Chapter Text
Mobei Jun always thought he didn’t have anyone to care for. No one in his family cared and all of the other nobles only pretended to care for political gain, so he never let himself care either.
It wasn’t supposed to be any different with Shang Qinghua. He was only ever supposed to be an underling, a servant, a pawn in Mobei Jun’s game.
He thought that was true for years. Then Shang Qinghua got hurt.
He was caught in the middle of a riot and slashed across the chest. Mobei Jun wasn’t even there when it happened, but just hearing about it, just knowing that Shang Qinghua came so close to a fatal injury, shook him in a way he hadn’t felt in years.
It was all Shang Qinghuas fault. If he wasn’t so weak Mobei Jun wouldn’t have had to be afraid. Mobei Jun told him this while pinning him against the wall, hoping the threat would get the message to stick. From the way Shang Qinghua looked at him with a newfound determination glimmering in his eyes, he was guessing it worked.
Mobei Jun didn't check in with Shang Qinghua again untill around two weeks after the injury, intending to give him some time to heal before asking for any reports.
He slipped into the An Ding Peak Lord’s house and waited silently as Shang Qinghua wrote something down, his body slouched and his head down, showing off a horribly matted bun.
“What happened?” Shang Qinghua jumped up, almost falling back in his chair from Mobei Jun’s sudden voice.
“My king!” he stood before lowering into a polite bow “I wasn't expecting you, is everything alright?” His face was almost worse. With his cheeks pale and sullen, his eye bags heavy, and lips cracked, he looked almost undead.
“What happened to you?” Mobei Jun repeated. Didn’t he just ask him not to get hurt again?
“Oh! I apologize for my appearance, I’ve been working hard lately and I let things get out of hand, but I promise I am working to fix it with sleep, meditation, and food,” Shang Qinghua explained nurvously.
“What about your hair?” Mobei jun asked
“Oh! Um..” Shang Qinghua rubbed the back of his neck “I have a talisman that masks my appearance. The only reason I’m not wearing it now is because I wasn’t expecting company,” Mobei Jun sighed, offering his hand. His servant was smart, but boy was he an idiot.
“Come with me,” he demanded. Shang Qinghau hesitantly touched his palm and in an instant they were in Mobei Jun’s private quarters.
“My king,” Shang Qinghua looked around, his face turning an odd shade of red “what are we doing here?”
Mobei Jun walked over to his vanity and pulled out the chair
“Sit,” he commanded, Shang Qinghau did as he was told and Mobei Jun picked up his hair brush. “I might not be able to save all of it, but we aren’t leaving until you are presentable.”
It took a while to get into a good rhythm but once he got his servant to rant about his disciples and recent negotiations with other cultivation sects, muscles and minds both relaxed.
It was strange, a demon noble brushing the hair of the human peak lord who had sworn loyalty to him. surely Mobei Jun wouldn't have been seen dead Serving any other servant in such a way, but Shang Qinghua was different. Maybe it was how long they had known each other, maybe it was the way he laid his intentions out clear for all to see, but there was a certain safety in their relationship. Mobei Jun never had to worry about his reputation around Shang Qinghua, he could simply do as he pleased.
Shang Qinghua obviously didn't feel the same, always tense and afraid when Mobei Jun made even the slightest move, but that was just the way it was. Mobei Jun would always be feared by those below him, there was no changing that.
He dared not hope there was.
By the time he had finished dematting there was a large pile of hair on the ground and what remained on Shang Qinghua’s head only just touched his shoulders. Mobei Jun frowned, knowing how much humans tended to emotionally attach to their hair.
“I did what I could,” he said, putting down the brush. Shang Qinghua’s smile was warm enough to melt Mobei Jun’s very soul.
“Thank you, I’m in your debt,”
“Good, so nothing’s changed,” Mobei Jun responded bluntly. Shang Qinghua paused, then his laughter left bursts of color echoing through the room.
“You really are funny my king,” he said. Mobei Jun grunted an agreement and looked in the mirror to see pink dusting his face. He almost looked like he was cold, strangely enough.
“You should get to sleep, and make sure I don’t have to do this again, understood,”
For once Shang Qinghua didn’t tense at the demand, only nodding before standing up and giving his goodbyes, leaving Mobei Jun alone once more. The room always did feel empty with just him, but for just a few hours, it had been full of life.
It was a scary thing, to care for someone, but for just a few hours of comfort, it almost seemed worth it.
Since the day Mobei jun met him, Shang Qinghau was always doing something. Always busy trying to meet some deadline or prepare for some trip, so when he told him he would be gone for a few days on a mission Mobei Jun wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
What did surprise him was hearing that Shang Quinghua was in the infirmary once they returned. And not Mobei Jun’s infirmary but Qian Cao Peak’s infirmary.
“Did something go wrong?” He asked once his servant had reported back to him
“I mean, kinda?” Shang Qinghua rubbed his neck in the way he always did when he was nervous. “I was attacked on the way back but, the negotiations themselves went smoothly,”
“Who attacked you?” Mobei Jun asked out of pure curiosity and not because he was plotting anything.
“Just some territorial local demon. I took care of him,” he raised an eyebrow as Shang Qinghua waved him off
“Did the Bai Zhan brute accompany you,” he personally didn’t see him as a threat but, usually the so called “war god’s” presence was enough to scare away less powerful demons
“No, I went with 2 of his Junior disciples and 5 of my own,”
No wonder he got injured.
“Aren’t they scared they will lose you?” Did they want to kill their most competent peak lord?
Shang Qinghua shrugged
“I assured them it would be fine, I’ve been practicing my sword skills after all,”
Mobei Jun was obviously skeptical of that but he decided not to push the subject since clearly, he was fine.
Then came the Immortal Alliance Convention. Mobei Jin planned to use the opportunity to kill off some of the disciples, who would be vulnerable without their teachers’ protection. It was a pretty safe bet that they wouldn’t be able to trace any of the demons back to the Mobei clan or even the northern desert, so he was surprised to see Shang Qinghua so troubled.
“There is no way they will figure you out from just this,” Mobei Jun assured him
“I know I just-“ Shang Qinghua stuttered, seeming to formulate the sentence as he spoke. “You know I wouldn’t betray you, right,”
Movie Jun tensed, feeling his hair stand on end.
“Why?” His tone was cold, a threat barely contained. Shang Qinghua’s hands went up and he cowered slightly as he jumped to defend himself.
“It’s- I just- This servant will need to play the part of a peak lord tomorrow and I’m gonna need to give my all to not raise any suspicion- of course I would never do anything to actually damage your plans but I might have to fight and-“ Mobei Jun slowly relaxed as Shang Qunghua rambled on, reassured that his servant was simply underestimating his king’s ability to tell acting from reality.
If it was any other servant Mobei Jun would have confirmed them for thinking so lowly of him but, he knew Shang Qinghua was simply worried about Mobei Jun’s lack of trust, which was completely valid.
Mobei Jun wasn’t sure if he knew how to trust anymore. He’d never met someone worthy of trust before.
“I’ll make sure you need not to fight,” Mobei Jun responded once Shang Qinghua finished his nervous speech. “You will be knocked out immediately,”
“Yes sir,”
Mobei Jun honestly didn’t plan to show his face at all during the battle but then he saw him. A demon pretending to be a disciple. He was a powerful one as well, although untrained. Mobei Jun just had to fight him.
He made his way out of the abyss, and was immediately met by 2 shocked peak lords and a scared demon imposter. Shang Qinghua looked pale and did not speak, probably because he knew what would happen next.
Mobei Jun flung Shang Qinghua into a tree, not even looking back
The demon stepped in front of his master, a strange display.
“Binghe, stand down,” The peak lord yelled
The demon, Binghe, met Mobei Jun’s eyes head on
“What kind of disciple has to shield his master!”
“So, you're a disciple of Cang Qiong mountain?” He asked curiously. What cat would walk into a wolf pack pretending to be a cub? The demon gave a sarcastic response and Mobei Jun sneered
“An immortal who acts unlike an immortal and a demon who acts unlike a demon, interesting,”
The demon said something incredibly cheesy about dying for or alongside his master and Mobei Jun cringed. Truly these two had the dynamic all wrong.
“You’ll battle with me?” This “Binghe” was interesting but, surely he didn’t think of himself that highly. He was just a kid. “Fine, then let me see,”
The peak lord stepped in front of his disciple, drew his sword with one hand, and with the other threw Binghe away.
Mobei Jun went for the master first, but when the disciple threw a sword glare his way he used one hand to shatter the boys sword. He got bored of the master as well and flung him away.
The peak lord was weak and unoriginal, so Mobei Jun told him such. Then, something changed. The young Binghe’s aura shifted. With interest, Mobei surrounded the boy's master with a sword array, but before they could hit a wave of energy shattered every one. The boy was once again in front of his teacher.
How curious, the boy was clearly in a rage and yet, he still hadn’t revealed himself as a demon. Mobei Jun couldn’t have that so, he sent a ray of scarlet forth, breaking any seals on Binghe’s demonic energy. The energy went straight for his forehead, swirling for a moment before settling into a flame-like mark.
A mark of sin.
No wonder Mobei Jun could instantly sense the boy's demonic bloodline. He wasn’t just a demon, but a heavenly demon.
Binghe fell to his knees and released and extremely powerful wave of demonic qi.
Of course, heavenly or not Binghe was still just a boy so, Mobei Jun wasn’t all that affected.
“Hmm, not bad,” he said, although the boy might not have been able to hear through his bloodlust. “This human realm isn’t where you belong. Why not return to your origins?”
He turned to the abyss, an open hole back to home.
He sat back and watched the master and student argue. He could’ve pushed the boy in himself or taken out the master right then but, it was honestly more fun to watch.
The heavenly demon admitted to starting his training in demonic cultivation 2 years ago, which confused Mobei Jun greatly. If he wanted to practice demonic cultivation, why stay in a human cultivation sect? Did this boy want to die?
Mobei Jun knew from experience that humans were not kind to demons, no matter how young or helpless they were. Humans were creatures of fear who destroyed everything they did not trust. Had this boy never been told the story of Teirlang Jun?
The master praised the boy for his talent and the boy kneeled before him.
Mobei Jun cringed at the sight of a heavenly demon kneeling before a mere human cultivator.
“Get up!” The master yelled, only serving to further Mobei Jun’s disgust.
“Shizun, you said before, that-” the boy stuttered through his words “-just as humans can be good or bad, demons could be good or evil. That in this world, no one is intolerable to the heavens,”
Ah, so the master was a hypocrite too. One who preached acceptance but turned their nose the moment one was truly of an evil bloodline.
“You are no simple demon,” as expected the human went on to explain how heavenly demons were the worst of the worst, bringing disaster wherever they went. Mobei had heard similar things about noble demons. Humans were always looking for an excuse to hurt those they feared
“But you said,” Binghe whimpered under his breath.
And for a moment Mobei Jun saw himself. Yelling at his uncle “You said you’d come back!”
And just as his uncle left him in the human realm, Binghe’s Shizun first went to stab him, before stopping last second, and pushing him into the abyss.
Then, in a blur someone else ran past Mobei Jun. It took him a moment to process as someone nose dived into the abyss, but when he looked behind him and found a space devoid of non demonic life, he recognized the man as Shang Qinghua himself.
Mobei Jun stared blankly at the abyss, watching it slowly close with wide eyes.
He didn’t understand. Why- he wasn’t even in Qinghua’s sect! Why would he jump in the abyss after some heavenly demon teen?
Then, his mind went back to a question he used to ponder often when said servant was around.
Why did Shang Qinghua save him all those years ago when he very well could have ran? Why did he put in the effort to bring Mobei Jun into an inn and dress his wounds?
The answer to all there questions was the same thing.
Shang Qinghua was a coward, but he was stupidly brave when it came to helping people.
Mobei looked down into the abyss, stepping forward with a deep breath before jumping into the abyss.
Because Shang Qinghau was an idiot, but he was Mobei Jun’s idiot, and there was no way he was gonna stand back while the one person he cared for died of stupidity.