Scum Villian's Self Saving System and Heaven Official's Blessing (aka Tian Guan Ci Fu)
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[ERROR]
[FILE CORRUPTED]
[WORLD STABILITY COMPROMISED]
[Warning! Character: Shen Qingqiu [Role: Luo Binghe's master, Cang Qiong Mountain Sect's Qing Jing Peak Lord] is crucial to ongoing World Stability! Initiating file repair and recovery...]
[... 9%... 14%... 27%...]
[ERROR]
[Warning! Character: Shen Qingqiu [Role: Luo Binghe's master, Cang Qiong Mountain Sect's Qing Jing Peak Lord] is crucial to ongoing World Stability! Initiating file repair and recovery...]
[ERROR]
[Sending request for Protocol 00251W-Soul-Transplant...]
[Request granted!]
[Initiating Protocol 002515W-Soul-Transplant...]
[... 10%... 29%... 49%... 76%... 100%]
[Protocol complete! Rebooting System. Please standby...]
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Shen Qingqiu ruminated, not for the first time, on these strange words as he observed his body; disoriented to be looking at himself from the outside without it being a reflection. It laid on the bed, limp and breathing steadily, as if simply asleep. Peaceful, as if its very soul wasn't disembodied and watching it from the outside. Watching it and that fool Yue Qingyuan sitting next to his unconscious shidi without realizing anything was amiss.
The voice was odd with an unnatural blankness to it, a falseness to its tone, and it proclaimed that the world stability? Somehow? Hinges on his existence?? Or at least, the existence of Shen Qingqiu, no matter what soul is inside.
Shen Qingqiu, now a pitiful ghost fire, burned at how easily he was replaced. Is this the work of the heavens? Fate? With everything that was done to him, you would assume that the world was earnestly doing its best to kill him since birth and only being found by Yue Qi and then his spiteful stubbornness kept him going no matter what.
But perhaps... something had to give, eventually.
Everyone was aware of how unstable his cultivation was, himself specially. He knew that what once held endless potential, nothing but scars and twisted pathways remained of his meridians. He knew how they whispered about the Qing Jing Peak Lord who went through qi deviations frequently, he knew how others wondered how long until one becomes fatal. Some might've even wished for it.
Well, they had their wish, only for the heavens to decide that it should not be so. But the problem was that Shen Qingqiu's soul was too damaged, too "corrupted," so it sought to replace him instead. He'd always thought of himself as damaged, unrepentant scum, darkened beyond saving, blood staining his hands and soul; he just never thought it would be confirmed in such a way.
Funny, he thought bitterly.
Shen Qingqiu stared at Yue Qingyuan's profile.
For multiple shichen, the sect leader stared at the stranger on the bed and Shen Qingqiu's anger and despair slowly sunk into numbness. The silence was only broken by the rustling of bamboo leaves and the occasional bird call. Yue Qingyuan's expression had always dropped around Shen Qingqiu, as if the mere sight of the man was enough to cause him pain, only to then muster a strained smile. It had filled him with resentment every time, the reminder of Yue Qi's abandonment and refusal to tell him why, and his pity and guilt over the slave he left behind being the only reason he brought Shen Jiu to the sect and not because he actually wanted him there–
But there was none of that image now.
Instead, all Shen Qingqiu saw was something soft and filled with concern. As if he really cared. There was no one around and the only other person that he's aware of is unconscious, so there was no need to put up such an act. Yue Qingyuan seemed quite content with sitting there on his shidi's bedside uselessly, instead of doing other, more important, duties.
... Ridiculous.
The interloper stirred, then.
Shen Qingqiu watched numbly as "Shen Qingqiu" interacted with the sect leader. The new soul seemed to already have some knowledge of the world, possibly having been briefed in some way of their mission beforehand, but the knowledge is evidently not thorough enough to completely trick Yue Qingyuan, causing more worry in the sect leader. Good. If Yue Qingyuan didn't question anything at all then Shen Qingqiu would have lost all faith in the fool's brain function.
Odd though, how the impostor's first questions included that of the little beast. The peculiar voice had also mentioned him too, didn't it? If he had eyes, they would've narrowed sharply. What does the filthy beast that is his youngest disciple have to do with anything? Another person deemed important by the heavens, similar to Shen Qingqiu whose role was important enough that his death was unacceptable?
But the opportunity to learn more wasn't possible, as Yue Qingyuan left the bamboo house and Shen Qingqiu unthinkingly followed.
He then paused, looking back.
The bamboo house sat in tranquility, bathed in warm sunlight and surrounded by long stalks of bamboo. Humble and elegant, the bamboo house was just to his taste as a gentleman scholar. It was a gift from his Shizun, the now-ascended Old Master Shen, for Shen Qingqiu to inhabit once he took up the mantle of peak lord. He himself was involved with the planning of its construction. It was the first place he can truly say belonged to him. His house. His home.
... With a flicker, the ghost fire that is Shen Jiu turned away.
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Me, after turning yet another character into a ghost and writing about it: they're my fave characters, cant you tell? :)))
Now I only need to read MDZS then write a ghost fire fic for it to complete the trio... but I'm not yet ready for a new Obsession to haunt my every waking hour everyday (and crying about it) like what happened to TGCF so I've been procrastinating for a long time ✌️
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A drop here, a drop there (a one-shots/snippet book)
FanfictionSometimes I write a story, sometimes I write a small scene. Either the story is too small or was not meant to be big, and the small scenes doesn't really fit anywhere in particular. They don't get posted. Until I decided to gather them up and make a...
