Seperated Shen siblings au where Shen Yuan is the older brother
He ended up being sold before Shen Jiu while protecting him, and eventually managed to escape.
He would wander the country picking up every scrap of cultivation he could find, unable to find his precious didi.
But one day he meets a young An Ding boy with frost bite in the middle of summer and helps him out. Really they're the same age, but the guy looks like someone you'd press up against a locker in a really bad bl novel his meimei would have read in his last life-!
The two end up talking and enjoying each others company, entirely unaware of just exactly who the other was but deciding to stay in contact.
One day, after a few years of exchanging letters, the an ding boy would invite him for tea and Shen Yuan would travel back.
He was declared his shizuns succeeding disciple! That's incredible!
"Has he chosen your name yet?"
"Oh- yeah! I'll be Peak Lord Shang Qinghua!" The man grinned and swiped his hand in the air as if displaying his name in invisible neon lights.
"Ah- Shang Qinghua?" Right, his family name WAS Shang. Oh no.
"Are you okay bro?" Bro... Now wait a minute, this guy was the only person to call him bro like that in this world.
"Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky?" He blurted, and the other mans eyes widened.
But no matter that, a few years pass and they begin courting. Just casually, ride or die with your bro right? After all ones a nameless npc and the others got a bad fate- That's what Shen Yuan told himself for a while before he could finally admit he'd fallen.
"Airplane." Shen Yuan called, lounging on Shang Qinghua's bed. He'd just gotten to An Ding for the first time, as Shang Qinghua would be introducing him to his martial siblings.
"Yeah?" Shang Qinghua looked up from his work, god did Shen Yuan really not know how sultry he lounged? It was so distracting-!
"After this... I want your help with something. My brother... Can you help me find my didi?"
"Ah- you're finally ready to talk about it?" Shen Yuan nodded, sighing.
"If he's dead I need to know... To mourn him. If he's alive I want to find him..."
"I'll do everything I can, Cucumber-bro. What was his name, I can put feelers out." "Shen Jiu."
"... C... Come again?" "Shen Jiu?"
"Shen Jiu- Xiao-Jiu like that Shen Jiu? And Yue Qi?" Shang Qinghua was staring at him with wide eyes, standing up like a bolt of lightning.
"Wh- y-yeah? How do you-" "Baobei- You could have told me that years ago-! Your brother is here-!"
"What?" Shen Yuan shot out of bed, grabbing his boyfriends hands and clutching them tight. "You aren't joking? Mistaken?"
"No- I'm not. It's... You'll see them okay? Both of them. I promise." Shen Yuan nodded and let his boyfriend kiss him, rolling his eyes as he returned it.
He took a deep breath before taking Shang Qinghua's arm and entering the hall with him, holding his head high. He was a rouge cultivator himself, a published author of a successful set of beastiaries with Shang Qinghua's publishing help under his pen name.
And then he locked eyes with the peak Lord of Qing Jing, and he stopped in shock.
"Didi-" He gasped, letting go of Shang Qinghua's arm. "J-Jiu-di is that-"
The peak lord looked like he was seeing a ghost. So did the sect leader.
"Gege...?" Shen Qingqiu stared back before stepping forward.
"You... Didi you're alive-!" Shen Yuan choked back a sob and rushed to hug his little brother. "Look how tall you are- Didi grew up without me-" Shen Yuan smiled through his tears as Shen Qingqiu tightly clutched him in return.
"I'm sorry I didnt put it together sooner A-Yuan." Shang Qinghua spoke up "I should have realized, you look so much alike side by side."
"Shut it A-Hua. I can yell at you later. It's didi time." Shen Yuan sniffled and wiped his eyes before pulling back and looking at his didi.
"You're courting Shang-Shidi? Yuan-ge of all people him?" Shen Qingqiu judged his brother harshly, who just sighed and nodded solemnly.
"I wonder why too sometimes didi... But I'll let you in on a secret. He makes me laugh. And I like how easy to bully he is."
"Who's your baobei? You're sleeping at your desk tonight." Shang Qinghua groaned in dispare, but quickly got over it to show off his boyfriends bestiary to his fellow peak lords while the two Shens had their moment, successfully distracting them for a bit.