#might fuck around and write this one for real

[itsthislake]

AU where Shen Jiu kills the Protagonist

So I had this idea for a sv AU where the System glitches around the time Airplane transmigrates and for whatever reason has an error that makes it think that Character Luo Binghe is a Threat to the integrity of the Story and needs to be eliminated. So naturally, the system searches for the Character Most Likely To Kill Luo Binghe in the story: The Scum Villain, Shen Qingqiu.

Meanwhile, 12-year-old Shen Jiu who was recently captured by the Qiu family, is very confused and wary of this weird disembodied voice that suddenly recruited him for a mission. But hey, it offered to take him to his Qi-ge in exchange for completing the mission, so whatever! He’ll get rid of this “threat“ if that’s what it takes— whatever it is. But of course, he’s not dumb. He doesn’t trust this system as far as he can throw it (that is, not at all, since it doesn’t have a physical form) so he insists that he find Yue Qi first before finishing the mission, which the system agrees with the warning that Shen Jiu will be punished accordingly if he doesn’t complete the mission successfully.

So, the system guides him out of the Qiu estate and towards the city at the foot of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, where the system says is Yue Qi (14 years old). Though Shen Jiu refuses to believe it until he sees it with his own two eyes.

Shen Jiu makes it there just in time for the disciple selection and manages to get into Qing Jing peak. As soon as physically possible, he sneaks out or tricks a shixiong/shijie into giving him an errand to Qiong Ding (where the system said was Qi-ge) and asks around until he finds Yue Qi— who looks absolutely exhausted, but it’s before he has his qi deviation and gets trapped in the LingXi caves so he’s fine.

They have a tearful reunion, of course. Shen Jiu doesn’t tell Yue Qi about the system or the mission because it won’t let him, but he easily spins a story of how he saw his chance to escape and took it. Yue Qi apologizes for not being faster, but Shen Jiu just calls him an idiot. Honestly, he’s been an outer disciple of Qiong Ding for six months, what is he going to accomplish at that point?

With them training together (for the eventuality that Qiu Jianluo comes back for Shen Jiu or something) and without having their cultivations damaged, they soon start to climb up the ranks in their respective peaks. It doesn’t take long before their Shizuns notice them make them head disciples, at ages 15 and 17 respectively. Yue Qi gets his spiritual sword, Xuan Su, and the brothers celebrate together.

The war against Tianlang-Jun happens in the background. From Shen Jiu’s POV, all he knows is that his Shizun and Qi-ge had to go fight a Demon Lord with Huan Hua Palace while he had to stay in the peak because he doesn’t have his spiritual sword yet. He distracts himself by doing the work his Shizun can’t do because they’re too busy with the battle.

Anyhow, they both come back safely and Shen Jiu fusses over Yue Qi to kingdom come. Yue Qi is fine, if a little shaken, and has nightmares for a while after, but nothing too bad. He also becomes extra busy picking up the slack after his own Shizun because they got injured during the war and have to rest or something.

After coming back, the Qing Jing Peak Lord takes Shen Jiu (age 16) to get his sword, Xiu Ya. And then, not long after, the system tells Shen Jiu to head to a certain village near the Luo River and wait for an abandoned boat to appear so he can intercept it.

His mission, the system explains, will be completed once he kills the person inside the boat.

Thus, Shen Jiu asks his Shizun for some time off for a personal matter and goes to where the system tells him to. He finds the boat easily enough. He doesn’t expect to find an abandoned newborn child in it.

Shen Jiu finally demands answers from the system. Why it wanted this child dead four years ago, when he hadn’t even been born yet, and why it chose Shen Jiu to do this in the first place.

In response, the system shows him what happened in canon PIDW— how Luo Binghe would grow up to destroy Cang Qiong, torture Shen Jiu, and kill Yue Qi, among other things.

Shen Jiu is shaken, but he knows one thing for certain. He cannot let that happen. He cannot let Yue Qi die.

If it’s for his Qi-ge, he’d do anything.

#god that ending is so angsty #might fuck around and write this one for real #if anyone else wants to write this idea tho..... pls tag me lol #i wanna read it too #svsss #shen jiu #yue qingyuan #svsss au #scum villian self saving system #lake's musings #Shen Jiu kills the Protagonist AU #fanfic