Alright, Samus' fandom has been upping their game lately, so I guess I'm writing another installment of Luo Binghe propaganda. I've talked about Luo Binghe's hybrid abilities and traits before (and his general character before that... and gave a small introduction even earlier...), but I haven't yet delved into how his mixed heritage impacts his life - and the fate of his world.
Or, two worlds, to be more precise. As there are two versions of Luo Binghe around.
(eng.edition vol.4 illustration, feat. original Luo Binghe and SVSSS-verse Luo Binghe)
In both worlds, Luo Binghe spends his early years unaware of his mixed heritage, his demon blood sealed away. All he knows of his parents is that he was abandoned by them at birth, put into a basin floating down the river on the coldest day of winter, only surviving by luck. And he can never forget that, as even the name given to him reflects those circumstances: "Luo" is the name of the river he was found in, and "Binghe" is characters for "ice" and "river" put together.
In both worlds, Luo Binghe survives his early years on the streets, gets adopted by a kindly washerwoman only to see her die of illness as her wealthy employers refuse to give her so much as a bowl of rice, and gets accepted into a cultivation sect only to suffer abuse at the hands of his shifu and bullying from his peers.
And this is where histories diverge.
In one world, Luo Binghe is unable to hold onto his adoptive mother's kindness, as he is treated cruelly again and again. Once his demonic heritage becomes apparent, his shifu drops the last pretense, attempting to send Luo Binghe to his early death - pushing him into the Endless Abyss, the crack between realms filled with monsters. (He had tried to cause Luo Binghe's death at least twice before that, but covertly and indirectly.)
In the Abyss, Luo Binghe abandons his human upbringing in favor of learning how to use his Heavenly Demon heritage. After five years, he returns to conquer the world - convinced it has no place for him but the one he carves out for himself. In the end, after 200 years of conquest, Luo Binghe directly merges the Human and Demon Realms together via reality-rending sword, remaking the world in his image.
Of course, this is only a story of Luo Binghe, the Gary Stu protagonist of a male power fantasy novel called Proud Immortal Demon Way. A.k.a. "original Luo Binghe".
Enter Shen Yuan, a millennial with time to spare in love-hate relationship with PIDW. (He likes monsters and Binghe (hes lying about the order), but he hates everything else.)
No, literally, Shen Yuan dies and enters the world of PIDW years before Luo Binghe became the villainous protagonist of the original, replacing Luo Binghe's cruel shifu. In this world, Luo Binghe has a kindly master who protects him and dotes on him, and even tells him demons, too, can be good...
...until he tells him something else, once Luo Binghe's heritage is revealed.
Unbeknown to Binghe, Shen Yuan, now Shen Qingqiu, has the literal manifestation of narrative forcing his hand; but in Luo Binghe's view, his much beloved master casts him into the Abyss for being a Heavenly Demon - the type that caused untold calamities in the past; the type literally, physically marked by Heaven's hatred.
Unlike his counterpart, who took his fall as proof that humanity was cruel and undeserving of compassion, and delved into his demonic abilities with relish, Luo Binghe of this world develops a painfully complicated relationship with his heritage instead. He hates it for, in his view, being the thing that makes him intolerable to the person he loves; but he can't help but use it, as it's the only thing that can take him out of the Abyss and back to that person's side.
Throughout the novel, Luo Binghe struggles to find his footing between the two sides of his nature - his love for Shen Qingqiu becoming both his tether to humanity, as he tries to be the person deserving of his human master's love, and the leash by which the narrative pulls him onto the road charted by the original, as taking advantage of his demonic heritage is the only way for Luo Binghe to make sure Shen Qingqiu is alive and safe.
With time, Binghe also becomes convinced that the entire world hates his existence: as he is treated as a monster by humans and demons alike, as he meets his father - the butterfly effect of the changes to the story having freed him - who sees no issue with harming Binghe both physically and psychologically, and as he learns that apparently, his birth mother took poison to kill him in the womb.
So in Binghe's view, he's been abandoned by both his birth parents, and is universally hated for the heritage they gave him. And even the person who still occasionally shows him kindness, Shen Qingqiu, is liable to leave him... Ultimately, he nearly follows the original in merging - or rather destroying, as we realize in this version of the story - the Realms, as the cursed sword he picked up in the Abyss uses his fear of abandonment to drive him insane.
But, in the last moment, he (and the world, but tbh we all know what was more important to Binghe's #1 stan) is saved by just one person choosing to love him as he is - or rather, by finally letting go of his own reservations to show and tell Luo Binghe that he is loved as he is.
Human, demon, and most importantly, Binghe.
(vol.3, ch.21. "This time, no matter where you wish to go, this master will accompany you.")
Later, in the extra chapters (functionally epilogues), two versions of Luo Binghe meet. And the original, the conqueror and ruler of the combined Realms... finds himself envious of his "less successful" counterpart. Who is loved not for his power, not because he made himself into perfection, but simply for who he is, and just the way he is. (Fucking insane btw that this is a canon event.)
So that's that on Luo Binghe's relationship with his heritage. Which doomed or undoomed the world, depending on whether or not there was this one guy willing to give him lil kissies on his heavenly demon mark.
(@hybrid-battle tagging u as asked 👍)
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