Stuck In Between || Scumbag System Au

chapter 5

"ugh" Luo Binghe groaned. Ever since he has been a disciple of Qing Jing peak, there was not a single week that he wasn't beaten up. A single week you may ask ? Well it went something like this

It was after a year since Luo Binghe has been a disciple. Though he was an amateur but he was farely good. He learnt everything quickly and was able to present it just as good. But there was one thing that made him fear his life. It was Shen Qingqiu, his dear shizun.

At first he thought that maybe Shen Qingqiu was just being strict with him because he was a new comer but now that he had spent a year with him, he finally started understanding what it all meant. His shizun hated him. He would always make him overwork himself, make him fill the bath with water even though his body was still too small to pick up the heavy buckets of water. And if he ever spill the water, Shen Qingqiu would ask Ming Fan to punch him or slap him and to be fare, his punches and slaps were way harder even though he was just a yeat older than him.

And just like this, Shen Qingqiu along with Ming Fan and some minion of his would pick up on Binghe. Binghe thought he would die in just one year seeing how everyone else was treating him but he still had one hope, Shen Yuan.

Everytime he got beaten up by Ming Fan and his minions, Shen Yuan would shoo them away and treat his wounds. Whenever he missed his dinner because of filling the bath with water, Shen Yuan would have an extra plate of food ready for him. Luo Binghe was truly grateful to him. He admired him a lot and wanted to be just like him. He never wanted to be separated from him.

Back to the present, it has been 5 years since Luo Binghe has suffered the torcher from his shizun and Ming Fan. "HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO SHIZUN LIKE THAT HUH ?!" Ming Fan shouted and punched Luo Binghe in the face. Shen Qingqiu was standing right behind him watching everything that was happening.

"This disciple didn't mean to talk back shizun. I just wanted to take a stand for myself. Isn't that what shizun teached us?" Luo Binghe blurted out without a second thought.

Shen Qingqiu's eyebrows twitched. "You bastard-" he was about to speak when he heard someone calling for him.

"Shizun, Shen-shixiong is back and is looking for you" Shen Qingqiu's eyes widened. He didn't expect Shen Yuan to come at this time. He quickly asked Ming Fan to stop and leave immediately. It was not as if he was afraid of Shen Yuan or anything. It was just, when Shen Yuan would see Luo Binghe beaten up, the look in his eyes pained Shen Qingqiu's chest. He never wanted to see the look on his bright face to fade away into sadness, so he would usually beat up Luo Binghe when Shen Yuan was away from the peak for work.

He quickly straightened out his clothes and opened the door to the bamboo shed. Before going out, he gave a stern cold look to Luo Binghe. He immediately registered what that look meant. Afted seeing Luo Binghe nod his head at him, Shen Qingqiu exited the shed and went towards the bamboo hut where Shen Yuan was waiting for him.

On the other hand, Luo Binghe was very happy when he heard Shen Yuan was finally back. He had gone away for a week and it felt like this was the toughest week of his life. He stood up and went to the river which was near the bamboo forest. He sat down near it and looked at his reflection in the water.

"Ugly beast" that's what he said to himself. No matter how much Shen Yuan or Ning Yingying said how beautiful he was, he let Shen Qingqiu and Ming Fan's words get to him. They would always call him names and told him how ugly of a human he was.

"That isn't true at all, Ah-Luo" it was Yingying. No one else called him Ah-Luo except for her. Yingying came forward and sat besides him. Sure enough, she knew that he was again beaten up by Ming Fan and his minions but didn't know that her shizun was also the culprit.

Luo Binghe chuckled a little and muttered "that's what you think, shijie" but Yingying heard him. She smacked him a little on the back of his head. Luo Binghe made an ow sound and rubbed the area where he was smacked.

"Not only me but Shen-shixiong also thinks that. Are you saying he's wrong, huh ? Im sure he will be mad at you when i tell him you called yourself ugly, hmph" she uttered and folded her arms over her chest. She was a naive and bubbly kid. Not caring about anything and not thinking about the negative aspects of something, just living her life. But when she was with Luo Binghe, no one knows how she was able to utter such words. It sometimes surprised Luo Binghe himself.

Thinking that Yingying might actually tell Shen Yuan, Luo Binghe stuttered "Ah no no, it's okay you don't have to trouble shixiong for such a little thing" he gave a little sad smile.

"What little thing are we talking about here?" Luo Binghe wanted to bury himself alive right now. He looked back and sae Shen Yuan standing there, looking as gorgeous as always with his sword hanging on his waist and a fan in his right hand. He was looking just like Shen Qingqiu but yet so different from him.

"He was calling himself ugly again" Yingying announced and passed a teasing smile towards Binghe. On the other hand, he just wanted to bury her too with himself.

He saw Yingying leaving the both of them and Shen Yuan approached him and sat down where Yingying was previously seated. "You are indeed ugly" Binghe's heart dropped. "Is this really what shixiong thinks of me ? Am i really not good enough ?" His heart was racing. He wanted to ask these questions to him but never had the courage to.

He faced towards the river, head hanging low, tears coming down slowly.

"You are indeed pretty ugly when you make that face. How many times do i tell you to not take Ming Fan's words seriously ? Sometimes i want to smack you real hard on your head so those loose screws of yours might tighten up a bit" Shen Yuan complained and actually smacked Binghe on his head with the fan in his hand.

"I-i thought shixiong thinks im ugly and useless too" and finally, he started crying. This was a routine whenever he was in a bad mood. Shen Yuan hugged him and patted his back. He makes shh sound for soothing Binghe and not let him get out of control with all of the crying he was doing.

"There there, you've grown up and still crying like you used to. You haven't changed a single bit." Shen Yuan said and broke the hug. By now, Binghe was a little calm and just some soft sobs left his mouth.

"Binghe is sorry" he murmured, wiping away the tears that were on his cheeks.

"Promise shixiong that Binghe will not tolerate Ming Fan again" Shen Yuan held out his pinky. If it were the Shen Yuan in the real world, he would've buried him six feet under the ground right now but this was Luo Binghe in front of him. He was like his little ball of sunshine.

Binghe grinned, all his sadness vanishing away and joining his pinky with Shen Yuan "Promise!" He confessed.

"Now let's go and get your face back in shape or else girls won't be able to drool over you anymore" Shen Yuan teased while Binghe was a blushing mess. They went inside Shen Yuan's room quietly as it was adjacent to Shen Qingqiu's. There they patched up Binghe's face and had their dinner together.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

AN: this chapter was so good in my head 😞 please point out the mistakes if any, i appreciate it. Plus, my exams are coming up so i might not be able to upload new chapters daily but i'll try my best to atleast do two or three chapters a week and might as well make them longer. Thanks for reading <3 have a good day/night/evening. Don't forget to stay hydrated or else Binghe will cry