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AU where Luo Binghe can smell other people's emotions Omegaverse-style

I'm a big fan of the headcanon that Luo Binghe had sharper senses even before his seal broke. Stuff like hearing, vision, balance, and others. But one sense that he finds more useful than others is his heightened sense of smell.

Even as a child Binghe's sense of smell is freaky good. Sure, he can smell common things that could be explained by a naturally strong nose. Like, he can always tell when it's going to rain, or when the food is starting to go bad, or when someone is about to be sick. But if those things seem natural, his ability to distinguish people by smell alone is not.

Luo Binghe's ability to smell people is crazy strong. He can distinguish people by smell with his eyes closed. He can always tell why two people sneak out together. He can guess when they came into the room and when they left.

He can also smell people's emotions. Ok, well, calling it smelling people's emotions is a bit of an overstatement. But he can smell one (1) emotion. I imagine Binghe conceptualizes this emotion as "a feeling of general unrest," as he senses this particular smell only from people who are angry or scared or very upset.

(It's cortisol. Baby Binghe is smelling cortisol. But he doesn't know what cortisol is, so for him it's an emotion that is opposite to calm.)

For the longest time, Binghe doesn't realize that there is something abnormal about his sense of smell. Well, he knows it's stronger compared to other people's, and he is very happy to help his adoptive mother. But when it comes to smelling people, he assumes that everyone can do that. For him, distinguishing people by smell seems just as natural as distinguishing them by their face or their voice or the sound of their footsteps. And his ability to smell the unrest on people is just as normal as guessing emotions based on smiles or tears or tense posture or raised voice.

Only when one day he tells his mama that one of their masters "smelled angry" does he realize that it's something he needs to hide. She never says that there is something wrong with him. She ensures that Binghe knows that she loves him. But she can't allow Luo Binghe to accidentally put himself in danger by revealing too much to wrong people. So Binghe never tells anyone about his smell, or vision, or hearing.

Still, Binghe spends his early years relying on his heightened sense of smell. Sometimes for convenience, but mostly for safety. It's very convenient to know which people he should be wary of, especially when it comes to nobles. After all, they love to hide their true feelings to save their face. It's very easy to accidentally get in the way of a frustrated young master. But no one can hide the anger in their smell. So Luo Binghe uses his ability to evade people who smell like upset/anger/fear.

In the end, Luo Binghe's sense of smell doesn't save his mother. He smells the illnesses on her and her upcoming death. He still goes to get her some congee anyway. He still comes back only to find her dead.

He continues using his sense of smell while living on the streets. What food doesn't smell as rotten? Which people smell like danger? When is it going to rain? Where are there too many animals in one place?

Luo Binghe receives his first level up to his sense of smell after he arrives at Qing Jing Peak.

Sure, he has a faulty cultivation manual and no time to actually cultivate. However, with the power of the protagonist's halo he manages to achieve some progress, which allows him to strengthen his sense of smell even more. He can distinguish emotions now! Before all he could smell was an uncertain "unrest" emotion. But now he can pick up something more specific. He can tell apart anger from fear from distress.

His upgraded sense of smell doesn't make his life on Qing Jing Peak any easier, though. In some ways it actually makes it worse. Because without it he could have clung to the idea that he is not being abused. He could've believed that he just gets in his shixiongs' way. He could've believed that people on the peak are just strict and want to see him improve. He could've believed that his Shizun just tries to teach him with some "tough love." But even the White Lotus protagonist can't delude himself into believing those things when he can literally smell the hatred on them. When he intentionally evades his martial siblings only to be found for the purpose of being berated and beaten. When all he can smell from the people around the peak is anger and hatred. When the smell of anger combined with fear comes most strongly from his own Shizun.

So Luo Binghe has to live with the knowledge that everyone on the peak (with the exception of Ning Yingying) hates him, and the one who hates him and fears him the most is Shen Qingqiu. The smell of Peak Lord's anger combined with fear quickly becomes the most dreaded smell for Luo Binghe. It's the kind of smell that always immediately sends him into panic.

Luo Binghe realizes that something has happened with his Shizun the moment he meets freshly transmigrated Shen Yuan. As he walks into the Bamboo House, he can smell the pain and illness. He can also smell the ever-familiar smell of fear coming from his master. But what isn't familiar is the lack of anger. Luo Binghe has never been in the vicinity of his Shizun without him smelling like rage.

It gets even stranger he longer he interacts with the changed Peak Lord. Luo Binghe is long used to the acrid smell of fear and anger constantly following his Shizun. But now his smell has completely changed. An intense fear is now just a vague anxiety. What's even more surprising is the lack of anger. Shen Qingqiu is not always afraid, but he is always angry. It sets Luo Binghe on edge. He doesn't know why his master changed or what to think about it. Thankfully for him, he doesn't need to decide now since Shen Qingqiu is going into seclusion. But not before giving him a proper cultivation manual.

After that, he receives his second level up. With the proper manual, he finally starts to progress in his cultivation, and with that, his senses sharpen even more. This time he learns to sense some new emotions. Before that, all he could smell were fear, anger, and distress. But now he can smell all the basic emotions, including the good ones. He can smell anger, fear, sadness, disgust, and distress, but he also can smell joy, interest, and surprise. It's nice for the first time in his life to smell the good emotions.

Luo Binghe receives his third level up after meeting Meng Mo. Many things change for him in that period of time. All the bullying stops. He moves to the Bamboo House. His Shizun saves his life. He learns that he has a demonic heritage and starts practicing demonic cultivation. He finally learns why he has such a good sense of smell.

Apparently it's a demonic trait to have sharper senses compared to humans. Although Luo Binghe's ability to smell emotions is unusual even among demons. Meng Mo theorizes that Luo Binghe had unconsciously cultivated his sense of smell as a child since he used it so much to survive. Luo Binghe doesn't even care about where this ability came from. He has much nore interesting things to think about. Like his Shizun.

Luo Binghe finally decides that he doesn't care what happened to his master. Did he get possessed? Was his skin stolen by a Skinner Demon? Did he have an amnesia? Did he wake up one day and decide to change? Luo Binghe doesn't know, and he doesn't care. He is willing to forgive his cruel treatment, as long as he gets to be close to his master and bask in the sweet smell of his love.

And Luo Binghe knows that his Shizun loves him. Because after starting practicing demonic cultivation, instead of smelling broad emotional states, he now can smell more delicate and subtle emotions. Things like affection, annoyance, jealousy, grief, shock, dissapointment. Now he can read people like open books, judging only by their smell.

That's why Luo Binghe knows that his Shizun loves him. His love might differ from Luo Binghe's, but he does love him. And the smell of Shizun's love quickly becomes his favorite in the world.

Binghe's life in the Bamboo House is pure bliss. He gets to live by his master's side, and he gets to smell his love every day. A sweet pleasure when Luo Binghe brings Shizun his meal. A warm pride when he learns a new sword form. A delighted surprise every time Luo Binghe comes back from the mission earlier than anticipated. A deep affection permeating their every interaction.

Of course it's not perfect. His master sometimes experiences fits of fear and anxiety that put Luo Bingeh on edge. He has to pretend he doesn't smell the upcoming Without-A-Cure spell. He has to deal with this Liu Qingge coming to their house and sticking up the whole place. Still, even with those imperfections, Luo Binghe's life is as close to paradise as it can be.

Things grow tense as the date of the Immortal Alliance Conference gets closer. Shizun starts to smell like anxiety. Like sadness. Like despair. Luo Binghe doesn't know what to do with that. He assumes that Without-A-Cure is getting worse, but he can't smell any change. A thought comes to his mind that Shizun might be worrying about him participating. But when he says that he can stay home and not participate in IAC, he receives such a wild wave of panic, he retracts his proposal immediately. When Shizun asks him about becoming strong at any cost, Luo Binghe tells him he will do anything. It somewhat calms Shizun's anxiety, but it still leaves Luo Binghe perplexed.

During IAC, Luo Binghe is the first to notice the invasion. It doesn't help anyone.

Luo Binghe receives his fourth and final power up as his seal breaks. Before he thought that he could read people like open books. But his previous sense of smell was nothing compared to what he can do now. Now he can sense every emotion by the smell. Just one sniff and he knows everything that there is to know about the emotional state of the person before him.

So much new information is overwhelming. But what is even more overwhelming is Shizun looking at him with those dead eyes. What is even more overwhelming is to stand there and listen the speech about the sins of his predecessors. And Luo Binghe wants to listen to what Shizun says. But he can't help but be distracted by his Shizun's smell. Shizun loves to hide his emotions behind his fan, so Luo Binghe is long used to trusting his nose, not his eyes and ears. It's a habit that is impossible to break. And as always, Shizun says one thing and feels another.

Shizun looks through Luo Binghe. He speaks of horrible things he is destined to do. He points his sword at him. One would expect to smell anger on him or disgust or hatred. But all Luo Binghe feels is grief. There is grief and sadness and pain. There is fear and anger. But there is not an ounce of disgust or hatred. There is still this underlying smell of love and affection. Shizun might put on a mask of indifference, but he can't mask the smell of pure heartbreak coming off him in waves.

Luo Binghe is hurt and scared and overwhelmed. But when he realizes what his Shizun wants to do, where he wants to send him, he protests. But not for his own sake, but because Shizun smells like he doesn't want to do it.

Shen Qingqiu sends Luo Binghe into the Endless Abyss anyway.

Luo Binghe knowing that his Shizun doesn't hate him changes a lot. It also doesn't change that much. Luo Binghe is stuck in hell. He was forced there by his master's hand. At the same time, he knows Shen Qingqiu didn't actually want to send him there. He knows he is not hated. He knows his master is heartbroken. This knowledge does wonders to his mental health. He doesn't fall into the pit of self-hatred, and he isn't as angry at his Shizun for his hypocrisy.

He is, however, extremely confused.

Because why the hell would Shizun do that?! He clearly didn't want to send Luo Binghe away! So why did he do that?!

Luo Binghe very quickly comes to the conclusion that Shizun was forced by someone. Which is technically correct. However, he doesn't know about the System or transmigration. So, he comes to the next most reasonable conclusion. It's society that is at fault!

Luo Binghe concludes that Shizun must have known that he was a demon. Possibly he even knew what kind of demon he was. And most likely he knew that his seal was about to be broken. Because why else would he be so anxious about the upcoming IAC? And Shizun also knew the fate of the previous Heavenly Demon, who was sealed under the mountain. So he was worried that Luo Binghe's seal would break in the worst possible moment, during IAC, when he is surrounded by countless cultivators, and he would be subjected to the same fate as the previous Demonic Emperor! That's the only version that makes sense!

In some way it happened almost as Shizun possibly predicted. His seal did break at IAC. But he wasn't surrounded by cultivators. And there was a convenient way to hide Luo Binghe. Exactly what Shen Qingqiu did.

Luo Binghe is satisfied with this theory, since it ties everything so nicely together. What he can't justify to himself for the longest time is how Shizun behaved before sending him to the Abyss. Why did he have to say all those things? Why did he look at him like that? Why did he have to cut him with his sword? Why didn't he just tell him the truth? Luo Binghe spends a lot of time trying to find secret meanings to his strange behavior. In the end he concludes that there were no secret meanings. His Shizun is just like that. It's a Shizun's trait that Luo Binghe finds both endearing and infuriating. Because Shizun is almost allergic to being genuine. He always plays, always puts on a facade, always hides his emotions, and never says what he actually thinks.

Shizun didn't say those things out of some grand plan. He said them because that was what he was "supposed" to say. He put on a reaction of an immortal master finding out that one of his disciples is a demon in disguise. He put out a reaction of a righteous cultivator sending the Heavenly Demon into hell. He put on a reaction Shizun thought he should have had.

Luo Binghe is... rather annoyed at this conclusion. He still loves his Shizun, but he can't deny that he was very hurt by what was said at the edge of the Abyss, even if he knows that none of it was true. Still, for all his anger, Luo Binghe doesn't hold a grudge against Shen Qingqiu. He was willing to forgive him years of abuse. And he will forgive him again and again, as long as he keeps loving him so sweetly.

This conclusion greatly changes Luo Binghe's outlook on things. Because it's one thing when it's "Shizun is a hypocrite who said that demons can be good and then threw me away for being one, and also he hates me now." But it's completely different when it's "Shizun is well-meaning, but he said some cruel things he didn't mean, but he still loves me." It makes a big difference for Luo Binghe. He doesn't spend two years being angry at Shen Qingqiu and hating himself.

You know who he hates instead? Cultivators.

Think about it. He spent years smelling only hatred from his martial siblings. No one ever helped him besides Ning Yingying and Shizun after his change. He could have ignored the cultivation world's cruelty towards him for the sake of Shizun before. But now, from his point of view, other cultivators are the reason why they are apart! He believes that if not for their prejudices against Heavenly Demons, Shizun wouldn't have had the reason to pretend to hate him! It's all their fault!

And this is how Luo Binghe spends his time fighting for the way out of the Endless Abyss. His heightened sense of smell helps him greatly. It's much easier to evade the packs of beasts and find some edible foragables and clean water when he can smell them from the distance.

(He doesn't like to use his sense of smell like that. He already barely feels like a human anymore. Using his sense of smell makes him really feel like he is turning into an animal. Beast, as his master used to call him. Still, it's not like he has any choice. It doesn't matter how it makes him feel. All that matters is survival.)

In his spare time between surviving and barely surviving, Luo Binghe plots. For all that he truly believes that Shizun doesn't hate him, he also knows that it doesn't mean he will be accepted back. Luo Bingeh doesn't worry about Shizun's feelings toward Heavenly Demons. He didn't smell any disgust of him at the edge of the Abyss. And even if Shizun has some conflicting feelings about him, he always folds at Luo Binghe's every whim. What he actually needs to do is to prove to Shizun that it's safe for them to be together. There is a real chance that Shizun will try to send him away again if he thinks it would be unsafe for Luo Binghe to be around cultivators.

In the end Luo Binghe comes up with the same plan he did in canon, although his goal now is slightly different. He plans to infiltrate some big sect and show Shizun that he can easily blend in despite being a demon. He just needs to show him that it's not dangerous for him.

Luo Binghe's plan... changes when he finds Xin Mo.

His dislike of the cultivation world transforms into burning hatred. His reasonable "live among cultivators to prove that he can blend in" plan turns into "become so powerful and influential in the cultivation world that no one could ever demand Shizun throw him away." He wants to have no one more powerful above him.

His feelings towards Shen Qingqiu also change slightly. He doesn't have those ambivalent love/anger feelings towards Shizun like he did in canon. All he has is love and devotion. But with Xin Mo, his love transforms into a possessive obsession.

After escaping the Abyss, he conquers the Demonic Realm. From Mobei-Jun, he learns that demons have more sensitive noses compared to humans. However, their sense of smell is not nearly as powerful as Binghe's.

After securing his power in the Demonic Realm he moves on to the cultivation world. Luo Binghe infiltrates Huan Hua. It's disgustingly easy to get into the Huan Hua. Honestly, everything about Huan Hua is disgusting. Luo Binghe is constantly nauseous from the cloying smell of infatuation coming from almost every disciple. It gets even worse when he catches a smell of possessive arousal incoming from Old Palace Master. This assures Luo Binghe in his hatred towards cultivators.

When he learns that Shen Qingqiu is going to be present during one of their mission, he immediately volunteers. He has already been living in Huan Hua for a year. Surely it won't hurt to show Shizun that he can successfully blend it? Of course Luo Binghe is not as powerful as he plans to be yet. But surely a little sneak peek of what is to come won't hurt? To show that Luo Binghe is alive and well, of course! His Shizun was so heartbroken to send him away. Surely Shen Qingqiu will be ecstatic to see that his disciple is alive!

Their meeting...... doesn't really go according to plan.

There is so much going on, Luo Bingeh is feeling really overwhelmed. There is a stench incoming from the dead sower. There are angry Huan Hua disciples. And then there is a Shizun. Oh, there are so many concerning smells coming from Shizun. Most of it is fear. It almost drown every smell in the room. Underneath the fear Luo Binghe can smell the lingering heartbreak and grief and pain and guilt and illness. He can smell the incoming Without-A-Cure spell. He also can smell the tiniest bit of excitement. It's the same smell he had every time Luo Binghe came back from the mission. Even with all of his fear, his Shizun is somewhat happy to see him. There is affection. There is love...

Shen Qingqiu doesn't really look at Luo Binghe, and when he does, he emits another wave of fear every time. Luo Bingeh doesn't take it close to heart. At this point he had a year to convince himself that Shen Qingqiu doesn't hate him and send him away because of outside influence. He must be worried that other people could find out that Luo Binghe is a demon. It's the only explanation in Luo Binghe's mind.

Luo Binghe still comes into Shen Qingqiu's room, chases him, and slams him into the wall. He isn't angry at his Shizun for hating him as much as he finds his behavior unreasonable. His Shizun is of course worried that Luo Binghe can be discovered as a demon, but surely this amount of fear is a little bit excessive! He tries to comfort him by saying that very soon the whole cultivation world will be under his thumb and there will be nothing in the world keeping Luo Binghe away from his Shizun. But for some reason it makes him even more afraid! Luo Binghe is a little hurt by so much distrust in his abilities, but honestly this one is on him. He shouldn't have rushed their meeting. He should have waited before he could show Shizun some tangible results. His bad. He still feeds Shen Qingqiu his blood. He sees no reason not to.

The next day is when it all goes wrong. Luo Binghe's initial plan is to deal with the sowers and come back to Huan Hua to continue his rising in power. But then one of the sowers accuses his Shizun! And his wife (?!) appears to accuse him of murder?! And then Huan Hua disciples accuse him of abusing his disciples?!?!? Now, this is unacceptable! Luo Binghe is not going to just stand there and let those filthy cultivators slander his Shizun like that! They have already forced them to separate, there is no way Luo Binghe is letting them take sway Shizun again.

He doesn't let them take Shen Qingqiu to the Water Prison. The only reason why Luo Binghe came back to the cultivation world is because of Shizun. The reason why he is rising in power is Shizun. Because this is Shizun's home. Shizun loves the cultivation world, and Luo Binghe wouldn't dare to take it away from him.

But now?

Now, the cultivation world turned against Shen Qingqiu. Now they are going to hurt him. Now, there is nothing for him. There is no reason for him to stay.

So Luo Binghe drops his disguise. And then he kidnaps Shen Qingqiu.

His Shizun is not very happy about that. It's no wonder, he always was a little particular about things. Obviously he would be scandalized by being seen with the demon. But how can Shizun not see that there is nothing to be afraid of anymore? No cultivators could ever reach them here. No one is forcing him to throw him away.

Shizun doesn't need to be scared!

They can be together again just like they were before!

Luo Binghe just needs to show Shizun that he doesn't need to be scared!

He just needs to show him!

He just needs to show him.

He just needs to show him...