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“Didi must be careful around Luo Binghe.”
Shen Jiu knew his older brother had an uncanny ability to predict the future. If Shen Yuan warned him about his new shidi, then Shen Jiu should be cautious of the boy.
“Is he dangerous? Why did gege take him as your direct disciple?” wondered Shen Jiu.
Shen Yuan explained how the boy would go through trials that he personally wanted to monitor. “He will be the most powerful alpha in the three realms.” Shen Jiu thought nothing was wrong with that, and maybe, just a tiny bit, he felt envious of Luo Binghe, having such a great future, until Shen Yuan started mentioning about… a harem? Three thousand wives and concubines?! How on earth could Luo Binghe possibly collect these omegas all around the three realms? Did he have to find another mountain and keep them there? Would he even have the time to see any of the omegas?
Shen Jiu imagined his new shidi spending an incense stick of time with his wife before moving on to the next one and began to laugh at the ridiculous image he had created in his head. “That sounds unbelievable.”
“I know.” Shen Yuan pulled him into a hug. “Gege doesn’t want to see you hurt,” he murmured softly into Shen Jiu’s hair.
“Why would I get hurt?” Shen Jiu frowned. “Am I going to be part of his harem?”
Shen Yuan blinked in surprise. He looked flabbergasted for a moment and burst into laughter. “Aiya, forget what gege say.”
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Shen Jiu had once picked up a strange conversation between his brother and Shang-shishu. Shen Yuan blamed the An Ding Peak Lord for something about someone being stuffed into a pickle jar in the far future. Shen Jiu did not think much about it.
When he recalled the conversation, perhaps the person stuffed into a pickle jar might be him. Shen Jiu would become part of his shidi’s harem in the future, thrown away like an old toy and spending the rest of his life in a pickle jar. That was a terrible future that he would prefer to avoid.
Shen Jiu trusted his brother and decided to avoid Luo Binghe for the first month since the boy came to the peak. He did not want to be part of anyone’s harem. If he had to get married, even if it had been set in stone that Luo Binghe would be his future husband, Shen Jiu should be the only spouse!
But Shen Jiu had a hard time ignoring his shidi when Ming Fan was bullying the boy. He couldn’t stand to see Luo Binghe not fighting back.
“You should punch Ming-shidi and show the others you are stronger than them,” he told Luo Binghe, watching the boy struggling to get on his feet after Ming Fan and his gang knocked him to the ground. Shen Jiu hated that his heart ached at the pathetic sight, like watching a helpless stray puppy kicked by naughty children on the side road. How many times had Shen Jiu chased them away to save the puppy? And now, he wanted to do the same. He wanted to kick their asses for what they had done to this pitiful look-a-like puppy. Shen Jiu plucked a few leaves and, with a burst of qi, sent them flying to Ming Fan and his gang and scaring them off.
From then on, Luo Binghe followed him around like a lost puppy. His brother told him to be careful, but how could Shen Jiu continue to ignore him when the boy looked at him with his puppy eyes. And Luo Binghe’s hair reminded him of “…Your hair so fluffy. Luo-shidi does look a lot like a puppy.” He petted the boy’s mane and was surprised to find it soft. Luo Binghe giggled, his dimples deepened, and Shen Jiu felt butterflies in his tummy.
Oh, no!
Shen Jiu finally understood why he was willing to be part of his shidi’s harem.
.
It did not take long for them to form a friendship. Shen Jiu had never known anyone as sticky as Luo Binghe.
“Beast, stop following me!”
Luo Binghe pouted. His large puppy eyes brimming with sorrow. “But this shidi wants to do homework with shixiong. I swear I’ll be quiet!”
“He is nice to me, gege.” Shen Jiu told his brother when he saw them together in the library.
Shen Yuan sighed. “I won’t stop you if you want to be his friend. Luo Binghe is your shidi, after all. Just be nice to him.” As Shen Yuan hugged him, his brother murmured, “And be careful.”
Luo Binghe found many ways for them to spend as much time as they could every single day. And Shen Jiu gradually enjoyed every attention he received from the boy. During classes, they passed notes to each other, especially when the hall masters went on and on with their boring lectures.
Shen Jiu snorted at his shidi’s chicken scratch. ‘What the fuck you writing?’ He wrote back to Luo Binghe. He heard muffled laughter, and after a moment, a note landed on Shen Jiu’s desk. And this time, still illegible but acceptable chicken scratch, it wrote, ‘This shidi wants to make sure shixiong would answer my first note.’ His heart stirred at the foolish - but sort of endearing - reply.
When Shen Jiu went to the library, he found himself sharing a table with Luo Binghe. After they finished their homework, they would share a book to read together, usually about heroes and monsters. But once, Luo Binghe accidentally picked a spring book, and they blushed at the erotic contents. Shen Jiu did not speak to him for one whole day until Luo Binghe begged for forgiveness with a bowl of tangyuan.
“Shixiong, please forgive this shidi!” His chest tickled at the sight of grovelling Luo Binghe on his knees. All was forgiven when he took the first bite of the perfectly handmade glutinous rice ball. The broth was delicious. The explosion of flavour tingled his tongue in the most delightful way and Shen Jiu knew he would never seek other’s tangyuan from now on.
“Beast…” Shen Jiu hesitated, wondering if he could take advantage of his shidi’s talent. Not like he was about to force Luo Binghe to do it. If he could do it and didn’t mind doing it for Shen Jiu, then why not! “…Can you make tanghulu?”
Luo Binghe smiled as bright as the sun and declared he would learn to make Shen Jiu’s favourite. What an idiot. But Luo Binghe was his idiot and Shen Jiu surprisingly liked the thought of that.
In the early hour of dusk, when everyone was still sleeping, Shen Jiu would find Luo Binghe waiting for him to hike down towards a secluded area within the bamboo forest where they could practice their qigong. After that, they sparred against each other, and sometimes, they played tag, and Shen Jiu went deeper into the forest, slipping between bamboo trees as fast as an eagle through the air, while Luo Binghe pursued him relentlessly like a ravenous tiger. Unbeknown to them, the unpresented children tap into their instinct, a play-act of an alpha hunting an omega.
And once they were too tired to do anything else, Shen Jiu patted the spot next to him, “Come here.” They watched the sunrise together but Luo Binghe spent most of the time staring at him rather than at the morning sun. Shen Jiu had called his shidi a shameless beast the first time he caught him. “But shixiong is prettier than the sunrise,” blurted Luo Binghe.
“You- stop it!” Stop trying to make me like you! But it was too late. Shen Jiu had begun to like Luo Binghe even more as months passed by. At this rate, he might hunt down all the omegas who ended up being part of Luo Binghe’s harem and eliminate their existence permanently.
.
Shen Jiu had been feeling under the weather when he recently turned fourteen. Shen Yuan, being an omega, was suspicious of his little brother’s condition, so he decided to keep him in the bedroom, refusing to let anyone - including Luo Binghe, even though the boy had not presented yet - come around the bamboo house. However, it did not deter his shidi from sneaking in to see him. When Shen Yuan left to get something from the kitchen, Shen Jiu heard someone tap against his window.
Luo Binghe’s scent reached his nostril and he found it surprisingly soothing that once the boy climbed into his room, he tugged his shidi into his arms. The boy yelped in surprise as he was pulled into Shen Jiu’s nest. He sighed in relief and began to nuzzle against Luo Binghe’s chest. He didn’t even notice he was purring blissfully until the boy shook in laughter.
“Did shixiong miss me?” teased Luo Binghe.
“Shut up,” snapped Shen Jiu and after a moment, “It’s just-” He huffed in annoyance. Shen Jiu couldn’t believe he was about to say this, but he did, reluctantly, “You smell good.”
Instead of teasing him again, Luo Binghe returned the hug and nuzzled his face in Shen Jiu’s hair. “A-Jiu smells good too.”
Shen Jiu jerked in surprise. “Shameless beast!” Feeling his own cheeks flushed not from his fever, he slapped the other’s chest. “When did I allow you to call me by my name?” None of his martial siblings, except Ning Yingying, dared to call him A-Jiu.
Luo Binghe pouted, his big dark eyes gazing into him, piercing his soul. Why did his shidi have to be so-
“Fine,” Shen Jiu readily conceded. “Just don’t do it often.”
If only Luo Binghe stopped looking like a pathetic but adorable puppy, Shen Jiu would stop giving in to his shidi’s foolish whim.
A week later, Shen Jiu’s secondary gender as an omega was made known. On the other hand, Luo Binghe had fallen sick just a day after sneaking in to secretly meet Shen Jiu. He was sent to Qian Cao Peak, and when he returned a few days later, Luo Binghe was presented as an alpha.
Everyone was surprised that both of them had presented too early. Luo Binghe was only thirteen, whilst Shen Jiu had recently turned fourteen. Fifteen was the ideal age for presenting, and it made Shen Yuan suspicious. “How are you with Luo Binghe?” he asked Shen Jiu.
“We’re fine.”
“I heard you calling him a beast.”
“Because he is a beast!” My beast! His inner omega felt strangely delighted just at that thought.
Shen Yuan shook his head and mumbled under his breath, “… as long as you don’t try to whip him.”
Shen Jiu blinked in confusion. “What?”
“Uh, nothing!” Shen Yuan quickly stood up from his seat. “Come, didi. Let’s go get your favourite dumplings from Auntie Mei!”
Actually, Shen Jiu preferred Luo Binghe’s dumplings nowadays. But he kept it to himself and followed his brother to the town at the foot of the mountain.
Within the first few months as an omega, Shen Jiu had a tough time controlling himself on how he felt about Luo Binghe. His own scent became embarrassingly sweeter whenever they sat next to each other in class, or when they did their homework together in the library, or spar behind bamboo trees. It was especially hard when Luo Binghe’s scent - smoky wood and a hint of osmanthus - flared towards Shen Jiu.
“Beast! You have to stop! You smell like-” He blushed profusely. “You’re not supposed to like me!”
“But I do! I like you a lot!”
Shen Jiu glared at him, but his heart leapt at the confession. Luo Binghe likes me. He likes me a lot. “Well, I refuse to like you! You’re going to break my heart. Gege told me you will have a harem of omegas and leave me to die in a pickle jar!”
Luo Binghe’s eyes went wide in horror. “Your brother- Shizun had seen my future?!”
Shen Yuan’s ability to predict an event was well-known in the sect, but he rarely saw an individual’s future.
Before he could reply to that, Luo Binghe uttered fervently, “I won’t do that to you!” He gripped Shen Jiu’s hands desperately. “If we are meant to be together, I swear A-Jiu will be my only mate!”
Shen Jiu stared at the boy before him and recalled back each and every moment they had been together since he saved Luo Binghe from Ming Fan and his gang’s bullying. He couldn’t remember a time when Luo Binghe wasn’t part of his days in Qing Jing Peak. Once, it was just his beloved brother and himself. And now, there was Luo Binghe gradually integrated into Shen Jiu’s life. His shidi. His beast.
“Promise?”
Luo Binghe kissed his hands for the first time. “I promise.”
.
They began to date, but their relationship had to be kept a secret.
“We could tell my brother when we are a little older.”
“As A-Jiu wish.”
.
Shen Jiu had a strange inkling that his relationship with Luo Binghe would be found out by Shen Yuan sooner or later. It all started when his brother entered seclusion in Lingxi Cave, and Shen Jiu had more freedom to be with Luo Binghe without his brother trying to keep an eye on him.
It had been two years since they were together, and Shen Jiu had been more open and comfortable with Luo Binghe. The library became a place where stolen kisses happened behind a book they shared, and the bamboo forest was where shy hands wandered to explore what was hidden underneath their robes. Shen Jiu gave his virginity to Luo Binghe in the woodshed, far away from the halls and dorms and the rest of the residents of Qing Jing Peak so that no one could catch the scent of an alpha and omega mating.
Luo Binghe’s cock was massive, and he wasn’t sure if that size was normal for his age, but Shen Jiu was too horny to be frightened by it. The sex had been awkward at first, but soon, it became good, so good that Shen Jiu demanded Luo Binghe to knot him again and again.
Once they had tasted the carnal pleasure of sex, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Shen Jiu only banned their lovemaking when his heat was coming or when it was the time of Luo Binghe’s rut.
When Shen Jiu missed his heat cycle, he knew something was wrong. But before he could ruminate further about his suspicious condition, demons suddenly attacked Cang Qiong Sect. Fortunately, Shen Yuan’s seclusion ended and he came out to face the demons.
“A-Luo! A-Jiu! Wait for me!” Ning Yingying called out as she ran towards them. She slipped in between Shen Jiu and Luo Binghe, and when her eyes fluttered shyly at the alpha boy next to her, her cheeks turned redder. Ever since Luo Binghe was presented, Ning Yingying had been harbouring feelings towards her shidi. It irked Shen Jiu that he couldn’t do anything about it without exposing his relationship with Luo Binghe. He loved Ning Yingying like a sister, but recently, her silly crush had been grating on his nerves.
Shen Jiu was immediately distracted when the demoness who introduced herself as Sha Hualing asked Shen Yuan for three matches. He wasn’t worried when Shen Yuan volunteered to fight in the first match. Shen Jiu cheered loudly along with the other disciples, feeling immensely proud when his brother won. Liu Qingge’s little sister had volunteered for the second match but lost the fight against Sha Hualing.
Then, the moment Shen Yuan called out Luo Binghe’s name for the third match, he began to feel lightheaded. He wasn’t sure how he stood watching the entire match with his heart in his throat. He was about to pass out when Luo Binghe gave the final blow with Zheng Yang and won unexpectedly. The Qing Jing Peak disciples roared excitedly and quickly surrounded the alpha, except Shen Jiu. His knees were too weak to move from sheer relief until he saw the defeated demon raise his hammer to attack Luo Binghe. Shen Jiu sent Xiu Ya flying, and with one strike, it decapitated the head of the demon. He must have drained his qi because, all of a sudden, he was falling to the ground.
“A-Jiu!”
“Didi!”
As Shen Jiu lost consciousness, his alpha’s scent engulfed his entire being.
.
When he became aware of his surrounding, he saw Shen Yuan and Mu Qingfang by his bedside. They looked at him with unreadable expressions, and he instinctively knew what his older brother was about to say to him.
“You are three months pregnant.”
Shen Jiu swallowed nervously. “Are you angry with me?”
Shen Yuan leaned in and embraced him tightly. “No. Gege is just relieved that you’re okay. Do you want to tell me who the father is…”
“Can gege promise not to kill him?”
Shen Yuan looked puzzled.
Suddenly, Luo Binghe entered the room and hurriedly knelt in front of Shen Jiu and the two peak lords. It was obvious that he had been eavesdropping on them as the following words that came out of his mouth showed who exactly was the baby’s father. “Shizun, this one wants to take responsibility and promise to love and cherish A-Jiu for the rest of my life. I won’t shove A-Jiu into a pickle jar and get a harem!”
“You-!” Shen Yuan snapped. “LUO BINGHE! HOW DARE YOU IMPREGNATE MY PRECIOUS BABY BROTHER!”
He seized the boy by the lapel of his robe and shook him violently. “I WENT SECLUSION FOR A FEW MONTHS AND YOU DARE TO SHOVE YOUR FILTHY KNOT INSIDE MY BABY BROTHER!”
Shen Jiu had never seen his brother in a fit of rage. He wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in the whole mountain heard Shen Yuan. Well, at least his relationship with Luo Binghe didn’t need to be a secret anymore. He just hoped his brother could accept Luo Binghe as Shen Jiu’s alpha from now on.
.
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Shen Yuan died after choking on his bao while he was in the middle of criticizing a stallion novel with too many unrealistic papapa. Then he woke up in a strange world and found an abandoned baby. After a few hours of wandering around helplessly with the baby, a system finally made itself known to Shen Yuan. Apparently, there was a glitch and Shen Yuan had transmigrated into the wrong timeline. So the System sent him - along with the precious bundle he refused to let go - many years into the future.
Seventeen years later of raising Shen Jiu into the boy he was now, Shen Yuan watched his baby brother having a child with the protagonist of Proud Immortal Demon Ways. Never in his wildest dream had he imagined Shen Jiu would be nursing his newborn while being wrapped in Luo Binghe’s arms.
How could his baby brother fall into this shitty wife plot? System! What the fuck was wrong with this world?
[System has initiated plot divergence when you take Shen Qingqiu with you.]
No wonder the System had not been giving him any penalties. Ah! His poor baby brother! And his poor chrysanthemum! If Luo Binghe hurt Shen Jiu, to hell with the System, he would make the alpha pay for his crime!
Shang Qinghua was beside him, munching on melon seeds as he observed the happy couple with their newborn. “Bro, I’m glad you fucked up the entire plot and made a damn good fanfic,” he joked.
Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. "Shut up!" He did not want to admit it out loud, not even to Airplane bro, but he was relieved that Shen Jiu would not go through the same fate as the one he had read in the novel. What mattered the most was his little brother found his happiness.