you apart? Or are you relieved that you still have all of your new limbs?"

"I hhhate… you…"

Letting out a loud laugh, Luo Binghe started to work the soap into the other man's hair.

"Of course you do," he agreed. "You've hated me ever since you first laid eyes on me."

He scooped some water to wet the top of Shen Qingqiu's head.

"It's alright to admit that you prefer this," the demon lord told him. "Just about everyone would prefer this over being torn apart, I think."

He got more soap. Shen Qingqiu really had so much hair.

"I wonder, of all things, why is pride so important to you? It really was your downfall, you know," he continued. "If you hadn't been so prideful, you never would have felt so threatened by a child that you needed to beat him back into his place."

He scooped up some more water, this time to start rinsing out the soap. Pouring it over his head, Luo Binghe leaned close to his ear.

"But I beat you back into your place, didn't I?" Luo Binghe spoke, his voice low. "Back down into the dirt."

Though it was quiet, their close proximity allowed Luo Binghe to hear an inhale that was just a little too quick. He ran a hand over his shoulder, tracing the line where he'd removed the limb on Shen Qingqiu's old body, even though no scar existed there on this new one.

"Remember what it was like to have me rip your arms off? What about your legs? Which hurt more, Shizun? Or did you start getting used to it?"

He heard a few more sharp breaths, slightly louder.

This gave him pause. Perhaps he was laying it on a little too thick. After all, his goal was to make Shen Qingqiu fall in love with him, just like that other Shen Qingqiu loved that other Luo Binghe. He still might crush him with those affections later, but he couldn't have that option if he never accomplished his goal in the first place. And as fun as it was to torment his old master, he'd ruin his chances if he went too far with it.

"Well, aren't you lucky that I'm only doing this now?" Luo Binghe asked. "Even if you won't admit it, we both know you didn't exactly enjoy what I did, now did you?"

Another breath. And then, Shen Qingqiu finally spoke again.

"Why… am I alive..? Right now?" he asked.

"Are you upset? You know, making you a new body was really difficult, Shizun," he fake-pouted. "It took years just for it to grow!"

"Then why… both-er?"

"Hm," Luo Binghe started to scrub the man's arms as he thought about what to say. "Curiosity, I suppose. Or maybe I wanted to try something different this time. Maybe you're dreaming right now, and you'll wake up to find you never died, that you're still dangling in the water prison. Who's to say?"

"You."

This made Luo Binghe chuckle again. Nothing amused him quite the same way as his Shizun did.

"Well, maybe I like to keep you guessing," he replied evasively. "It doesn't really matter, though, does it? You're alive again. That's a second chance that very few people receive."

"It mattersss!"

"Why, because you think it'll end the same as last time?" Luo Binghe questioned. "Here's the thing, Shizun: if I was going to do that, I wouldn't be bothering with all this, you know. There's no point in teaching you to walk again if I was just going to keep you dangling from a chain. There's no point in feeding you if I want you to starve. There's no point in bathing you if I'm just going to turn around and have you wallow in your own filth."

He washed the other arm.

"All this would just be a waste of time, Shizun," the demon lord sighed. "So, no, I'm not going to remove all your hard-grown limbs again right after I finished making them. This disciple of yours isn't wasteful or inefficient."

"Liar!"

He parted his hair so he could wash the former peak lord's back.

"If you want to keep thinking that's what I'll do, that's fine," he accepted. "Let yourself be more scared than you need to be."

A water droplet rolled down the other man's pale skin.

"You always did see the worst in me, after all."

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Slowly, Shen Qingqiu felt his limbs begin to function normally. He could walk well enough now, though it wasn't like he had much of anywhere to walk. The room was relatively small, and obviously, he wasn't allowed out of it. He could pace back and forth a bit, though. His hands were also easier to control now. His writing might be a bit sloppy if he was allowed to try, but other than that, he could hold and use whatever things Luo Binghe let him have. He could also talk normally 95% of the time, only stumbling on his words occasionally.

If he was in any other situation, he would be relieved about being able to move and speak normally again. After all, he hated feeling vulnerable, hated not even being able to sit up or stand or eat unaided. He hated not being able to defend himself.

Except he really wasn't any less vulnerable now than when he first woke up. Not when he was still locked away under Luo Binghe's thumb, his demon blood forever crawling through this damned body.

And though he didn't want to give in, wouldn't give in, he couldn't stop the waves of fear steadily building up in the background of his mind. Because with every day, every bit of progress in using his limbs, he knew he was getting closer to whatever torture Luo Binghe wanted to put him through this time. This game of his couldn't last forever, and no matter what the little demon said, Shen Qingqiu still believed that he was merely waiting until tearing him apart would be more fun. That was the most logical time for him to switch and put an end to all this… coddling.

For the most part, the demon lord had been holding himself back from hurting him physically, instead focusing on his mind games and hurting his pride. He could tell the little beast was enjoying it, could see those cruel grins spread wide across his face every time Shen Qingqiu reacted in a way that amused him. He was toying with him, like a cat tossing a mouse around after it had already snapped its neck.

Every day, he expected the script to change, expected Luo Binghe to enter the room with the same grin but chains in his hands and a sword at his side. With every touch, he expected the man's grip to turn harsh and bruising, expected to be pierced by claws, expected to be thrown around and forced still and torn apart until he finally returned to death once again. When that happened, would Luo Binghe find a way to revive him again, to play the game over and over until he grew bored of him entirely? Was Shen Qingqiu destined to just be some doll getting repeatedly broken and repaired until he was too far-gone to be fixed any longer? How much could his soul possibly withstand? Even as it was, and even with his cultivation sealed away from him, he could feel his soul. The dead weren't supposed to return to the land of the living, certainly not rejoin them without being reincarnated. But he had, and that had left his soul in an unnatural state. It was unsteady, sometimes sending unpleasant flickers throughout his body. They had yet to happen when Luo Binghe was around, and he sometimes wondered if he knew that his antics had put his old master's soul in such a precarious position.

He probably didn't care. Or, if he did, it would only be because he'd be quite upset if his toy's soul fell out of its new body before he was done playing with it.

Maybe it would be better if it did. Shen Qingqiu certainly didn't want to go through the entire round of torture he'd been put through the first time. If nothing else, the demon lord knew how to be cruel to those who had wronged him. Though his memories were somewhat hazy, he could remember the relief he felt upon realizing he was going to die soon. It had felt like a small victory, as Luo Binghe hadn't quite been done with him (which had been made even more clear by this point). He'd gone too far in breaking his toy, so he couldn't play with it anymore. Finally, Shen Qingqiu had been done with the pain and torture, and even if some other kind of hell awaited him, at least its name wasn't Luo Binghe.

Until he was brought back.

When he was younger, Shen Qingqiu, Shen Jiu, would have done just about anything to survive. He'd kill and fight and steal, even shove down his pride and grovel if he had to. For so long, his only real goal had been survival.

And then, he'd finally been allowed to have pride, and he clung to that privilege with claws so tightly clenched that he couldn't let go of it. After that, he likely would have died for the sake of his pride if it had come down to it. Or, that had been the case until Luo Binghe got his hands on him, broken him down until his pride once again became less important in the face of survival. Even then, he had never fully let go of it, and the idea of 'survival' became synonymous with something quite the opposite, something that sounded much more like 'escape'.

Luo Binghe clearly knew that leaving him anything he could kill himself with would inevitably result in his death. He left nothing that would be very useful for it, and he occasionally made comments about not letting him harm himself. As if he would be able to drown himself in the bath with Luo Binghe watching. All the demon would have to do is grab his hair and drag his face back out of the water.

But the demon was careful. He didn't leave any utensils or dishes behind when he left the room, even taking the comb. He hadn't yet found anything that could be snapped or sharpened to a point, and there weren't any strings or scarves that could be fashioned into a noose. Of course, there weren't any poisons around, either. He thought that, maybe, he could tear a strip of cloth from his robes or a blanket, but his hands didn't quite have the strength to do it, and there wasn't really anything for him to hang himself off of. Could he tie something like that tight enough to keep him from breathing? He got the sense that, at most, he'd pass out and Luo Binghe would find him and laugh.

So, most likely, there was no escape for him (as if there ever had been). Luo Binghe could and would do whatever he wanted to him.

Well, perhaps he would have to just hope that however he'd brought him back wouldn't work a second time or that his soul would shatter before Luo Binghe started to grow bored.

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