Shen Yuan had no idea how goddamn hard it is to juggle cultivation studies, Jiu-ge, and Luo Binghe all at the same time. It's barely a week into Luo Binghe's stay at the peak, and at least he hasn't been sent to the woodshed yet.

It's something Jiu-ge is supposed to do eventually, but Shen Yuan has been trying to keep Jiu-ge's attention off Binghe during lessons and such.

A good thing is that Ming Fan seems a bit scared of doing anything to Shen Yuan since he's Jing or whatever. So even if Jiu-ge overlooks the obvious bullying and extra chores, Shen Yuan just needs to run over and hiss at Ming Fan to get the boy to back off.

Most of the time, Shen Yuan can't be there though. There's no way he could stop the other disciples from dumping all their chores on Luo Binghe. He's by Jiu-ge's side most of the time, or more like all the time. The only chances he ever gets are when Jiu-ge is sleeping.

He tries his best to provide Luo Binghe with things he might be lacking, like clothes and food, but it's very goddamn hard. Shen Yuan will try to get that shitty author's assistance with the whole thing the next time they meet, but he has to survive a month with this fiasco first.

So far, Luo Binghe hasn't been majorly punished. The boy has certainly been verbally humiliated a bunch, and Jiu-ge snaps at him when he and Ning Yingying are seen together, but nothing has escalated to violence yet, so the first week is a success. At least somewhat.

Maybe the biggest problem so far is that Luo Binghe can't read. Jiu-ge isn't a great teacher, to say the least, but at least the other disciples can read books to keep up with expectations. Luo Binghe is surviving solely on talent and goodwill at the moment.

Shen Yuan has no time to teach Binghe to read, and he's quite sure that Binghe's Shixiongs or Shijies aren't all that willing either. Maybe Ning Yingying could, but how could Shen Yuan tell her that as a cat?

Lately, Jiu-ge has had him studying musical cultivation instead of the basics. Shen Yuan is quite sure that Jiu-ge has been putting off giving him a xiao to practice how to play. He's just figured that they're already fighting plenty enough about Qing Jing Peak students, so there's really no need to fan the flames with something else.

And if we're being honest, the musical cultivation that Jiu-ge wants Shen Yuan to practice is basically mind manipulation.

The cultivator uses the instrument as a medium for their qi and sends it out to a target with the sound the instrument makes. That sound then gets into the target's head and messes with their mind. Kind of like dream cultivation, but not really.

It already sounds plenty evil, but what Jiu-ge is telling him right now is something that would get him branded as the scum villain's sidekick.

"You're trying to influence your enemy with qi, overwriting their thoughts or senses. Now, the strongest desire for anything living is survival. Survival is something that could be considered the meaning of life. Why do people breathe, eat, fight, reproduce, or cultivate? It's all for their survival."

That's not the concerning part yet. Sure, mind manipulation sounds a bit immoral, but it's what comes next that really worries me.

"If you can learn to overwrite the desire to survive with the desire to die, you won't even have to approach your enemies to kill them. That's the point I want to work towards during your cultivation path. Do you understand, Xiao Yuan?"

Sure, it sounds badass to kill someone by just playing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' or something, but it also sounds quite evil. Regardless of that thought, Shen Yuan nods in agreement with Jiu-ge.

"But the more intelligent or determined a being is, the harder it is to influence their psyche. Deaf people will also be your weak point. So it's still important to work on your physical combat skills."

These kinds of private lessons have been common for the two of them ever since Shen Yuan was revealed to be human. Today is the day that Jiu-ge will give him a Xiao. Shen Yuan knows because he was taken down the mountain to buy it, along with a visit to the Warm Red Pavilion.

Honestly, he's too excited to fully care about the very immoral lesson taking place at the moment, and his excitement only spikes when Jiu-ge walks to the other room and comes back with a long box.

"While I'm not permitting you to use your cultivation with it until you learn to play it, I want you to know something." Jiu-ge places the elegant box on the table and opens it to reveal a clearly well-made flute.

It's not anything too extravagant, but if you look at it, it's made by a skilled indevitual. "Once you start cultivating, remember that you don't have to be scared of hurting others. As long as you yourself are safe, I'll handle the rest."

There's a bit of a strange look on Jiu-ge's face that he can't understand, but all this talk honestly makes Shen Yuan yet again realize why Jiu-ge is the scum villain of the story. You can't say stuff like that oh brother of mine! Stuff like that gets you made to a human stick!

Shen Yuan nods with a smile, and Jiu-ge pushes the Xiao closer to him. He also throws some papers to Shen Yuan. He can't quite understand the music sheets, but Jiu-ge looks like he's probably about to lecture him for a few hours on how to play this flute, so he doesn't have to worry about that, probably.

-

Xiao Yuan looks like he's honestly about to doze off. If it were any other student, he would have hit them with a fan and made them do all the peak's laundry. Is he getting too attached to this beast?

The last time he felt like he wanted to be around someone, that someone was his, they just ended up betraying him. Is he truly this trusting? Personally teaching cultivation to a beast. What if Xiao Yuan ends up leaving too?

No, he won't leave. Yuan belongs here with him and with him, he'll stay. It hasn't even been a full year since he met the mooncoon, but he feels more kinship with this little pest than he has felt with most of his martial siblings over the years.

Of course, he's loyal to the sect—he has to be—but he doubts that any of them would stay with him even while being beaten and thrown around. Xiao Yuan stayed, even when Shen Qingqiu didn't favor him. He's seen Shen Qingqiu's ugly side and still the mooncoon is here.

(I know, I know. Am very very late and all that but I've lately been pondering my mental health so I didn't have energy to write the silly gay cat fic.)