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“You’re hurt?”
Shen Jiu avoided the stare of the lady he was currently serving.
Qiu Jianluo sometimes brought the women home, and this was just among the many of them that made it to his master’s bed.
The man slept around, and it was not a secret that he kept from the servants including him.
She motioned for him with a come hither motion and Shen Jiu approached cautiously. Not all the women were nice, but most of them were.
She was smiling.
From the bed, there was a small jade jar, and she opened it, taking a dollop to smear on her fingers and those fingers pressed across his face.
It stung.
“Stay still,” The lady said, long inky black hair, and dark eyes staring at him.
Shen Jiu’s green eyes reflected dimly in the dark room lit up by candles.
It smelled like sex.
He knew the smell now, especially since he was tasked to clean up after the women.
“Why would A-Luo hit you, I wonder.”
Shen Jiu smartly kept his mouth shut and the lady sighed.
“Let me tell you one thing, A-Jiu.”
“You know my name?” Shen Jiu was surprised. When she was done smearing the cream on his bruised face, Shen Jiu stepped back and decided to prepare tea for her.
“A-Luo mentioned you a couple of times… and from the looks of it, he’s attracted to you. I can see why… you are certainly beautiful.”
“He’s…” Scum. A bastard that deserved to die. Someone he’d rather run away from. Someone who he would never come to respect. But he couldn’t say those words for fear of being hit.
The lady chuckled and her bare body was shaking with her laughter. The well-endowed breasts were slowly covered by the clothes left on the bed.
“You hate him, don’t you?”
She stood up, tying the clothes and taking another cloth to wipe the inside of her thigh which was still somewhat wet.
Shen Jiu looked away.
“Sometimes, it is better not to fight. Have you ever thought of pleasing him?”
Pleasing Qiu Jianluo.
The man who broke his legs?
The man who wanted to sleep with his own sister?
Qiu Haitang deserved better.
He shook his head.
“You should… men like him are easy to learn. It’s not as if you need to give him your heart. Only your body. If you continue as you are now, you’re only needlessly hurting yourself. The Qiu family is quite powerful… I’m afraid, even if you ask for help, no one will do so. I’m taking pity on you… because once upon a time, I was in your position… Tell me, how old are you now?”
“...Thirteen.”
“Thirteen huh…. And how old were you when he first touched you?”
Shen Jiu closed off, but he remembered the touch of lips, unsure of what it was and why it was happening. But he bit Qiu Jianluo because it felt weird and while tasteless, he disliked being so close to the other man.
Those large hands cornered him and pressed him against his cot, and touched his dirty lower half, making him feel good.
At one point.
It happened many times, especially during the time his legs were broken, and he could hardly move.
“So he’s already done it. I see.”
Shen Jiu blinked long lashes and bowed respectfully, “If that is all..”
“No. Let your Jiejie help. I’ll talk some sense to him… you’ve taken care of me well… When you leave, why don’t you visit the brothel… I can teach you tricks.”
Shen Jiu told Qiu Haitang about the lady but didn’t specify that she was actually from the brothel. Qiu Haitang’s image of her older brother was that of the worshipping kind.
Leaving the Qiu Manor did not happen often and the advice of the lady weighed on him.
He tried to be kind to Qiu Jianluo, to not avoid him, to… not be violent when touched.
And because of it, he had not been hurt.
Qiu Jianluo was giving him lingering looks.
And Shen Jiu just wanted to stab his eyes with chopsticks.
Buying things for Qiu Haitang in the city, sometimes he entertained the idea of running away.
But he also knew that if he did such a thing, even if he was able to run away, others could suffer. He was not attached to the other slaves, but he knew them. He also had no idea where his Qi-ge went. Having waited for him already for a long time, sometimes he was scared that the Qiu family was holding him down in prison.
Qiu Jianluo joked about it, but he had not found any proof that it was true, so he’d rather believe the joke was a lie.
And besides, Haitang might suffer without him.
She was a shield to him, and staying was the least he could do for her.
The sun was beating down on him, and he held a paper parasol, entering the flowery brothel, crossed a small bridge, and instantly he was surrounded by pretty young women who were in the business of selling their bodies.
Each jiejie had a story to tell.
One was abducted when she was young. She had been separated from her mother, and all of a sudden she found herself working. She was enslaved and was forced to work. Since the brothel taught her the works, then it was no small investment. The brothel protected her, and in turn, she has to work until she can buy back her freedom.
Another one, the one who lured him to meet the rest was an older woman. She was sold by her family and she already paid off the debt but knew nothing else. She was also heavily addicted to taking hallucinogens that were sold cheaply in the brothel. It was a lifestyle she could not leave.
For the most part, most of the women were taken when they were still virgins because their first time was sold at such a high price.
The older ones either trained the younger ones or if they managed, they were able to retire. Some never looked back, and some forced themselves to keep selling their bodies.
“It’s easier to be working here than outside. Some of us aren’t that lucky… when you have no backing, it can be easy to meet misfortune. A-Jiu… you are lucky to be with the Qius.”
Shen Jiu didn’t want to agree. But as he sat in a room full of beautiful women and their cloying perfume saturated the room and clogged his nostrils… he came to realize that there was nothing so shameful about the idea of being touched by another.
It was a job, a way of life - to earn money.
Perhaps, he wondered, Qiu Jianluo would set him free if he had sex with him.
He asked Li Fen, the kind jiejie who was Qiu Jianluo’s current paramour. He knew that Li Fen had some of Qiu Jianluo’s mother’s looks, and looked similar to Haitang and himself.
Shen Jiu almost wanted to pretend they were blood-related.
He could not recall his own family, and only had a missing brother who probably already abandoned him.
So here she was…
“Qiu Jianluo might not ever let you go. Xiao-Jiu… you’re a slave. However… if you marry Haitang… then perhaps you’ll have some freedom. Qiu Jianluo and his brothers already have plans on giving you to her. Do you like her?”
Shen Jiu liked Qiu Haitang enough.
But not enough to the point that he wished to be tied to her for life.
“Child, come.”
Shen Jiu was writing, since Qiu Haitang had begun teaching him, he’d been earnestly trying to improve his calligraphy. The books she gifted him had begun to collect, and he now had a small library of stacked scrolls and manuscripts on the floor.
Qiu Jianluo was as always, looking down on him as if he was an insect.
The long hallways of the Qiu Manor were filled with the quiet sound of their footsteps.
Eventually, they came to a stop before Qiu Jianluo’s study where there was a sizable library filled with things Shen Jiu itched to read.
“I can let you stay here… and I can teach you how to read and write… I’m certainly a better teacher than Haitang.”
Qiu Jianluo’s self-confident smile was bright and unbearably annoying in the afternoon sun.
Shen Jiu bit his lip, hesitating.
“What… what do I have to do in exchange?”
“Hmmn… let’s see… First. I’ll have you tidy this room.”
Shen Jiu nodded.
And Qiu Jianluo sat on a couch and patted his lap.
“Sit.”
Shen Jiu stared at Qiu Jianluo’s lap.
He tried not to think of it.
He also tried not to think of how much he hated his master.
But this man was his master, his owner… and quite possibly he would live to a grand old age and die with the Qius.
He had not thought of the hopelessness of his continued refusal.
He had not thought that it was impossible to gain his freedom.
Qiu Jianluo smiled when he stepped forward.
And before long, Shen Jiu walked around the table and sat on the bastard’s lap.
Sitting there, he inhaled shakily when he felt a ghost of Qiu Jianluo’s breath.
“Why is A-Jiu so obedient lately?”
“...No reason.” Shen Jiu grit out.
“There must be a reason.”
Shen Jiu’s chin was tilted, and he was looking sharply at Qiu Jianluo’s almost honey-coloured eyes. He never knew that those dark eyes could grow lighter in the sunlight.
Instead of hate, there was a trace of fondness there… and it made him uncomfortable. And he gasped when a tongue licked his upper lip.
“Why don’t you tell me? What does Xiao-Jiu want.”
Shen Jiu bristled.
Xiao-Jiu?
Only his Qi-ge ever called him that… and Haitang.
Now, this man he hated calls him the same?
He struggled away from Qiu Jianluo but before long, he was manhandled and embraced.
“Don’t struggle when you’ve seduced me. I understand what you’re doing… you’ve refused my advances for so long, now you’ve given in. Xiao-Jiu… it must be that whore’s work. She talked some sense into your tiny head. That’s good. There are a lot of things I can give you… if you agree to be mine.”
Shen Jiu thought that this was certainly the worst idea he ever had.
The hands began opening the tie of his servant’s garb and there was a finger tracing up and down his nipple.
“I never…”
“That’s not what it looks like to me. Stop being so shy. Simply give in. I can give you this study, and I can give you more. Do you wish to look for that other slave? I can help you.”
Shen Jiu wanted to cry.
And his robes fell to his arms.
“I can give you a room. Power. Money. You like Haitang… you can marry her. Hmmm?”
Shen Jiu clenched his fist and turned around.
“...If you have me. Will you stop thinking about Haitang?”
Shen Jiu was concerned that the innocent girl who was the only other person in the manor who treated him well would sooner end up in the same boat as him.
The Qiu family were a bunch of inbred bastards who liked to marry within their own family. The main and branch families were marrying off each other, and there seemed to be no problem whatsoever to them.
He’d even overheard the family head talking about wishing to bed her. His daughter.
Shen Jiu looked at Qiu Jianluo’s equally beautiful face. He was the male version of Haitang, but with a haughty appearance.
The hair was pulled up with messy strands framing the delicate face. Those dark eyes stared at him with desire.
“Fine.”
The man was a liar.
But this was better than anything.
Qiu Jianluo kept him on his lap and Shen Jiu asked for his reward, “The books… I want all your books… and you must teach me every day.”
“You certainly know how to have your way.” Qiu Jianluo teased, “I’ll be certain to spoil you.”
After an hour of studying and doing calligraphy, Shen Jiu was laid on the study table, next to the sheets of paper and his messy handwriting to be done in.
He’d never had this before, but Qiu Jianluo often hinted at it, and he’d even seen him through the gap of a cabinet, as he was locked there - when Qiu Jianluo played with a male pet.
So he knew it was supposed to go inside where it was dirty.
But despite having had three fingers inside him, and copious amounts of oil that made Shen Jiu shudder when it came to the moment Qiu Jianluo wanted to put it in, he complained.
“You’re too big.”
“Thank you A-Jiu. Since I’m big, then you’ll feel it well. I assure you, you’ll enjoy it too.”
One thing leads to another. Shen Jiu was now the paramour of the scum he hated.
Unlike the other jiejies in the brothel, when Qiu Jianluo offered drinks and drugs, he politely refused.
But occasionally he would have a whiff of the weeds Qiu Jianluo stuffed inside his pipe. The smoke would saturate the bedroom. And Qiu Jianluo would often do this after sex.
“A-Jiu… has anyone ever told you how beautiful your eyes are? It’s as if I’m looking at gems… I have not seen this colour of jade… it is bewitching. I might even feel jealous of Haitang.”
Qiu Jianluo teased, smoke coming out of his lips.
Shen Jiu was naked, and his ass still hurt. He had woken up after fainting and realized the bastard was still inside him.
Soft. But still.
Shen Jiu coughed.
“Drink.”
A small white wine jug was offered and at this point, Shen Jiu knew it would be considered rude, and rather bad to refuse. So he drank.
He coughed out the strong alcohol and Qiu Jianluo simply smiled at him.
“My Xiao-Jiu is so beautiful… won’t you call me A-Luo, just like her?”
Shen Jiu rolled his eyes and squeezed the man in retaliation. He hooked his legs behind Qiu Jianluo’s back and thrust softly.
“You little一”
“A-Luo.” Shen Jiu said, in a deadpan voice.
Qiu Jianluo was a little surprised and instantly, the man hardened.
“Say it again.”
Shen Jiu kept his mouth shut.
But Qiu Jianluo, the bastard, began fucking him in earnest again.
“Say my name, Shen Jiu.”
As the years passed, a cultivator came upon their town and at that time, Shen Jiu was already sixteen years old, and he had Qiu Jianluo wrapped around his finger.
At first, it was out of a need to survive.
But he had grown used to the man spoiling him. He lived in a luxurious room, and since Qiu Jianluo had been jealous of his sister at some point, the man professed his love for him.
His nights were spent in the arms of Qiu Jianluo who vowed to protect him from all harm and served as his shield and source of all the lovely things Shen Jiu could never afford on his own.
To cultivate meant that he would need to leave the Qius and if he gets accepted by a nice little sect, then he would be gone for a very long time.
If he learned to cultivate, Qiu Jianluo would age, and yet he - he would become immortal.
Qiu Jianluo’s search for his missing brother came empty.
So after meeting the cultivator who said he had very nice bones, and wished to take him to apply to his sect, Shen Jiu felt that he had to do a bit of spoiling on his end too.
He rode Qiu Jianluo until he made the man cum thrice inside him.
Then he cooked Qiu Jianluo’s favourite dishes, and patiently listened to the man’s rambles about the Qiu Family problems - of why it would be better to castrate all his father’s illegitimate heirs so they could keep the family’s estate and riches within the main family.
As the legitimate heir, Qiu Jianluo was rather selfish, but that also meant that whoever he favours - would also enjoy that.
“In the future, once you and I marry, then Xiao-Jiu will not have to worry anymore.”
But Shen Jiu held Qiu Jianluo’s hand, “...has A-Luo ever thought of what I wanted?”
“What’s wrong?”
Qiu Jianluo looked at him, and Shen Jiu made his face change into something troubled, afraid, and almost… to the point of tears.
While some of his sentiments were real, a bit of acting made Qiu Jianluo a little… weak.
He knew that Qiu Jianluo was a sadist.
He enjoyed seeing suffering, if he was not tormenting those beneath him, he was tormenting his lovers in some way.
Shen Jiu at this point knew Qiu Jianluo’s character well, and now that he grasped his heart, it was easier to make him bend to his whims.
“A-Luo… I’m still searching for Qi-ge. He’s nowhere to be found and a week ago, I met a cultivator. He said… that I have potential… I… I want to look for him. I’ve asked Haitang, and she wants to go with me.”
“You’re leaving me?”
“...No. I’ll always write to you. And you can visit me… or move closer so we can keep meeting.”
“I will think about it.”
“A-Luo?” Shen Jiu’s lips trembled and he let a tear fall.
“Shh…. don’t cry… Just… let me think. Let me think about it, alright?”
“...Will you ever…”
Shen Jiu shushed himself and pressed his head on Qiu Jianluo’s chest and the man sighed.
“Xiao-Jiu. Do you think I’m too selfish?”
Shen Jiu grumbled in his head… ‘Are you asking me that?’ Instead, he kept shaking his head.
The larger hands stroked him much like a master petting a cat.
“Don’t worry… I certainly want to make you happy… will this make you happy?”
“I don’t know… but I do know if I don’t take the chance, then I might feel regret later.”
In a carriage, Shen Jiu journeyed with Qiu Haitang and Qiu Jianluo.
Haitang had grown resentful of her own brother who stole her Xiao-Jiu away from her.
She hated how Qiu Jianluo seduced Xiao-Jiu and not the other way around.
Their travels brought them to Huan Hua.
At Huan Hua Palace, they told Qiu Jianluo that he had no talent for cultivation and that they could only accept Haitang and himself.
However, since Qiu Jianluo was an aristocrat, he can pay his way in, so he can live within the premises. Huan Hua Palace was unlike the other cultivation sects that tried to remove themselves from the affairs of the mortal realm.
As such, despite slowly growing stronger, and having many interested suitors, Shen Jiu kept up the pretence of loving Qiu Jianluo.
Perhaps some part of him had grown used to the man. He used Qiu Jianluo. Qiu Jiuanluo used him.
Besides, the man was beautiful and was a convenient excuse for anyone else who wished to bed him.
Another year later, he met Yue Qingyuan who turned out to be the next-in-line successor for the Cang Qiong Mountain sect.
The two of them reunited like long-lost brothers.
But not before Shen Jiu slapped Yue Qingyuan’s face and called him a liar.
With the permission of Qiu Jianluo, his guardian, and Huan Hua Palace, Yue Qingyuan brought him to Cang Qiong and there, Shen Jiu managed to let go of all the pretence.
He simply got drunk and told the story of his life to his Qi-ge who listened with an ever-increasing sense of guilt.
At the end of it, Yue Qinyuan was hugging him and crying, “You suffered so much… and it’s… this one’s fault.”
Shen Jiu pinched Yue Qingyuan’s cheeks.
“I’m alive… and I’m not complaining. Why are you the one crying?”
‘I should have gone back sooner?”
Yue Qingyuan hugged him and sobbed, “Do you… have to stay with him? Can’t you… go with me to Cang Qiong?”
Shen Jiu thought of Qiu Jianluo and was quite unsure.
His Shizun had just accepted a younger disciple and had not been paying attention to him. The old palace master was a creep. And Shen Jiu wondered if all the people he attracted in his life were going to be creeps.
At least Yue Qingyuan was just an unreliable older brother whose sense of guilt overshadowed what he was supposed to be to him.
He’d whip him up to shape. If there was one thing Shen Jiu had gotten good at - it was the art of manipulating other people to do his bidding.
Yue Qingyuan had considerably darkened over the years when he did not respond to his request to join him in Cang Qiong.
His Shimei was blossoming into a wonderful flower, and when the head disciple was given to her instead of him, Shen Jiu finally had an excuse for the world that would satisfy the old man and Qiu Jianluo.
In the meantime, Qiu Jianluo’s father demanded he go back, and Shen Jiu put up another act as if he was seriously wounded that Qiu Jianluo would put the Qiu family’s interests before him.
Qiu Jianluo was smiling, “Xiao-Jiu… know that in my heart, you would always come first, however… The Qiu family requires an heir. I will marry, out of duty.”
“I… I can never tolerate being the other person. If you must love me, then… I should be the only one. A-Luo…. There must be no one else.”
These were his true sentiments.
If there was someone else, then Shen Jiu would feel as if he sold himself too cheap. While his feelings were not fully genuine, he was possessive and a part of him had gotten attached to smooching off Qiu Jianluo. To have to struggle to monopolize his time against a legal wife would prove to be too troublesome.
He’d been given an estate as a breakup gift, and for a time, his life had been smooth sailing.
Qiu Jianluo would routinely send him gifts and Haitaing would visit him in Cang Qiong.
Surrounded by strangely competitive peers, and a better Shizun who actually paid attention to him, Shen Jiu flourished.
His strength was comparable to Liu Qingge who kept challenging him, and he was second only to his Qi-ge. The only sad part about becoming an immortal was that the common drugs sold to mortals have stopped having their effect, and he now had to rely on his trusty shidi who was studiously studying medicine to get the same effects. His Shidi was trying to convince him to stop his bad habits to no avail.
Life was perfect.
…
And it would have been had it not been for a second troublemaker to appear in his life.
Since Shen Jiu had learnt early on that to be treated well, you must treat others around you well, he had treated his disciples the best, so at any point, he could call in favours and turn them into willing slaves.
It turned out to be a mistake since Shen Jiu had a particularly sticky child by the name of Luo Binghe.
The dreaded name followed him.
His favourite disciple also dotes on the brat and calls him “A-Luo this, A-Luo that.”
The name reminds him of the many times he was teased by Qiu Jianluo.
Years later, when he’d inadvertently pushed the stupid brat so his life could be spared by the cultivators in the Endless Abyss, the brat came back unhinged and kidnapped him.
He’s an expert at hugging thighs, and when Luo Binghe, Heavenly Demon incarnate and wielder of Xin Mo threatened to torment him and have his revenge for being betrayed, Shen Jiu simply was the picture of innocence.
“...Binghe, this master of yours only wished for you to survive. Do you not trust your Shizun?”
Inside, Shen Jiu wished he could wrangle the troublesome brat’s neck. But at the very least those soft words made the unhinged disciple of his calm down, and now those eyes were narrowed at him.
“Is that so… Shizun?”
Shen Jiu was unsure why it was a lot harder to deceive Luo Binghe, but he did not let it stop him.
What he did not know was that Luo Binghe could perfectly read his mind.
In the very end, Shen Jiu did succeed in seducing the new emperor of the three realms, despite suffering heavily for it.
Now, most of the time, his tears are genuine, but that’s a story for another time.