Shen Yuan transmigrates in Shen Qingqiu a long time before the start of the plot. The original goods has just accepted Ning Yingying as a disciple and she is such an ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL and so spoiled. Anyway, Shen Qingqiu had a sister in his past life, he knows how to handle that. Besides!! He can educate his disciples with a gentler hand, with care and affection, and ensure that when Luo Binghe arrives at the sect, he is treated with the love and affection he deserves!
Except that, year after year, Luo Binghe doesn't appear in any of the disciple selections. Shen Qingqiu is on the lookout: he searches among the scrawny, starving, suffering children. But perhaps sending that bunch of Qian Cao practitioners to work in villages near the Luo river saved the life of the old washerwoman, preventing Luo Binghe from becoming so interested in joining a cultivation sect…? It makes sense, but it's not logical! The old washerwoman would obviously have wanted Binghe to be a cultivator!
So, summoning his courage, he descends the mountain for a couple of "courtesy visits," snooping around all the fishing villages near the Luo River, which is honestly A LOT of villages, hamlets, small towns, trading towns—everything's along the Luo River, damn it!! He tries to ask questions without asking too many, being subtle, not intrusive but still making his presence known. He murmurs here and there that he's looking for a washerwoman with skillful hands, regardless of age; if she knows how to handle children, even better, since he's obtained so many child disciples these past few years…
A huge number of washerwomen show up for interviews for a non-existent job, but none of them have an adopted son named Luo Binghe. Some even arrive with their children in tow, and all Shen Qingqiu can do is give them gold coins and write them fake letters of recommendation to get them jobs in big houses in the city! Is it really so difficult to find ONE woman and her child?!
Then he arrives at a village. It is small and poor, and the largest house is the only halfway decent building. He presents himself to the servants, asking for an inn, and they tell him there are no inns in the village, but that Master Luo might be able to offer the distinguished immortal master a room—
And Shen Qingqiu is like ????? master LUO ??? what ???
He doesn't have much time to ask or even understand what's happening, because abruptly, along the dirt road, he approaches like the cliche knight from a romantic movie, a man dressed in immaculate silks riding a white horse. And another white thing: his hair! All his hair, loose long and curly, is white as a pearl, shimmering in the sun! What the hell?! Who—?
And when the man dismounted, Shen Qingqiu was speechless. His face. WHY IS HIS FACE THE DAMN FACE OF LUO BINGHE?! WHO THE HELL IS THIS MAN?!
The other surprise comes with a whiplash. From the large family house, a small boy runs out. It is, clearly, the Luo Binghe that Shen Qingqiu had been expecting to see, and he is so precious and perfect in his white lotus aura that it almost brings tears to his eyes. Yet the boy is far from scrawny: he is tall, strong, with neat hair and full cheeks, without a trace of suffering. He runs, calling "A-Die!" and throws himself at the legs of the newly arrived Other-Luo-Binghe
And the white-haired Luo Binghe is carrying the child!! He hugs and tickles him, and Shen Qingqiu is trying to figure out where he is. What the heck? Is he in a canon divergence where the Heavenly Demon wasn't sealed under the mountain? BUT WHAT THE HECK, HE KNOWS THAT TIANLANG JUN WAS INDEED SEALED!! WHAT'S GOING ON!?
Then, finally, the white-haired Luo Binghe looks at him. And Shen Qingqiu feels horrified and frozen, because this white-haired Luo Binghe is far from the dark eyes of the one we've described; instead, his eyes are clear, crystalline, a color that is almost artificial. Almost like polished crystal. And with a look that seems to recognize him, he smiles at him. And, as if he's known him all his life, he greets him by name and invites him in. As simply as if it were something to be expected, he says, "I've been waiting a long time for you. When did you arrive? I thought you'd come sooner."
…Luo Bingzu, after weaving entire universes in which different versions of himself find happiness with the same soul, believes he deserves one too. However, since all the worlds are woven around his own being, he can't tear a Luo Binghe out of his narrative or his story. So, if he can't be replaced, he might as well give a fragment of himself the soul and care he deserves, both waiting for the soul that will complete their lives. After all, Bing-er deserves a mom who will adore him with all his heart, and Bingzu knows that the best husband and mom will of course be the tender soul of Shen Yuan!
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