It was early morning, but Shen Jiu had already been awake for hours.
The sun had barely breached the horizon, yet his robe was neatly fastened, hair tied back in a loose knot, and a worn scroll rested in his lap. Not just any scroll—this one he'd stolen from the inner archives when he was fifteen. Back then, he'd thought it was too difficult to comprehend. Now, looking at the elegant script and deep cultivation theories inside, he realized: This was a life-changing manual.
And in his first life, he'd given Luo Wen a fake one instead.
He clenched his jaw, then stood.
The outer disciples' quarters were mostly empty, their occupants off sweeping courtyards or doing menial chores. Shen Jiu moved quickly, head down, avoiding attention. He'd promised himself he wouldn't act the same way as before, wouldn't be so proud. He had to start now.
He found Luo Wen in the back garden, tending to a medicinal plot.
He was kneeling again.
Always kneeling.
Hands dirty, fingernails cracked, trying his best to look useful in a world that didn't care if he disappeared.
"Luo Wen," Shen Jiu called softly.
The boy flinched before he looked up, as if instinct expected a slap with the sound of his name. Then his eyes widened. "Senior Brother?"
Shen Jiu approached, kneeling beside him, ignoring the dirt. "I brought you something."
He held out the scroll.
Luo Wen stared at it. "...Is this…?"
"A cultivation manual," Shen Jiu said. "One I found useful when I was your age. I thought—it might help you."
Silence.
The wind shifted through the plum trees. Birds chirped distantly.
Luo Wen didn't reach out. He just stared at the scroll as though it were made of fire.
"Why?" he finally whispered.
Shen Jiu paused. Then he said, carefully, "Because you have potential. You've been trying hard. No one's ever taught you properly."
Luo Wen still didn't take it.
So Shen Jiu placed the scroll on the dirt between them and rose. "It's yours. Study it carefully. If you have questions… ask me."
And then he walked away, resisting the urge to look back.
---
He didn't have to.
Because Luo Wen didn't move for a long time after.
He just sat there, staring at the scroll, fingers hovering over it without touching.
He knew this title. He'd seen it in the library once—Heaven's Breath: Inner Qi Ascension. A rare scroll. Rumored to be near impossible for outer disciples to access, even less for someone like him.
The last time someone had given him a scroll, it had been torn in the middle, half its pages replaced with formulas about pig feed. He'd cried that night. Quietly. Under a blanket.
This one…
He picked it up, trembling.
It was real.
He flipped through it page by page, and with every elegant stroke of ink, every profound phrase, something cracked open in his chest.
He felt warm.
Frightened.
Loved?
No. That couldn't be. But still—
Shixiong had touched his hands yesterday. Defended him from no one. Gave him a scroll today. Looked at him not with disdain… but with something like kindness.
He's choosing me, Luo Wen thought, heart pounding. He finally sees me.
And if someone tried to take that away…
His fingers gripped the scroll tighter.
He wouldn't allow it.
---
Later that day, Shen Jiu was returning from the alchemy hall when he heard voices.
He paused in the corridor.
"Did you see him today?" someone snorted. "Senior Brother Shen, all high and mighty again, handing out scrolls like he's Sect Master himself."
"Probably just showing off," another scoffed. "Bet he gave that scrap to that trash disciple again—what's his name? The stuttering one."
"Luo something? That kid? He can't even summon qi, and he still tries to follow Shen Jiu around like a dog. Pathetic."
A third voice laughed. "Maybe Shen Jiu likes mutts."
Shen Jiu froze.
For a split second, instinct rose—his old self would've rounded the corner and shredded them with cold words and a raised brow.
But he breathed instead.
This isn't who I want to be.
He turned to walk away quietly—
Until a scream rang through the hall.
Then came the unmistakable sound of flesh meeting stone. A body slamming into a pillar.
Shen Jiu sprinted around the corner.
Two disciples lay crumpled on the floor, groaning, blood on one of their lips. The third was flat on his back, clutching his shoulder in agony.
And above them stood Luo Wen.
He wasn't trembling.
He was calm.
Expressionless.
The scroll was tucked into his robes.
His foot was on one of the disciple's chests.
"Apologize," Luo Wen said quietly.
The boy whimpered. "Y-You psycho—"
Luo Wen leaned down. "Apologize. Right now. Or I'll snap your fingers off and make you eat them."
His voice didn't rise. It didn't shake.
It was the quiet kind of fury—the kind built over years. The kind that didn't warn before it killed.
"Luo Wen!" Shen Jiu barked.
The boy turned. Instantly.
Like a blade sheathed the second its master called.
His eyes widened. For a split second, the mask slipped. He looked horrified.
"Senior Brother—"
"Step back."
Luo Wen obeyed instantly, removing his foot and backing away.
Shen Jiu helped the disciple up, wordlessly. The three of them limped off quickly, too terrified to argue.
Then he turned to Luo Wen.
He expected fear. Panic. Regret.
But the boy just stood there, shoulders straight, fists clenched at his sides.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But they shouldn't talk about you like that."
Shen Jiu blinked. "About me?"
"I don't care what they say about me. But… you're different. You helped me. You were the first person who ever—" His voice cracked. "They don't get to mock you. Not like that."
There was silence between them.
Heavy. Strained. Wrong.
Shen Jiu exhaled slowly. "Next time… come to me first. You can't just attack people."
Luo Wen nodded. "Yes, Senior Brother."
He looked away, ashamed.
But not entirely.
A flicker of satisfaction still shone beneath his lashes. He would do it again. Would bleed for Shen Jiu, kill for him, rip his own lungs out if it meant hearing those quiet words again: You did well.
And deep down, Shen Jiu saw that, too.
This is dangerous, he thought.
But it was already too late.
---
That night, Shen Jiu walked to the library, borrowed a low-tier qi control scroll, and placed it outside Luo Wen's quarters with a note: Use this one next. You're ready.
Across the courtyard, hidden behind the shadow of a pillar, Luo Wen watched the retreating back of his Senior Brother and smiled softly.
Like someone watching a god descend from the clouds… only to kneel at his feet.
---