The cool breeze drifted gently into the room where Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu were sitting through the open windows. For about fifteen minutes, I stayed in that hugging formation. Shen Yuan finally patted his look-alike on the back with his free arm, still attempting to absorb what he had just read from a systematic screen floating beside him.
He has no idea why this Peak Lord... this great Scumbag Villain of a Peak Lord... Would drop a platter of food on the floor, sprint towards him, and then hug him. Nonetheless, he felt as if he missed him. Shen Yuan? Missing this person? His memory seemed to be still behaving abnormally... He was still perplexed, and he had only recently realized the missing gaps of strange memories he didn't even recognize.
How strange indeed.
"It's you... It really is you..." As he felt the other's shoulder shake, he heard Shen Qingqiu murmur. Was he... was he enraged? "Brother, I thought I'd lost you forever..." There it was again. That was the second time he'd heard the term "brother", and this time it wasn't only from the screen beside him; Shen Qingqiu had confirmed it as well.
What's going on?! Shen Yuan has no recollection of this villain having a brother, let alone a twin brother, in the scary story! That dumbfuck author... Shen Yuan would think to himself as he clenched his teeth in irritation and averted his gaze slightly. Is it possible that he scrapped this concept and tossed it in the trashcan? He never said anything about Shen Qingqiu having a brother! He let out a little sigh as he felt the weight on his chest lessen before cringing at the sensation of his forehead being hit.
His forehead was just flicked.
"Do you enjoy scaring me so much that you decided to abandon me for ten goddamn years?" Shen Qingqiu expressed his displeasure, his face flushed with rage.
He couldn't help but give Shen Qingqiu a slightly irritated grimace when he stared at him. Yes, this is the Shen Qingqiu he remembers from the cursed novel. He groaned and said, "I'm sorry, Gege," before finally taking note of the Peak Lord's current predicament. The scum villain in "Proud Immortal Demon Way" was described as perfect in so many ways that he never made a mistake. I'm still irritated at Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky for failing to clarify that the antagonist has a brother... Shen Yuan sighed hard as he glanced at Shen Qingqiu, whom he should definitely start calling Gege because he is being reprimanded for inexplicable reasons as of now...
A man cleared his throat near the doorway, interrupting their conversation. The two identical men exchanged glances with the Physician, who stood awkwardly nearby. One had an uneasy smile on his face, while the other was staring blankly and scowling at him. "Ahem, I'm sorry. "Please accept my apologies for breaking your moment," he began, "but Shen-shixiong, I need to make sure his Qi flow is smooth this time... You may be conversing with him normally right now, but we don't know if that's because of his yang energy that is temporarily at a constant pace-"
"Are you insinuating, Mu-Shidi, that my brother is still "broken"?" Shen Qingqiu would sneer because the physician would rather make eye contact with his other half, Shen Yuan, than with him. This doctor's expression was plainly one of assistance. "where are you looking Shidi, my eyes are up here." he added with a snarky tone.
"X-Xiongdi... You shouldn't put too much pressure on the doctor; he's simply checking to see if I'm feeling better and healthier right now..?" Shen Yuan stated before the system manifested in front of his vision.
[Affinity with Mu Qingfang increased. 50+ points]
Affinity? What kind of game is this? Shen Yuan sighed and felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders as he took a deep breath from the available space. "Fine. I'm going to have to go get a new tray of food anyway because this silly boy made me drop it." Shen Qingqiu eventually spoke up after regaining his composure, his fan springing open as he elegantly strode out the door, past the mess and Mu Qingfang. "Mingfan. Come and clean this mess up." Before a young disciple came in, Shen Yuan could barely hear his brother's voice as he had walked away. Shen Yuan tried to see him off, but he was currently bedridden and felt like gelatine to move.
Mingfan, the cannon fodder destined to die like the rest of this stupid novel's cannon fodders... Shen Yuan was most likely making a deadpan expression at his own idea when Mingfan, the young disciple, must have noticed Shen Yuan and became confused for a short moment.
Once again, Mu Qingfang cleared his throat.
"Young disciple, this Physician has to check on your Shen-Shifu right now, so hurry up and clean up." Mu Qingfang stated as he drew a stool up next to Shen Yuan and began checking his pulse, then his meridians, and his Qi flow to see if there were any abnormalities obstructing its flow, as he had done previously... fortunately, this time it was possible. Mingfan would periodically look up from his cleaning to assess Shen Yuan's appearance while Mu Qingfang was performing his routine check-up. He has a striking resemblance to Shen Qingqiu, with the same face and hair length, the only difference being their personalities...
Mingfan was stealing looks at Shen Yuan, and he must have noticed. Was it because he was wearing his Shizun's face? With an eye smile, he finally turned to face Mingfan. "Is there anything else you require?" As Mingfan rose up from the floor, finished cleaning up, and his eyes widened in astonishment, he finally inquired. Shen Yuan was his Shifu, yet watching him smile like that made him feel like he was witnessing his kind and gentle smile as his own Shizun's. "Shizun, not at all! I-I mean Sh-Shifu...! Sorry... this is the head disciple's first meeting with Shizun's twin..." Mingfan said this before noticing Mu Qingfang's irritated, yet calm, expression. "This one has completed the cleaning process! Shifu, Mu-Shishu, I'm going to depart immediately leave the two Peak Lords be now." Before leaving with the dish and shutting the sliding door behind him, he diligently bowed in respect to both Peak lords.
Peak Lord... Does the fact that he's Shen Qingqiu's twin imply that he's a peak lord himself?
"You don't have to be concerned about him, Shen-xiong," Mu Qingfang replied as he worked on transferring a little more of his own Qi to Shen Yuan's. "Shen-shixiong has made certain that your presence here will be kept a secret between you, Mingfan, your Xiongdi, and Yue-Shixiong. You'll also be staying in Shen-shixiong's bamboo hut, which he built when he became Qing Jing Peak's Peak Lord years ago. According to what I've heard, he rarely comes here to relax; nevertheless, now that you're here, he appears to be a lot calmer than on previous days when he was on high alert.." Mu Qingfang narrated events from his point of view.
"That so?" Shen Yuan said as he winced a bit, jolting his hand away from Mu Qingfang's hand.
"Does it hurt?" Mu Qingfang asked worriedly as he took down some mental notes from the sudden reaction Shen Yuan made.
"No no, not at all," Shen Yuan replied, casting a glance over to the system that shows his status and his health, all perfectly fine and functional. He then let's his mind click on to what Mu Qingfang just told him earlier before as he turned his gaze over to the Physician was writing down a few notes in a scroll. "You... Happen to know Qi-ge?"