The Art of War Never Mentioned, This!?
Warnings: eventual smut(maybe). Major character death. Slowburn. Enemies to lovers if you squint. Poly(throuple). OC x Shen Qingqiu x Shang Qinghua. Mentions of suicide, twilight hate, brief mention of sex. (More tags on my a03 im too lazy to type out)
I update on a03 first. click here
(it started out as a cumplane x Binghe fic don't ask me how an original character spawned😭) also posting on my a03♥╣[-_-]╠♥
(UPDATED)
Chapter 1. "That....hurt"
"Don't ask her for advice, she's heartless."
No matter how hard she tries to clear her mind,Tang Yinlie hears the cruel words of her peers echoing in her mind. It shouldn't bother her, normally she could care less what people think or say about her, but it does, especially after dumping that guy she gave a chance a few days ago. He had demanded that she give up everything that she had devoted her life to, accusing her of being unfaithful simply for training every day.
Even though he damn well knew she was born into a long and strong line of devoted martial artists, her first damn steps were on a sparring mat for gods sake! He knew what he was getting into!
" 'm not heartless," Tang Yinlie mutters to no one as she opens the door to her bedroom, ready to grab clean clothes, wash the sweat and grime of the days training session off her sore and bruised body.
Huffing in frustration as she cleans up herself and changes into comfortable lounge wear, she sits down and glances over at the novels one of her closest friends gifted her.
"... might as well..I like the authors other novel anyways." She thinks shifting from her bed to grab the first volume of The Scum Villian's Self-Saving System. Smiling as she does so, the memory of her telling said friend about a cultivation novel she had discovered called "The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" resulted in her receiving the entire series of the authors other works. She unceremoniously flops back onto her bed, moving her hands to open to the first page.
Before she can process it, days have passed since Tang Yinlie had begun reading that addictive book. Almost reading in any spare moment she can find, it's becoming a real problem. Eat, train, spar, read, bathe, sleep, repeat. This escape from the reality of the mental torment of her peers has succeeded a bit too well, seeing that she's nearing the end of the series. Tang Yinlie has the great idea of calling her friend early in the afternoon to rave about the novel.
"I'm so thankful you put me onto this, I just can't help but still feel bad for Luo Binghe....I know , I know he has a happy ending with his Shizun. But, still he went through so much unnecessary shit to get there, he deserved better. He's happy with Shen Qingqiu and that's all that matters, but I can't help thinking in another life he wouldn't have had to suffer that much, he could've been happy as a cultivator on the pure and righteous path, nature versus nurture as they say. But then that wouldn't make for a good plot." Tang Yinlie laughs.
"I'm so glad you like it! It's the lesser loved child of MXTX's novels, but it's my favorite and I'm really glad I get to talk to you about it finally!" Her friend Meilun, squeels with excitement, on the other end of the line.
"You know I am a bit disappointed though"
"Oh? Why's that?"
"It's just, I don't know these novels have so much potential to take a deeper dive into the the horror elements in the plots, theres so much world building left untouched, and scenes with potential to be so unsettling, but I'm biased because I'm a horror fan, but a girl can dream!"
"I mean if you think about it more it is pretty scary since it's left up to interpretation a bit, like demonic cultivation and such."
"Fuck interpretation, I want details!"
"Yinlie, not everyone can stomach that stuff like you can... anyways whos you're favooorite?" Meilun asks in a sing song voice.
"Uhhhh I have.... opinions, okay hear me out. I like everyone. I wish zhuzhi-lang had more screen time and we had more backstory on his general days. I like Shen Yuan a lot because he makes some valid points, he was pointing out some of the same critiques I was thinking at the beginning, he really grew on me. I want more info on Xiang Fei, I NEED more Mobei-Jun- also THAT'S NOT EVEN HIS NAME, THAT'S JUST A TITLE, WHEN DO WE LEARN HIS NAME!?! DID HIS PARENTS JUST HATE HIM!?!....Liu Qingge.... marriage, now. Make it happen. I love that beautiful idiot."
" I LITERALLY KNEW YOU WOULD! You have a typeeeeee. Also of course Shen Yuan grew on you. You hate on Twilight just as much as he hates on Proud Immortal Demon Way!"
" Exept I'm NOT secretly in love with Jacob Black, Twilight had objectively good writing, the author is well spoken. But, the plot completely sucks! It's weird, it's lazy. Endless plot holes soooo many inconsistencies. The whole baby imprinting this was a nightmare as well, wasn't there also some sort of vampire venom plot!?! What was that!? Is Edward a mosquito??? A wasp?? Also Edward had to like warm up his sperm to have that kid because he's DEAD, that baby isn't technically living in the same way humans are so WHY did she grow so fast?? Like scientifically, if she's dead shouldn't she age slower if she's going to at all? Her cells are literally not living, how did they even know that baby wouldn't stay one day old for eternity....I think I'd kill myself if I transmigrated there...."
"You say that, but you've read every book...."
"If I'm gonna be a hater, I'm going to hate properly and fully understand why it's a shitty novel, plus I enjoy making fun of it, it's good if you can find humor in it's bad-ness." Yinlie, states matter of factly.
A few days have passed since that phone call. Meilun manages to lure Yinlie away from training to go spend some time together over tea, at a local cafe. A cat themed cafe, of course Meilun chose a cat cafe. Luckily both girls adore cats, so yinlie sped over as fast as humanly possible.
"Meilun! They're all so cute! You're never getting me out of here, I hope you're prepared." Tang Yinlie says, whilst gushing over an adorable little grey cat, purring away in her lap. Without a care in the world or even a flinch that the sweet kitty took out it's short burst of violence on her fingers from excitement.
"Why do all the mean ones always flock to you..., I tried to pet that one and he hissed at me, now he's cuddling you all smug... he's mocking me."
"Oh, he's not mean, he's just a babyyyy, yes sweet grumpy man." Yinlie baby talks the cat, her words almost dissolving into incomprehensible gibberish, before looking up at Meilun, deadpan face.
"I would die for this cat."
Meilun shakes her head at Yinlie's serious tone. "Did you finish scum villian?"
"I did" Tang yinlie says still petting the cat.
"And?"
"I really liked it, I read the extras too, you did not tell me about the wine scene! That was interesting, I really didn't expect Qingqiu to bottom, should have been Bnghe.... the others were cute, I have some judgemental thoughts plot wise, but they were still pretty cute"
"Okay, but the wine scene isn't as bad as "Incense Burner" was."
"Meilun, I rather get fucked with the hilt of a sword than a sexy wine enema."
"To each their own, I guess."
"It's just, messy. I'm sorry call me a clean freak or whatever, that just does not sound like a fun time for me."
"Anyways, i'm thinking of cosplaying as Cumplane or BingQiu at that con next month, I was hoping you'd be my other half?"
"Ohmygod, yes! Obviously. Who you want me to be?"
"I already have Shen Qingqiu and I actually have a Luo Binghe thats too long on me, it should fit you, you have more of a Binghe face than Shang Qinghua anyways, but if you wanna cosplay as Airplane I'm not stopping you."
"..... Skipping over the fact that I have no clue what you mean by "Binghe face", yeah lets do BingQiu, it'll be cute!"
"It's not a bad thing! You're really cute and you have a similar face to what he looks like in the illustration, but like feminine. It's a compliment jiejie!"
"I do not look like Binghe. But whatever you say, It is a compliment I guess I wasn't taking it in a bad light, don't worry about it so much." Tang Yinlie laughs, feeling a bit flustered, waving off her friends worry.
"Good, good. It's a date then?"
"Of course it is," Tang Yinlie smiles brightly from across the table, "but, is your girlfriend okay with us doing a couples cosplay? I know she's long distance, but I don't want her feeling jealous or anything and ending up hating me y'know."
"Oh, she's the one that told me to ask you to be my Binghe when I was bitching about it, she's good."
"Okay, good"
"I'm ordering us another drink and some pastries, I wanna hear about the martial world ✨drama✨." Meilun says with her fingers wiggling in the air like falling stars.
Tang Yinlie stares at her from across the table with the forlorned look of someone that's seen too many things, and heard things she most definitely shouldn't have.
"SPILL!" Meilun says pointing a demanding finger at her.
"So,... fuck man. Okay, so that girl that I hated? The one that acted like she was better than everyone, and knows more when she's barely got any years under her belt compared to me? I had it with her. She went on this big speal about how "nobody wants to fight me, everyone gets scared when I step into the ring bullshit". So when it was my turn to spar, she stepped in wanting to fight me and I didn't hold back. She needed someone to put her in her place. I hadn't even touched her yet! And she stepped out of the boundaries screaming about "Yinlies cheating! Yinlie cheats, she can't move that fast!" And hid behind our Shifu screaming. All I did was advance for an attack" Yinlie, pauses to laugh at the memory, "anyways Shifu threw her back in and told her "she's aggressive, that's what you're SUPPOSED to do when you're fighting someone, nobody's cheating so stop screaming". We went a few rounds because she couldn't accept defeat the first two times...aaaand she hasn't been back in," Tang Yinlie looks at her phone to check the date, "Three months."
"Wow, good for you! I hated that bitch"
"Yeah but..... another thing, so you know how I have a few Shifu's at different locations but they all kinda work together. Anyways I haven't actually spoken about this to anyone but for a year-ish? I've been getting the vibe that one of the girls a bit younger than me.... She's twenty now. But I've been having suspicions of a student teacher relationship involving her and one of the Shifu's..."
"WHAT!??"
"YEAH, so I've kept my mouth shut because y'know she was nine-teen he's like twenty years her senior, both consenting adults, as long as it hasn't been going on longer, weird but not my business. But, while training I've overheard some things I convinced myself I heard incorrectly and just focused on my sword or something instead, as one does....well MY shifu, like my main guy, last week pulled me into his office because he's a very transparent person and he thinks as one of the most promising students I deserve to know, so I don't hear misinformation or rumors. And he confirms it. He tells me that girl was questioned by like, I guess you could call him the head of our Martial sect. And she told the truth, she said, she pursued the guy after she turned nine-teen, and yes they're now together, but they keep it very professional. But even so that still looks bad for everyone because she's his former-still student even if it's okay, legally and everything. So he's no longer a Shifu, she's still allowed to remain a student but it's just been weird. And now theres some new guy thats a pain in my ass, and he looks like he came from boxing or something, so I've been given the task of basically breaking him in and making sure he's not gonna hurt himself or anyone else sparring. And he's got that haughty attitude of like artsy martial combat doesn't actually work, it's all fake, MMA is superior so I'm not looking forward to that."
"That's.....wow. That's some hot Tea. Also why do people just tell you things? Seems like you know everyone's secrets.."
"I don't know bro, I have like a trustworthy face or something, it's a curse. But yay me. Tang Yinlie. The ✨sacrifice✨." She says rolling her eyes, as the cat finally leaps off her lap, leaving her feeling lonely and rejected.
"Anyways I have to go train, and be the sacrificial lamb for that guy I was talking about, send over that Binghe cosplay so i can alter it a bit, see you later, love you lots. Byeeeee." Tang Yinlie says as she stands, Dusts off her pants, throwsdown enough money to cover the shared bill, places a playful kiss on Meiluns forehead, and disappears out the cafe doors, in that order.
Tang Yinlie, was raised by a grandmaster of martial arts, who was taught by her own grandmaster. Others may call her heartless, which is only half true. Yes, being raised by women that care more for strength, confidence, and skill above tedious things like emotions makes one lack a bit of empathy. However, she was still human. Even when Tang Yinlie was a child, she could be beaten, and bleeding and yet, never cry. A lesson instilled on her from her mother,
"never cry, or they'll take advantage of you, if you cry run some laps or find someone to spar instead".
She may have a hard time with emotions, but she still has warmth in her heart, for her family, her few close friends, and especially, animals. To Tang Yinlie anyone that harms animals aside from ethical hunting is worse than the most disgusting dirt that one could walk on.
So why now does she feel the need to cry? Maybe it's from that surprisingly strong hit she took to the head. That would explain why everything is getting hard to see, and the sudden weight of her eyelids.
"I'm sorry, I can't be your Binghe, Meilun-"
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