Untitled

[littlenines]

and while we're on the subject. i understand not shipping qijiu. but i will say it straight out: denying that they're canonically soulmates and that it is romantic and requited strikes me as homophobic. they're canonically shown to be soulmates, and while I agree that if soulmates were real they wouldn't necessarily be romantic in nature (some people are aro, etc etc), in mxtx's works they always have been. the "red string of fate" connotes a romantic connection for her (bingqiu, hualian, etc), even shen yuan, when hearing about his body's broken string that belonged to the "real" shen qingqiu, assumes it belonged to his fiancee before he knew that shen jiu was forced into the engagement.

you don't have to ship them but even though they never got to confess their love for one another, it's both familial and as romantic as bingqiu or moshang.

[beforetimes]

Hi, dying over the ask you answered about Luo Binghe dying for Shen Yuan. I’m— just— aasjfjdjalla yea okay I can be normal about this (I cannot).

So now I’m just sitting here contemplating Shen Yuan’s reaction to that. He’d go feral. OG Bingge’s got nothing on this man on a mission to find Luo Binghe’s body so he can revive him. Bingmei may have kept Shen Qingqiu’s corpse for five years, but Shen Yuan is going to actually tear the entire realm apart.

In this au, I imagine there was never any implications in the original PIDW plot about the three realms being merged, but the first thought that popped in my head at thinking about a feral Shen Yuan scouring the universe for Luo Binghe? Shen Yuan will have merged the realms, split them apart, merged them once more, rearranged them like building blocks, in an attempt to rewrite the fabric of the universe and rewrite the laws of life and death to bring Luo Binghe back.

And I can’t stop imagining the sight of Liu Qingge charging after this grieving, feral man he loves and somewhat hates right now, fighting him at every turn, and begging him to stop already. Luo Binghe wouldn’t want this. Luo Binghe wouldn’t want to see his disciple fall so far and prove the stereotypes about demons right. And neither does Liu Qingge.

Liu Qingge may have gotten Shen Yuan back, but he lost his best friend in the process and he doesn’t know how to keep going if he can’t be the one thing, the one fight, still tethering Shen Yuan with gossamer threads to the buried remains of his sanity.

[link to og au here]

oh yeah shen yuan would absolutely lose it. but i think he would just assume he was being very metholodical and reasonable in his madness, too. like, it's only natural to spend this much time looking for binghe because he's the protagonist, isn't he? he's not supposed to be dead? even though the system stopped talking to him and every time he tries to vy after an answer he never gets a reply, the rule of the universe is that luo binghe is the protagonist and he isn't supposed to die and he definitely isn't supposed to die because of shen yuan, right? so it only makes sense to look for him because he's out in the world somewhere and maybe he just needs to rearrange some things temporarily to find luo binghe.

and liu qingge in this au... phew. i like to imagine he'd see luo binghe as almost a little brother figure. they'd have a more sibling-esque rivalry going on between them when luo binghe was still full of life and hadn't retreated to his bamboo house a majority of the time. sent on missions together and always challenging each other to fights and spars to compete for the spot of cang qiong mountain's greatest warrior. luo binghe privately knew that it would be liu qingge no matter what but it was just fun to goad him into fighting because liu qingge was so funny when he was upset and impatient.

i don't know how liu qingge would feel about shen yuan, though. maybe he would be somewhat indifferent to him pre-abyss, when he saw him on the peak in passing whenever liu qingge tried to coax luo binghe out again. but once shen yuan actually succeeded in the task liu qingge's been trying at for years now, he's got much more of an interested eye trained on him. i think maybe he would take him aside for sparring practice, if only to get luo binghe to come along and commentate from the side. and eventually come to see him as this likeee. mischevious brat of a disciple who he treats like a younger cousin. constantly poking fun and teasing with a deadpan face that shen yuan gets unreasonably upset with. in a way that liu qingge finds amusing.

now this contrasted to seeing the way shen yuan had become—? i think liu qingge wouldn't immediately jump to deciding that shen yuan was evil the way he did with luo binghe in canon. because he had seen shen yuan and how much he cared for luo binghe and knew that it couldn't be faked, and vice versa on the part of luo binghe about shen yuan. but he still had his duty as a cultivator to help the mortal realm and he just. wanted to fulfill luo binghe's request to take care of his disciple. and try and convince him to stop the senseless tearing of the world into bits and pieces because luo binghe didn't want this, destroyed the sword so he would be happy and now you're defying his dying wish?

but also liu qingge would blame shen yuan, a little. i think he would. he's known luo binghe far longer than he's known shen yuan so he has that selfish moment of thinking if only shen yuan had died instead of luo binghe and everything would've been fine. but he knows deep down that if shen yuan was dead in a world where luo binghe was alive, after giving him hope that his disciple lived, luo binghe might as well have been a corpse walking amongst people.

masterpost

[beforetimes]

Hi, anon again, back for round two on shizun binghe

You mentioned that students wouldn't see Binghe that much for years, and almost not at all in the leading months, until Yuan's transmigration right?

I think one of the major things Binghe would regret after the IAC would be his early continuous absence? That if he was more present maybe he could have taught one more cultivation method, one more trick to help Yuan survive after his fall

The next 5 years maybe he attends classes more as his own form of grieving, but there's nothing that erases the dead look in his eye nor pulls him from Yuan's grave for hours

Side note: What is Yuan's relationship with the other students? Like is Ming Fan nice to him without a shizun inciting violence? Or is he jealous of all the attention Yuan gets and harasses him anyway?

[link to og au here]

ohhhhh definitely. luo binghe is nothing if he isn't critical to the point of driving disciples to near tears and he is more than willing to turn this same eye on himself. he spends so much time after the conference running over the conference itself — every moment where he could've pushed himself to the limits to do more. turns a critical eye on the shen yuan in his memories and sees places where his form could be better, and convinces himself that if only he hadn't neglected his disciples, maybe shen yuan would've gotten away from the carnage and lived before his nature was revealed.

and, you didn't ask specifically, but i think on shen yuan being a demon—? luo binghe would be incredibly torn up. it's like being mad at someone for leaving you even if they died; guilt for cursing someone dead but also righteous upset. i think it'd take a few years for him to come to the conclusion that demons couldn't be all bad, if shen yuan was one, and something he'd struggle with for a long time before he got to that point.

but yes! after the immortal alliance conference he throws himself into his work. instead of retreating to his bamboo house like everyone expects, he doubles down on teaching and drops in on classes whenever he can. drafts lesson plans. almost always haunts the training grounds like a wraith, watching the disciples go at each other with wooden swords with blank eyes. luo binghe is a very devoted teacher after the immortal alliance conference, if not unsettling, and no one is brave enough to say anything about why.

i think rather than stay at shen yuan's grave, though, he'd pretend it doesn't exist. it's too obvious a display of grief, of the fact that he's passed. luo binghe thrives when in denial and he has xiu ya reforged to sit above his bed, treating it almost like a shrine to pray at in lieu of visiting the grave. the energy there unsettles him, the reminder of it makes his heart ache. luo binghe distracts and distracts and distracts himself from the death until he's mechanically going through the motions and knows that as long as he doesn't snap out of this trance, he won't hurt.

as for the other disciples! i think ming fan would take more responsibility. and mature more than he was in canon. because with luo binghe retreating to the bamboo house, a lot of responsibilities previously handled by the peak lord concerning teaching end up on ming fan's shoulders. which gets overwhelming, so he can be impatient / irritable when pushed just a bit too far, but ming fan tries! he tries so hard to do alright! because, like, he's the one greeting new disciples to the peak when they come, making sure they're acclimating, and gets attached. he looks over homework sheets when he's not doing paperwork and is a shoulder for some of the junior teachers to lean on. in my head he's about? 17 than 14/15 as he was in canon. ming fan is definitely less antagonistic when the og shen qingqiu isn't there to lead by example.

shen yuan i think he would be neutral towards. at least until he manages to coax luo binghe out from the bamboo house because? ming fan has been here for years, watching with almost a learned helplessness as his shizun isolated himself just for this random disciple to pull him out of a spiral in barely a few years? it's enough to inspire guilty jealousy in him. guilty because it's better for everyone that luo binghe seems happier but why couldn't it have been ming fan, his head disciple, who helped him?

i don't think ming fan would harass him, but he'd be conflicted enough that he picked avoidance over everything else. besides, even with luo binghe coming out of his self imposed seclusion, there was still a lot of work to do. ming fan keeps a closer eye on the disciples vying for a spot at the immortal alliance conference to keep himself distracted.

masterpost

[beforetimes]

Foaming at the mouth at the mere mention of role reversal Binghe and Yuan, don't mind me

Also don't mind me just spitballing here, you can take this as a prompt or not! But can you imagine Binghe's reaction to seeing Shen Yuan years in the future, probably still at Jinlan city? Not only is he taking in how different Shen Yuan looks, either in regards to how the abyss changed him or just how he's grown, but Binghe doesn't have prior knowledge that Shen Yuan would live through the abyss.

Can you imagine the shock? The misunderstanding as Binghe doesn't react to anything because he's still processing that his beloved disciple is THERE, he's ALIVE. He was though to be dead for years, but somehow he survived the abyss.

heyyyy anon so glad that i’ve managed to inspire the same obsession in you that’s spawned in me seemingly overnight. anddd i didn’t even consider the possibility of this scene when i came up with this scenario but let me try my hand at what it’d look like… also i know i wrote his name all as shen yuan in this but i only noticed after i finished and i don't want to rewrite. smile. enjoy!!

[og au post here!]

… 

Jinlan city carries with it a chilled breeze, curled up quietly against Luo Binghe’s skin under the edges of his robe, where flesh meets air. Face impassive, mouth a straight line and eyes heavy with poison-bourne-exhaustion only a few hours into the trip, everything spells out the path to his inevitable turning in for the night soon. The sun’s joined in his lulling to slumber, touching the horizon as the sky turns orange from blue. 

Luo Binghe drifts, a reed swaying in the wind by the riverside as he investigates the town, slipping away from Liu Qingge and Mu Qingfang to survey the ghost town in his lonesome. 

Everything is par for the course, almost mundane enough that Luo Binghe feels a muted frustration grab at the epicentre of his chest, wrapped around the raw meat of his heart. Always muted, desaturated and less than every sensation could be, as though Shen Yuan took with him a shred of Luo Binghe. If he were an artist, then Shen Yuan wasn’t just his muse but every hue of colour, enshrined in Luo Binghe’s memory in smudges of peach, white, green, and rosy pinks. 

Of course, Luo Binghe hasn’t felt like much of anything in a long time. Every day feels like going through familiar, pre-determined motions, drifitng in and out of classes with a commitment inspired in him that never possessed him before the Immortal Alliance Conference. Even this mission, a slight deviation from the norm, feels easy enough to slot into a quiet part of his mind, where everything mundane gathers dust. Months, almost years worth of memories tucked away in a damp corner. 

This should be more of the same. Luo Binghe is anticipating nothing else. 

Then—a figure bumps into him, bringing him to a stumbling halt. 

He’s practiced; the figure picks up speed when his gaze passes over them, so Luo Binghe pursues, numbness clenching at the hollow of his chest like a bird nipping fingers. Short bursts of static aimed at his hummingbird heart as he ducks into shadowy alleyways, a maze bringing him eventually to the second story of a seemingly-abandoned home. 

Hand resting on his sword, Luo Binghe creeps up the stairs. Opening to a room, his gaze skips over the furniture in his first sweep before he stills at the sight of the balcony. Silhouette traced against the setting sun, the figure lowers their hood as Luo Binghe unsheaths his spiritual weapon. Its hardly silent, and the figure’s face snaps over to meet Luo Binghe’s eyes. 

Lightning strikes, a shock to the heart. 

Shen Yuan exhales a moment later, and it hurts almost twice as bad. 

“Shizun…” He says, words so quiet he’s almost mouthing them to himself. Cultivation pulled from the equation, Luo Binghe doesn’t think he would have heard them. Here, however, they twist a blade into his palpating, trembling chest. “It’s really you here?” 

He opens his mouth but words loathe to creep past his throat and spill over his teeth. Luo Binghe can only stare, drinking in details he never dared imagine, his disciple last remembered bloodied and sobbing at the ridge of a gorge touched by years Luo Binghe thought Shen Yuan had lost because of his Shizun’s incompetence. 

Gone are the gentle greens and whites of Qing Jing Peak, replaced with navy blue, near black, and charcoal gray robes that layer over themselves thrice over, as though Shen Yuan tries to keep himself warm. His face lost its last vestiges of baby fat, severe green eyes dulled yet still imbued with life. Hair shiny, longer, left in a simple updo unbefitting of Qing Jing Peak’s strict standards. Luo Binghe’s mind wanders back to hazy mornings spent brushing his disciple’s hair before he’s forcefully yanked back to the present. 

“I suppose Shizun suspects this lowly demon to be responsible for the plague?” Shen Yuan asks, unsurprised yet words saddled with inexplicable defeat. “With word from Qing Jing Peak’s immortal master against this one, I suppose there’s no point in dragging out the inevitable trial, though Shizun can decide if this one should dare show his face to the other Peak Lords Shizun’s brought with him.” 

“Shen Yuan,” Luo Binghe manages to croak, mind speeding to such an extent that forcing words out feels like fighting past a hot charcoal shoved down his throat. 

“Or,” Shen Yuan continues, as though uninterrupted, starting to pace in a way so familiar and practiced that any imagined excuses of possession or imitation vanish themselves from Luo Binghe’s mind, “Or maybe Shizun wants to bring this stupid evil demon to the Sect Leader himself before executing him—maybe he wants to claim the glory of becoming Jinlan’s saviour, maybe—maybe Shizun wants this disciples head on a spike, or—“ 

Shen Yuan whips around, eyes burning into Luo Binghe’s with intensity that would unwaver him if he wasn’t already off-balance. Hazy and near-floating, feeling his heart beat outside his frail body. Despite the weight of it, there’s a vulnerable desperation that robs him of breath, too reminiscent of days Shen Yuan spent at the end of Luo Binghe’s bed on days where the world pinned him to the sheets without mercy. Violent and fervent hope seems to overtake Shen Yuan.

“Or maybe Shizun just—? WIll—this one knows that Shizun wants… But everything else has changed, I can— This one—Maybe Shizun wants me to live?” 

“You’re supposed to be dead,” Luo Binghe manages to say, and watches Shen Yuan’s expression freeze before shuttering, scrubbed away from a too-pale face and replaced with a jade-like twist to his lips so cold it feels as though it cuts at Luo Binghe’s skin. 

He reaches out and Shen Yuan flinches. 

You’re supposed to be dead, Luo Binghe thinks, standing days away from home yet able to feel the press of grass and stone under his knees as he stares at a solitary grave in Qing Jing Peak’s bamboo forest. 

You’re supposed to be dead, he thinks, watching Shen Yuan turn from disciple to stranger, any hope in his former student's shoulders deflating until Shen Yuan’s taking up very little space, completely unaware he’s done it at all. 

You’re supposed to be dead, Luo Binghe thinks, remembering every single conversation with Liu Qingge where they both quietly tell themselves there’s no body, there’s always a chance. They both knew they were lying to each other. I mourned you. I mourned you I mourned you I mourned you. 

In the same room, Shen Yuan retreats, and despite being closer than they have been in years, Luo Binghe can feel the channel of one-sided hatred between the two of them grow ever-deeper.

masterpost

[beforetimes]

au with disciple shen yuan and shizun luo binghe is a classic but i need it with luo binghe going through the worst depressive episode known to man when shen yuan transmigrates. he sees this intimidating otherworldly figure he's read about and realizes that his shizun is just a complete mess who's been isolating himself and getting more and more irritable and miserable and depressed. he decides to make it his goal to try and coax him out of the bamboo house because no one ever really sees luo binghe anymore outside of when he travels for peak lord meetings.

in my head everything else is the same except for shen yuan and luo binghe switching roles entirely. shen yuan is a half-demon antagonist meant to be defeated by luo binghe after being pushed down the abyss and returning to get revenge but shen yuan just tells himself over and over that if he gets on luo binghe's good side surely everything will be okay? because the system won't let him leave cang qiong mountain and wander the world as a rogue cultivator and he knows that the immortal alliance conference if where everything is going to fall apart. so he's convinced himself that he just needs to game the plot by fixing shen qingqiu's reputation and his relationship and things will be fine. surely!!

and, like, it gets off to a rocky start. luo binghe throws him out of the bamboo house for about two weeks straight before finally snapping at him and asking what his deal is, to which shen yuan lets him know that the other disciples just haven't seen him in so long and they've all been worried and shen yuan just wants to make sure he's okay. and shen yuan knows he's playing the scum villain disciple but he isn't aware of the fact that this sounds so out of character coming from shen qingqiu that it snaps luo binghe out of this dissociative state he's been in for the past few months.

all of a sudden shen yuan's a sort of pet project for luo binghe. his shizun keeps inviting him into the bamboo house and probing him for seemingly benign answers to random questions, getting to know him, etc. and shen yuan thinks that wow his plan is working so well all the other disciples are saying this is the most they've seen him in the past few years. showing up to classes and everything! (of course, they're only shen yuan's classes)

eventually the investigation on luo binghe's part calms down and he hasn't figured out the truth of the matter but shen qingqiu is, all of a sudden, so much more interesting and alluring than he was when he first dragged himself up to qing jing peak a few years ago!

and what starts as a morbid obsession with a puzzle piece that seems out of place slowly moulds into like. genuine fondness on luo binghe's part. because even after the appropriate amount of time where shen yuan could go back to his regular routine and forget about needling luo binghe without seeming rude, he sticks with him anyway! always pulling him away from paperwork after hours to remind him to eat, offering to brush his hair, painting him fan's and landscapes under the guise of practice for class.

(of course, shen yuan's just! fanboying a tad! luo binghe was probably his favourite protagonist he's ever read about, only downside being the unfortunate novel he happened to be written into with the world's most unnecessary harem)

but yes. luo binghe goes through the five stages of grief before becoming inexplicably obsessed with his cute disciple and shen yuan is more than happy to dote on his favourite protagonist under the guise of getting on his good side.

there are still bumps in the road. luo binghe is stubborn and unwilling to look past the somewhat simple view of the world he's constructed in his head of demons being evil. he knows cultivators aren't all angels but the former is common sense, obviously. and he has a temper that flares in a way that makes shen yuan's body flinch in a well-practiced way. shen yuan has his bouts of intense anxiety and depression and brief near-psychosis at remembering the fact that he will have to lose all this if his crackpot half-plan doesn't work. and even if it does he'll still have to go down the abyss and he's just not ready for it, he doesn't think he'll ever be ready, not when his shizun won't be there with his kind eyes and steady form of comfort and command keeping him safe and anchored to the world. but the world keeps turning and so they both keep going until the day comes.

it's a shitshow. shen yuan's seal gets removed and luo binghe watches the demonic energy pour out of him, so numb it feels like he's been stuck in a winter snowstorm for an hour. shen yuan is pleading, desperate, forgetting half the words he tried scripting years in advance because he's at the edge of a cliff to hell and the one person he hoped would believe in him enough not to push him down there is staring at him like he's a stranger. and disciples are still screaming in the distance and the earth is quaking and the system is screaming at him while shen yuan's resolve crumbles and he starts to come to the conclusion that luo binghe will kill him here. he will. and luo binghe is just trying to breathe while he watches his kind and clever, mischievous disciple break down into tears in a way he has never seen before in his life. it sends icicles through his heart. and shen yuan is pleading but when luo binghe comes forward, sword in hand, he can't stop himself from grabbing the blade with his bare palms out of some sort of desperation. hoping and praying that just holding onto the metal means luo binghe won't try to cut his head off.

and it doesn't even matter in the end because luo binghe barely gets a word out before the ground crumbles beneath shen yuan's feet and luo binghe flinches forward, reaching out for him only to push him backwards into the gorge because of the sword that still solidly held by shen yuan, slicing through his skin.

and shen yuan falls. and luo binghe watches. and when liu qingge and yue qingyuan find him after the dust has settled, he looks too much like he did all those years ago, eyes blank and his prized disciple's spirit sword held in his hands, limp. alone again, after a taste of a life that could have been brighter.

masterpost

[hotdemonlordsinyourarea]

in which shang qinghua gets a text

pages 3-7 / ???

READ FROM START

[inuyaoisha]

we made a blog to post it and talk about it ~ i'll still be reblogging here but u should give it a follow!

[hotdemonlordsinyourarea]

in which shen yuan regrets his life's choices

pages 8-9 / ???

READ FROM START

[inuyaoisha]

surprise. 2 more pages

[hotdemonlordsinyourarea]

in which everything is fine and normal don't even worry about it :)

page 10 / ???

READ FROM START

[inuyaoisha]

“Help! I Tried To Become An Only Fans Star And My Computer Virus Became A Hot Tsundere And Is Deleting All The Files Off My Computer?! The Year Of Sexual Torment!”: a self indulgent svsss fancomic drawn by me and written by bee!

that's not the official title but it works

1-2/??

also on bluesky

[hotdemonlordsinyourarea]

a self indulgent svsss fancomic written by @softlystarstruck and drawn by @inuyaoisha: coming to the internet near you at a sporadic update schedule

READ FROM START

[hotdemonlordsinyourarea]

in which everything is fine and normal don't even worry about it :)

page 10 / ???

READ FROM START

[heavenlydemonic0angel]

LBH, towards SJ: So when are you going to leave?

SJ, after eating LBH’s meals: *silently pushes a pastry towards LBH*

LBH: FINE YOU CAN STAY ANOTHER DAY

SY: …. You’ve been saying this every day tho?

It would be hilarious if Bingqiu is married but SY’s twin, SJ, still lives in the bamboo house with them and LBH just treats him like a stray pet cat lmaooo

I’m beginning to realize that I’m obsessed with drawing Luo Binghe…

[kingkimdokja]

LQG being acquainted/friends with a lot of demons in the demon realm. LBH and SQQ do not know this until LBH is having some trouble trying to make deals with this specific clan and LQG’s like:

LQG: Oh I know their leader, don’t worry I’ll convince them

SQQ: Shidi? How do you know their lord? This master had no idea his shidi had connections in the demon realm

LQG: I fight a lot of demons, I befriend some of them. As for this specific clan I rescued their daughter one time. Their fighting style is very unusual and difficult to learn, they were nice enough to teach me a few moves.

LBH: Shishu fights other men!?

LQG: Don’t start

[rue-x3]

Actually no, weed doesn’t fix all

Xiang Fei giving his friend’s brother (Shen Jiu) weed thinking he’ll finally relax and stop being a stuck-up prick only for Shen Jiu to have a panic attack. XF has to try his best to comfort him and SJ literally cannot relax, he’s freaking the fuck out and it’s so bad that he pukes and XF starts crying because he has to clean it up

[rue-x3]

Okay so this was actual like apollo levels of prediction because five days after this I got high with two of my friends and one of them had a panic attack and the other one did infact vomit and while I didn't cry I was sooooo not there LMAO

[crowfoodfish]

I think we need to talk about the new extra and specifically moshang more. We all remember Mobei-Jun CRAWLING out of Shang Qinghua's computer, but what about how Mobei-Jun cried for an hour straight cus he was sad about having scared Shang Qinghua?? Poor baby couldn't handle scaring his husband, I can only imagine how he felt after that one extra when he found out SQH doesn't like being beat. Then afterwards Mobei-Jun kidnapped him onto a mountain?? Then did who knows what to become so rich within only a couple days. This one paragraph made me especially laugh "the formerly decently-tall and reasonably-presentable Shang Qinghua now looked like an innocent high school student standing next to a domineering CEO."

Shang Qinghua Y/N x CEO Mobei-Jun confirmed.

The whole situation of Shang Qinghua ruining the system's plans of creating the world and having to make up for it by being sent into the story, only to sit on his ass the whole time cracks me upp. Shang Qinghua, the man you aren't. But then once Mobei-Jun entered the plot SUDDENLY he was efficient as hell with moving the story along. Well well well.

All in all, I need more fanarts of Mobei-Jun being a cry baby👀👀

[mostlyratbased]

Cumplane where sqq never bottoms because that’s gay and clearly sqq is a straight man. But men have needs and he’s too scared to ask a woman for relief because that’s one of binghe’s future wives and what if binghe kills him for cucking him, so he asks to fuck sqh since he’s the safest option on the mountain and he’s his bro and bros help other bros out right?

Sqh stares at him as sqq explains his reasoning.

He just moves to his desk where he has a stash of lube and privacy talismans—he’ll be damned if any of his precious disciples heard them.

[rue-x3]

Another spin on the hanahaki disease where butterflies (Qi that takes the shape of butterflies) spill out every time a person’s near the person they’re in love with (hehe butterflies in the tummy). The butterflies follow whoever they were made for around. (For example, if LBH had butterflies for SY, they’d come out of LBH’s mouth and follow SY around.)

Puppy love isn’t harmful and usually yields a few harmless butterflies. The more intense the love and the less a person acknowledges them, the dangerous they get.

It’s especially dangerous for SQQ, who cannot accept his feelings for Yue Qi after everything that’s happened. It doesn’t make sense to him and he’s unsure why his heart feels this way when his mind says otherwise—it’s like intrusive thoughts from his heart!!

He avoids YQY like the plague, refusing to let out a single butterfly in his presence. At peak lord meetings he keeps his fan over his face when he needs to speak and keeps his teeth pressed together…

Then after getting hit with a truth serum or something and attending a peak lord meeting as a result of it, it all spills out. YQY is asking him a question and his mouth is opening before he can stop it, butterflies slipping out with every word. They swarm YQY, landing on him affectionately. SQQ is mortified and he immediately turns and leaves, refusing to acknowledge them. YQY is just sitting there in stunned silence.

It's that moment that allows him to put a name to the feelings that he feels for Shen Qingqiu. In his own stomach he feels a faint tickle.