Here, have some more Mamayuan tree spirit au (but different)
An AU where tree spirit Shen Yuan sleeps a lot. Sometimes he wakes up after many years have passed, other times he’ll wake up after only a day. The duration of his sleep can never be predicted
It’s not something he chooses, he’s halfway to godhood and needs to preserve his energy—it is through sheer interest in the world around him that keeps making him wake up.
Insert SJ who’d gotten dragged to the edge of the forest to get beaten in private after making a mistake. He’s lying sprawled on his back, weak and tired as he huffs small breaths and tries to gain the energy to get up. He mutters something to himself—a complaint of sorts—while he catches his breath.
He doesn’t expect to hear a sigh from above him. Up on what seemed to be a large, tall, mutated plum tree was a person. Hidden within a crown of leaves, a male lays against a thick branch listlessly—his eyes never opening as he lets out a hum. It was as if he was inclining Shen Jiu to continue talking.
Normally Shen Jiu would’ve bolted up, standing straight before deciding whether he’d try to escape or use words to avoid capture. This time Shen Jiu was still, laying in the soft grass beneath the tree as he found himself spilling every complaint to the man in the tree. When he was done his chest felt lighter, and there’s a sense of peace within him. Shen Jiu himself wasn’t sure why he stayed and chattered with this mysterious man.
“If only I could kill those bastards”
Shen Jiu cursed, finally sitting up and rubbing his aching ribs. The man in the tree was quiet for a moment, still not opening his eyes as he shifted his position. The tree he was cozied up to seemed to twist and grow like magic. Then, right before Shen Jiu’s eyes, a plump plum dropped right before Shen Jiu, rolling to hit the side of his foot. It was quickly followed by several others that also rolled towards Shen Jiu’s feet.
“So violent at your young age…”
The man tutted, cracking his eyes open to stare at the child standing beneath his physical body. He’d changed his position from laying with his face pressed against the branch to leaning his head against his hand, his eyes squinting as he let out a lazy yawn.
“You should be focused on making friends at your age, why don’t you offer these up and fight hate with kindness?”
Shen Jiu snorted at the man’s words, narrowing his eyes at the other and scoffing. Why should he have to bend over and make amends with those shifty child abusers? He’d be a fool to reject the free food though, he would at least make sure that he and Yue Qi ate their fill today.
“I wouldn’t eat those if I was you..”
The man said as Shen Jiu reached down to pick up the plums from floor—his lack of enthusiasm towards the idea of making amends obvious on his face. Shen Jiu didn’t stop picking them up, ignoring the male stubbornly.
“I really wouldn’t. They might give you a stomach ache, they’re not very good for children.”
The man in the tree rolled over, leaving his back facing Shen Jiu as he cozied up to the tree again. The branches surrounding him seemed to shift, huddling together to block the view of the male.
“Do as you please though, your business isn’t my concern.”
Then, as if he’d never been there, the man disappeared. Shen Jiu just finished picking up what plums he could, not interested in taking the words of the other seriously. He didn’t know what type of trick the other had preformed to make the plums fall, but it didn’t matter. Adults weren’t reliable, like hell Shen Jiu would listen to someone telling him to forgive his abusers and make friends with them.
The walk back to town from the forest was painful—but the anchoring weight of plums in his arms made the pain a whole lot more bearable.
When he finally reached the streets he was familiar with, he found himself quickly pulled aside—the lowlifes that’d “taught him a lesson” earlier on behalf of the traffickers he was forced to work for had decided that the plums he was carrying looked way too good for him. Shen Jiu regretted not hiding some within his clothes while he was picking them up. He’d been so irritated by the whole “making up” comment that he forgot just what his role was on the streets.
He couldn’t afford another beating right now, so he could only grit his teeth and let them take the plums from him. A bitterness welled up in him, a deep dissatisfaction at his own helplessness. When he was let go he found his way back to his normal spot, settling down and waiting for Yue Qi, who usually arrived later than him whenever they split up. As usual, Yue Qi arrived somewhere around an hour later, his eyes lighting up when he saw Shen Jiu.
“Xiao-Jiu! Guess what I brought?”
Yue Qi was quick to cozy up to Shen Jiu, pulling the steamed bun that he’d somehow tucked away earlier from his hiding place. He immediately attempted to rip it in half, offering the bigger piece to Shen Jiu as he recounted where he managed to get it from. When he noticed how quiet Shen Jiu was Yue Qi got quiet, his tone softening as he murmured a quiet “Hard day?” to Shen Jiu.
Shen Jiu didn’t want to talk about it, so he just shot Yue Qi a glare that wasn’t really directed towards him and busied himself eating the half of the bun that Yue Qi had given him. Yue Qi wasn’t stupid, he could take a guess on what happened. He didn’t push for an answer from Shen Jiu though, he just continued recounting his day in attempt to distract Shen Jiu—wanting to help ease the mental burden on the other. The night was filled with quiet promises and hopes for a better life. It was a rare semblance of peace.
In the morning, there was a thick scent of plums that spread throughout the area. The streets smelled sickeningly sweet, as if the streets had been doused in plum juice. Shen Jiu felt choked when he woke up to smell the scent—even a lover of all things sweet, like him, found the strong scent unbearable. He’d barely had time to gather his thoughts before loud screams forcibly cleared his mind. He jolted up, locking eyes with Yue Qi as they both began to scramble up and get on their feet.
The one thing that the streets had taught the both of them was that some screams were opportunities. If there wasn’t a crowd running away from something, then it’d most likely benefit them to run towards the screams. So that’s what they did. Yue Qi pulled Shen Jiu along—using one arm to block his face as the scent of plums got stronger. Shen Jiu also pinched his nose, gagging slightly as they neared what seemed to be the source of the sickening, overwhelming scent of plums.
When they broke past the cloud swarming the plaza they froze. There, in the middle of the crowd, was a small plum sapling. Just a normal, simple little plum tree sapling… except its roots were exposed and visibly burrowed within the corpses of several familiar faces. The traffickers along with the paid men that’d beaten Shen Jiu the previous day lay stiffly beneath the roots of the sapling. There were rotten plums scattered around, some half eaten while others remained intact.
Shen Jiu heard his heart thumping in his ears, his blood pumping fiercely as he recognized the wrinkled pink skin of the plums scattered around as the ones he’d gotten yesterday. How did they turn into… this? There wasn’t time to mull over it though, the crowd was already beginning to move, whispers and theories bouncing around as the people shifted. Some said it was a vengeful ghost, others said it was a cruel trickster spirit, the whispers overlapped and prevented Shen Jiu from hearing anything more.
He didn’t need to hear anything else though, he just grabbed Yue Qi’s hand and booked it. He knew that someone had to have seen him with those plums, and if he kept loitering near the scene it’d only take a matter of time before someone connected him to the incident and got him into trouble. He wasn’t quite sure where to go—he’d just grabbed Yue Qi and booked it. They ended up at the edge of the forest, both of them panting as they finally came to a stop standing before the tall, oversized, mutated plum tree. The fresh air near the tree made it easy for the two to catch their breaths since they were no longer choked by an excessive plum scent in the air.
Shen Jiu called after catching his breath, seeking out the man he’d spoken to the day before. Yue Qi stood behind him, staring at Shen Jiu with a mixture of concern and curiosity. He’d never seem Shen Jiu like this. It was like a mix of both panic and excitement. He wondered if this had anything to do with the bad mood he’d been in earlier.
Despite the boy’s calls, the figure from the day before did not reveal himself. The leaves of the tree rustled slightly before settling. Shen Jiu wouldn’t give up that easily though. He called several more times, squinting up to try and potentially make out the figure through the leaves. Right when Yue Qi was going to step in and say something, they both heard an extreme rustling noise. Shen Jiu’s eyes focused on the branch that’d stretched out to him yesterday and dropped the pink plums at his feet, it’d started stretching out again—its movements fluid as if it was something’s limb rather than a branch.
Yue Qi immediately moves to pull Shen Jiu behind him, clearly on guard against this tree after seeing what had happened to the men in the plaza. The branch stopped a little ways above them, dangling overhead as if waiting for something.
“Greedy little child. The taste of revenge not enough? Here, take these and run along. You’re quite noisy.”
A detached voice sounded, seemingly carried in by the wind. Shen Jiu noticed the way plum blossoms bloomed and began to bear plums—different in color than the pink ones from before. Rather than falling to the ground, the plums remained on the branch as if waiting to be plucked. It took a little while for Shen Jiu to convince Yue Qi that these plums were (probably) safe. When he finally listened to Shen Jiu (only relenting after sternly telling Shen Jiu that he’d (YQ) pick the plums and that Shen Jiu was to run is anything were to happen to him) and reached up to grab a plum, he was surprised to find that it plopped in his hands with ease. After confirming that it was safe Yue Qi and Shen Jiu were able to take a breather and rest under the tree, eating a seemingly endless supply of purple plums.
Anyways so cutting it short there because I wrote all of this in one go and my ability to write a consistent scene is fading ehe.
SJ: These fucking child abusers suck
SY, who was woken up by the commotion: Child abusers? I hate those!
SJ: I hate them, I want to kill them!
SY: woah, you can’t do that! You’re a child, leave the killing to the adults. I’ll secretly kill them with these plums
Anyways the idea for this au is just characters coming to SY to rant or to seek advice or whatever and SY somehow solving the problem.
SJ and YQ make a living selling plums after the incident happens but eventually the Qiu thing happens anyways because QJL threatens SJ with YQ. YQ ends up going to cang qiong and the separation happens. I’d like to think when WYZ takes SJ they walk past the plum tree and SJ asks for guidance. SY is asleep though and doesn’t answer, however before leaving SJ tells SY that he’s going to be on the run for a while and he’s like “is this worth it?”
YQ comes around the next day and returns to the plum tree out of habit, maybe, and he just kinda cries there. His crying stirs Shen Yuan who’s like “why are you crying here? He’s in the next town over, stop being so loud and go find him!” and gives Yue Qi a nudge in the direction of the next town. YQ has like a moment where he’s like “why didn’t he come to cang qiong” and he and SY have like a little bonding moment. SY’s like “The circumstances of others may differ from your own, don’t jump to conclusions and hurt yourself any more than you have” and then he goes to sleep before Yue Qi can say anything else
Lots of characters will get to have their moment with Shen Yuan. :3