"Haven't you ever been in a fairy tale before?"

- Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

So...

So far, Liu Qingge was taking this whole thing quite well!

Other realities, higher power puppeteers and the destiny of the world as its denizens know it perched on the brink of catastrophic change.

It would be a lot for anyone to take in.

Never mind the personal timelines of Shen Qingqiu being involuntarily body-snatched by Shen Yuan's soul, Liu Qingge's 'destined' death and the foretold utter annihilation of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect and then the Cultivation World at large...

Yeah.

Thus, Shen Yuan was now silently watching the Bai Zhan War God, PIDW Liu Mingyan's dead older brother, process this information.

(Liu Qingge, who was Not Dead! Shen Qingqiu had not murdered his rival in the Ling Xi Caves and now there was one less black flag to condemn the Scum Villain with. Take that System!)

And another thing! Apparently it was alright to tell Liu Qingge everything about the future of this world and that Shen Yuan knew it because he'd read it from another world but being about to say Luo Binghe's name got him a System death threat?! He could tell Liu Qingge absolutely everything about Shen Qingqiu's soul essentially being defragged and stitched back together under System stasis after it apparently broke during his last Qi Deviation, but couldn't actually say 'System'?! But saying the 'Entity' was a-okay?! What sort of petty, persnickety computer was Shen Yuan's soul hanging in the balance of exactly?!

He huffed with silent wrath and took a sip of the absolutely exquisite tea they had in this world. Maybe it was partly the god-tier brewing skill he'd learned by following Shen Qingqiu's muscle memory and experimentation, but every blend was a delight to the senses. Even Mu Qingfang's prescribed medicinal brews had an intriguing earthiness to them, even if they were a bit bitter. He went to take another sip, but found his cup tragically empty and knew the pot was too... he eyed the full, untouched cup of beverage over on Liu Qingge's side of the table with a heart full of envy. It was within arm's reach. He'd learned slight of hand from one nurse introducing him to magic tricks for entertainment during one hospital stay or another. Maybe he could surreptitiously swap their cups... he glanced at the tea captor from under his eyelashes-

And found the renowned warlord was staring at him intensely while channelling qi through the grip on Shen Yuan's wrist- which, come to think of it, was really a very pleasant sensation! All gentle pulses and curls like hot summer sunshine softened by filtering through a forest canopy to warm him up from the inside out, though the enjoyment was slightly off from the way it felt like Liu Qingge was trying to set him on fire with just his piercing and unblinking dark eyes.

They were very pretty eyes. It had been too dimly lit in the Caves to see properly, but Liu Qingge's eyes weren't actually black but a very, very deep purple, like black amethyst. Very striking, Lord Liu! Much more attractive than Shen Yuan had envisaged when the Great God Airplane spilled pre-teen worthy prose about Liu Mingyan's crystalline lavender orbs sparkling with the strength of her conviction. With eyes like these, all phoenix-shaped and slightly-smoky-without-trying, it would be quite possible to become captivated by that intense gaze and get lost in the swirling depths of unfathomable emotions.

Liu-juju, what are you doing with these love-interest character traits, ah?! Airplane-bro, why is your burly, barbarian-class, toxic masculinity icon an elegant young master who should be writing hopelessly romantic prose by flickering candle light?! The warm fingers on his wrist were calloused from dedicated hard work and training, but the hands they joined to were elegantly sculptured with fine bones and milky pale skin crafted by the most refined of noble genes. The dichotomy was really too much!

Though, with the most beautiful woman in PIDW as a full-blood sibling, of course her brother would be the most beautiful man. Calamitous beauties both... though while Liu Mingyan's beauty might incite chaos were her veil to be removed, Liu Qingge is the calamity in and of himself, who just so happens to also be a beauty. They even have the same star-shaped white birthmark on their foreheads! It's a shame Liu Qingge's is half-hidden by the loose lock of hair on one side, because it really was interesting to look at- very symmetrical. In the novel, Liu Mingyan kept hers hidden beneath a jewellery piece headband like a circlet or ferronniere and only showed it to the Protagonist on their wedding night...

Perhaps it was a Clan tradition thing? Or something both Liu siblings specifically were self-conscious about? It was definitely a Thing in the novel. A very obviously significant thread that could have led to a tapestry of worldbuilding… so of course the Great God Airplane cut it loose, never to be expounded upon, discarded to kindle the rage of Peerless Cucumber in the pit of sin and iniquity that was the PIDW Comment Section.

Shen Yuan vaguely recalled ranting in that same comment section about the obvious subplot-nix, that and the good message of the telling her he loved her for 'more than her physical form and regardless of marks on her body' being completely invalidated by the fact that the Protagonist was just spouting sweet-talk to get more of her body revealed and then into his bed. It was sad to see the upright and noble Liu Mingyan get done so dirty, alright?!

He quickly moved his gaze off the mark, right back into eye-lock with the man himself, who was frowning even more severely than before. Very fierce, Liu-juju! This lowly nerd apologises for staring at your familial insecurities! You have nothing to be ashamed of- it's really very pretty!

Shen Yuan tried to express his acceptance, support and apology for rudely staring with his eyes and some of it evidently came across, as Liu Qingge gave him a long, searching look to verify his sincerity then looked down in... embarrassment? Happiness at being accepted? With a red flush tinting his ears and creeping across his nose. He nodded once, sharply. "This Lord accepts your story."

Shen Yuan almost melted into a boneless heap with relief. Only the Original Good's perfect control kept Liu Qingge from having to deal with a puddle of Peak Lord on the floor. Hopefully when they get him a new body it will also have this reaction filter, ah!

.

.

.

That at some point one of Shen Qingqiu's students might seek revenge for mistreatment was almost to be expected- the man was notoriously strict with teaching and harsh with punishments, and besides that all Peaks had at least one former student swear revenge for Cultivation not being as easily achievable as they imagined or feeling wronged at a misdemeanour being punished. Every few years, Bai Zhan in particular was called to put down some of its own former disciple-hopeful unable to stomach the lifestyle, fled instead to demonic cultivation.

That one such weak willed coward might gain dangerous power was worrying however, especially as Silver-Silk Shen Yuan was unable to tell him the disciple's name nor if they were already present on the Peak and with their demonic heritage sealed, there would be no way to distinguish them from any ordinary human. Not unless they were present in the Sect and Liu Qingge went through every single disciple, one by one, searching for a trace of demonic imprint on their souls.

Just the thought of it sent a shudder of revulsion up his spine.

There was a reason he spent so much time out hunting, a reason he preferred the forest and clouds to the Sect and cities. Though the fable about unicorns being attracted to virgins was just that, the aspect of purity was not. Cultivators worked on the body, mind and heart, and by consequence the soul, to refine and purify themselves enough to ascend to the Heavens as deities. The vast majority of mortals, especially in larger population centres, stank of bitter greed and spice-chocked hate, envy souring the scent of their souls until towns and cities reeked like curdled milk.

In the Sect, it was better, but on the other hand it was also highly populated with teenagers, whose emotions flared strong and priorities flipped so fast it made him sick to be around them too long. The older and wiser they got, the better, the stronger their cultivation, the better. Bai Zhan's Hallmasters did a good enough job training them in his absence and didn't seem at all bothered by the miasma of their innate selfishness at that age, so Liu Qingge was fully comfortable visiting once a month to show them what they should be aspiring to and encourage them to get on with trying to achieve it, for the sake of his nose if nothing else.

Orange blossom tickled his nose with curiosity and brought him back to the present- to the strange, lost soul Shen Yuan… who was staring straight at Liu Qingge's horn star.

… several minutes later an a barely thwarted minor Qi Deviation later, and Liu Qingge was sure of a few things;

The first: though he made not a single mention in his explanation of present and future event, Shen Yuan knew he was a unicorn.

The second: the soul in front of him would make an invaluable ally to Cang Qiong.

The sheer volume and depth of knowledge contained within his head ensured that, from a strictly tactical standpoint, as well as his clear willingness to share it and learn even more, but there was more to it than that. The passionate and drive to change the course of the future as he knew it even with the looming threat of having his soul destroyed by the 'entity' that summoned him while Shen Qingqiu's soul was being 'mended'… the rare sort of courage to make the world a better place, that didn't usually survive past gaining enough worldly experience to initiate.

But Shen Yuan was not making grand, unachievable plans built on ignorance and naivety. He simply wanted to do what he could, based on what he knew. This soul had not hesitated to risk himself to save Liu Qingge from his own delirium, or that disciple from was assumed to be fatally poisoned armour. He had apparently been working to bridge connections with the other Peak Lords in Shen Qingqiu's stead and had even retrieved some rare plants and treasures to heal the damages to the Qing Jing Lord's cultivation before he'd gone into seclusion. With the full intention to make himself an entirely different body and allow Shen Qingqiu to enjoy the benefit of his work once the 'entity' reinstated him.

Which formed his third conclusion: Shen Yuan needed a guard.

He didn't seem to grasp how easily he could be killed, especially now with Without-A-Cure. Between Mu Qingfang's genius and the innate purification properties of Liu Qingge's qi, the condition was survivable, with careful monitoring and frequent meridian cleansing, but Liu Qingge could feel the reverberations of throbbing spiritual veins in his hand where the poison entered, yet Shen Yuan acted as if the pain wasn't even there.

This was a man who would bring the world improvement to the best of his ability, and as it seemed he was forbidden from informing anyone else about his condition, it fell to Liu Qingge to ensure he survived long enough to do it. Not that there was a better choice for the task anyway and with the light and fragrant sense of Shen Yuan's qi, it wouldn't be a hardship anyway.

That was why he gave Shen Yuan his acceptance.

Shen Yuan perked up immediately, soul sparkling in his eyes like sunlight dancing through swirls of morning mists, bright and engaging where Shen Qingqiu's had only ever churned with dark storms and lightning hatred.

He immediately launched into enthused babble.

"Great! So I've been thinking about what to use to form build myself a body- I've got things in hand on Qing Jing and am slowly implementing changes and solutions to problems from the book, but there's only so much I can do at once to change interpersonal relationships how they need to be, so we don't need to worry about that right now," He got up and wandered into the kitchen area, still talking rapid fire, "Anyway, there's the Sun and Moon Dew Flower seeds, but they take year to grow and I'm not sure about the conditions they need anyway, but I've been working through the Great Library in my spare time-" he emerged with a steaming pot, jasmine white by the smell of it "-and I've found something that might work, but all the ingredients are pretty isolated and-or guarded by all different high-level monsters or trials, so I would really need some help, especially as some of them are specifically designed for two people entering at the same time."

He brought the slightly tepid tea up to his lips and knocked it back as he listened, ready for a fresh cup. Mn. Still good.

" -and if we're careful, we might even be able to do this without triggering any sex curses!"

Liu Qingge chocked.

Notes:

This chapter was brought to you by Liu Qingge being pretty~

(and in the fables, LQG would absolutely be the majestic sort of unicorn that would completely ignore the virgin maiden lost in the woods because she was dancing with the songbirds (or force her out at horn-point), but would give the young lad hunting to feed his struggling family a ride on his back to the best game spots and then back to the forest edge.)