Chapter Text
~[Synchonising New Account…]
The sun was shining through the windows, shining onto his eyelids. The birds were chirping and everything was peaceful.
Luo Binghe turned his head over in his sleep, trying to grasp whatever he had left of his slumber.
He would get up soon enough, make breakfast for Shizun, and they would eat together as soon as Shizun had cleaned himself up from last night.
That’s how it was. That’s how it has been for the past year since they have been married.
Shizun was normally a deep sleeper, he usually never woke up before Binghe.
(When Binghe had asked about it, Shizun had said that it was something that was inherited from his old body, it needed to recuperate with rest. Even if he didn’t have Shen Yuan’s body anymore, the habit had carried over with him to the other world.
Binghe’s world.)
So then who was touching his chest right now?
“Shizun… did you have a nightmare?” Binghe asked. His voice cracked. Though the chances of that are small since he makes sure that his Shizun only has the best dreams at night.
He heard a female laugh.
“A-Luo is so funny! Did Yingying just hear A-Luo say ‘Shizun?’”
Binghe’s eyes shot wide open and he sat up at the same time.
On the right of him was Ning Yingying, a person he had considered as an older sister, and on the left of him was Liu Mingyan without her signature veil covering her face.
Both of them weren’t wearing any clothes.
W-what’s going on?!
Binghe’s action was instinctual, he jumped out of bed and immediately checked to see if he was wearing pants.
Luckily he was.
He reached to the closet to fetch his robes.
“Is there something wrong, Junshang? Have we, as your wives, upset you in any way?” Liu Mingyan questioned curiously.
Wives?! I don’t have any wives! I only have Shizun! Binghe thought as he tied his robes up albeit hastily.
This must have been a misunderstanding right? Some kind of illusion spell!
Binghe tried to sense the demon blood that was inside of his Shizun to check where the fuck he was.
(Shen Yuan’s words were greatly influencing the demon lord but Binghe didn’t mind a single bit.)
But? He wasn’t? Here?!
Binghe covered his vision towards the women with his hand.
“This Junshang commands you to wear your clothes.” He tried to muster all of his confidence.
(Even though he wanted to dig himself into Shizun’s lap and cry for hours about this nightmare.)
“Yes my Lord.” From the corner of his eye, he could see Ning Yingying and Liu Mingyan swiftly dressing themself as if there was a sword to their neck.
Binghe had a feeling he knew what was going on, but he had to test his theory first.
When the ladies had finally gotten dressed, Ning Yingying opened a closet and took out a scabbard. She bowed in front of Binghe.
“A-Luo. This Demon King can’t forget about Xin Mo before leaving his wives’ presence.” Binghe flinched.
His theory was correct! It had to be!
Binghe was in the original ‘novel’ where he didn’t have Shizun to take care of him!
He faked a cough.
“Junshang doesn’t need Xin Mo at the moment so this… w-wife-“ (Binghe nearly threw up when he said ‘wife’) “can put it back into the closet where she had gotten it from.“
There was no way Binghe was going to touch that damned sword when Shizun gave his life for Binghe to suppress its mind control!
(But he could hear its voice trying to lure him in. Fortunately enough, his love for Shizun was more than the control of Xin Mo. For now at least.)
Yingying looked surprised, as if this had never happened before.
“If that is what A-Luo wishes.” She said in a uncertain tone.
Seeing all of this happening was… unnerving to say in the least. Binghe missed his world.
His Shizun.
At least I should find out where this world’s Shen Qingqiu is. He isn’t my Shizun, but it would be hard to find out if the other me just left him to die.
“Do any of you two know where Shizun is?” Yingying froze, nearly dropping Xin Mo and Liu Mingyan hopped over the bed to help her as if they were expecting to be punished for dropping Binghe’s prized possession. They looked at each other, then at Binghe with a perplexed expression.
“Junshang…” Liu Mingyan treaded carefully. “Shen Qingqiu is still in the basement where you left him.”
Binghe gritted his teeth.
What did the other me do to him?! He nodded, hiding his anger from the two. He tried to keep a calm demeanor on the outside like he did at important demon meetings.
“Thank you for telling me. This Junshang will take his leave now.” Walking backwards with a small bow, Luo Binghe found the doorknob and turned it, going out as normally as he could without looking suspicious.
Well, that ended as soon as he was away from the public eye.
Binghe’s knees couldn’t hold themselves as he fell to the ground, his eyes full of tears. His chest was pounding and his ears were ringing.
Please! Let this just be a bad dream! But Binghe knew this wasn’t the case because he was the Master of Dreams. He wouldn’t do this to himself unless he deemed it necessary!
“Shizun… I miss you!” He sobbed, gripping onto the shiny tiles.
It hasn’t even been a single morning since he had saw his husband, but just knowing that his Shizun wasn’t in the same dimension as he was and that the Shen Qingqiu of this dimension was here, locked inside a basement like a prisoner,(according to A-Yuan’s multiple ramblings) made Binghe sick to his stomach.
[Ping pong!] A clear screen appeared in front of Binghe, seeing his pathetic state.
This is… Binghe has seen something like this before… what did Shizun call it?
“A System?”
[Account Synchronization 100% Successful. Welcome: Junshang Luo BingMei]
Bing…Mei?
“Never mind why you got my name wrong, where am I? What did I do to warrant a System? Shizun had said that his System hasn’t spoken to him since you forced him to show us his origins.” Binghe really really wanted to kill this System for tormenting Shizun for so many years and for the fact that it’s probably the reason why Binghe was in this dimension.
But that won’t answer any of his questions unfortunately.
[Does New User want a System tutorial?] Underneath the question was a green ‘yes’ button and a red ‘no’ button. But it had ignored his previous question.
…Now Binghe could see why his Shizun hated this in the first place.
He pressed the ‘yes’ button and waited for the screen to change.
[Welcome to the original ‘Proud Immortal Demon Way’ Junshang’s mission is to gain the trust of Shen Jiu and collect 3000 F-points.] The System explained.
I had figured out already that I was here in Shizun’s original novel. Binghe thought dryly. But he went to the more pressing matter at hand.
“F-points? What do those mean?” Binghe pressed for answers.
[F-points are ‘friendship points.’ Your objective is to have Shen Jiu befriend you and have the ability to let the original Luo Binghe forgive him for his past abuse.]
This Binghe’s eyebrows raised.
Shizun said that the original version of me had ripped off all of his limbs and stuffed him inside of a jar! Not to mention, he gets tortured everyday by him! I don’t think he would easily ‘forgive’ him! I wouldn’t if I were him! He bit his lip.
“After what my… alternate self has done, shouldn’t Shen Jiu be dead by now?” Luo Binghe asked.
The System loaded for a few seconds before it came up with an answer.
[X That is incorrect! X Luo Binghe is a sadist who loves to watch Shen Qingqiu in pain!]
It didn’t take much for Binghe to summon an aura of qi and blast it towards the System in anger. It had went through the ‘shitty System’ (as would be Shizun’s words if he were here at the moment) and made a deep hole in the wall across from him.
Hopefully no one saw that! Otherwise, they might have thought Binghe had gone insane!
(Wasn’t his other self insane enough already? Six hundred wives, complete control of both the Human and Demon Realms, stuffing people into jars! Binghe knew that Shen Jiu had tortured his other self into almost insanity but didn’t he take it a bit too far?!)
[Warning! Vandalism of the System or refusal of the mission will subtract in C-points!] Binghe was too frustrated to ask what C-points were but the System delivered anyways.
[C-points are ‘character points’ if Luo BingMei acts Out of Character (OOC) based off the original Luo Binghe, he will be subjected to the loss of C points. If the C-Points reach to zero, both Luo Binghe and Luo BingMei will cease to exist.] Binghe stood up so fast that if he were human, he would have felt woozy with the amount of information the System had given.
He would have certainly yelled at the System to say ‘stop calling him the original!’ but what it had just said tilted the entire scales altogether.
If I lose all my C-Points, I’ll cease to exist?!
[Correct.]
“I didn’t ask you.” Binghe growled under his breath. His teeth were bared as if he were a ferocious wolf.
[Congratulations! That was 98% in character to the original Luo Binghe!]
Binghe did a face palm. He took a deep breath, trying to keep calm.
A-Yuan had talked a bit about his original world to Binghe after they had gotten comfortable around the topic, but he had never talked about the novel that he initially hated so much. He had always said that ‘this reality is so much better than that one anyways, so what’s the point in talking about the past?’
Binghe had only put some pieces of information together because of what Shizun had initially told him and his drunken rants to Shang Shishu because those were always a handful.
Speaking of Shang Shishu, he was going to strangle that hamster as soon as he got home.
“So what you’re saying is, I need to collect 3000 F-Points to befriend Shen Jiu, gain his trust, and I have to keep in ‘character.’” Even though I’m only imitating a version of myself. Binghe summed up.
[The OOC feature will become unlocked when the User gains 1000 F-Points]
A thousand is still not a small number.
“How many C and F-Points do I have now?” The System’s screen changed once again to a set of numbers.
[C-Points were initially 100 but with User’s earlier remark, the System has decided to add 10 more. So 100 + 10 -> 110 C-Points in total.
F-Points are at -2 at this moment]
“-2?! Is that even possible?” Binghe exclaimed.
[Would Junshang want a guide on how the original Luo Binghe tortured Shen Jiu and their past between them in order to get himself acquainted with the situation?] If the System had an actual voice instead of a robotic one, their voice would be dripping with sarcasm.
This System is using the ‘Junshang’ title only when it’s taunting me. If it were one of my followers they would have already been dead.
[This System is here to provide 24/7 service to the Demon Lord, Luo Bingmei]
“Why is it that you call me that? My name is Binghe not Bingmei!” Said Demon Lord demanded.
[…]
Every second Binghe talked to this System, he felt like he was his common sense. No wonder Shizun hated it with a passion.
The thought of Shizun made Binghe want to cry again. What is he doing right now? What was happening there? Does Shizun miss his disciple? His husband? Will he try to find a way to get Binghe back?
For now- He figured. I should start trying to ‘befriend’ Shen Jiu. The quicker I do it, the faster I go home right? And all Binghe wanted at the moment was to go home.
“Is Shang Qinghua dead here?” The chances are small but maybe he could try to connect his System with Shang Shishu’s like the author had done with Shizun’s using ‘God Mode.’
(Even though the Shang Shishu Binghe knew wouldn’t be here but they would still have some kind of connection right?)
[Correct. Shang Qinghua was killed by the Ice Demon Emperor, Mobei Jun]
Mobei would kill his boyfriend that easily in this world? Or did they not have a relationship here? The more Binghe learned about everything that had happened if A-Yuan hadn’t taken Shen Qingqiu’s body, the more he had thanked whatever being out there that it had happened.
The poor Mobei of this world didn’t even know that he killed off his significant other. Binghe felt bad for his close friend.
(Then again, ‘poor Binghe’ had tortured Shizun to death, only keeping him alive for his pleasure so he shouldn’t look at things too much at the surface.)
Luo Binghe leaned on the wall, staring at the System.
“Anything else you need to tell me before I head out?” He said.
[User can communicate with the System using his thoughts and User’s husband can see User’s process as they now have a united account.]
‘So Shizun can see how I’m doing by the gain and loss of points?’ Binghe tried saying with his mind.
Correct. Shen Qingqiu cannot communicate with you, but he can see your current C-Points and F-Points.]
So it isn’t like Shang Shishu’s ‘God Mode’ where he can communicate via Systems. No wonder it’s called that.
Well, Luo Binghe wasn’t the demon lord for nothing, he would figure out a way to talk to his husband while he was stuck in this Hell. He knew exactly what to do, but he would have to wait until nightfall to do it.
“Can you open up a map to the basement? I do not recognize this castle because I haven’t built one like this in my own world.” Surprisingly, the System had complied wordlessly, showing a direct path to Binghe’s destination.
Along the way, Binghe had also read about this castle’s origins. It was certainly more decorated than what he could ever think of which proved this world’s Binghe’s arrogance even further. Especially since it was built under the rubble of Qing Jing Peak after his other self had defeated Shen Jiu and eventually Yue Qingyuan! It made the demon lord turn white getting more information on what his other self did.
(Then again, didn’t Binghe lay a siege of Qing Jing Peak when they had Shizun’s body? It wasn’t the same but it was eerily similar. The only difference was that Shizun was able to prevent anything from getting permanently destroyed.)
The more I read about this, the more I love Shizun for saving me from becoming such a brute. This dimension’s Binghe never had a Shizun to help him. Binghe pitied his other self even though he had known that this Shen Qingqiu also wasn’t fair to him at all.
But I guess I have to fix that as soon as I can even if I don’t want to. I just want to bury myself into Shizun’s lap! This dimension’s Binghe can take care of his own problems! Binghe thought with imaginary tears in his eyes.
It did give him a moment to realize an important question though.
‘System, if I’m here, where is this world’s Luo Binghe?’
The System went silent, only displaying the map of the castle on the left of the screen and the information about this world on the right side.
‘System?’
[…]
Binghe wanted to roll his eyes.
‘You said that if I lose Character Points, both me and the other me will cease to exist.’ He deduced. ‘Does that mean that the other me is somewhere else?’
That gave Binghe a dangerous thought in his head. He stopped walking, giving a death glare to the System.
‘IS HE WITH MY SHIZUN?!’/
The System didn’t reply which was a confirmation of Binghe’s prediction.
He screamed in frustration as his feet started to move faster than it did before.
“I have to get back as soon as I can! Who knows what that brute is doing with my Shizun at this moment!” He said out loud while taking another turn throughout the large empty corridors.
For a castle that should be filled with six hundred women, it’s oddly empty around here. Binghe thought suspiciously. He paid no mind to it though because he had finally came to where he wanted to be.
The basement gate was large and grey, filled with lock talismans of every variety.
Here we are… Binghe took a deep breath and made a motion with his hands, unlocking the door in a single hand motion. It opened to its Master’s command effortlessly. (Even though this Binghe wasn’t really its true master.)
I don’t think that the other me needed this much protection. I doubt that Shen Jiu would be able to properly move in the state he’s in. Binghe took a step into the large, dark basement. It looked like an entire mansion could have been built in here and it would still be standing!
Maybe he was preventing his wives from helping him…? Binghe pondered.
His thoughts were cut off when he had finally reached the center of the basement. It had reeked of sweat, the pungent odor of blood, and the smell of someone who hasn’t bathed in who knows how long. Binghe was forced to hold his nose with the stench.
[+5 C-Points were added! Current C-points, 115]
‘You think I wasn’t going to hold my nose?! It stinks in here!’ Binghe was so busy bantering with the System that he almost didn’t notice what was in front of him until the man uttered a sound in his throat.
Whatever ‘Demon Lord demeanor’ Binghe was holding at the moment was about to fall within a single swoop. He let go of his nose and started to shake.
Shen Qingqiu was chained up by the limbs from the rooftop and from the ground. Accurate to what A-Yuan had said, this Shen Qingqiu had no hands or legs. He was just hanging, unable to do anything.
“Shizun…”
[Warning! Such a tone of concern is considered OOC! Do it again and Junshang will lose points!]
This was going to be harder than Binghe had initially deemed it to be.