Shen Yuan

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When he woke up again, his mind was definitely clearer than it had been in years. Then Shen Qingqiu realized just how much he had lost his cool last night.

There's a shelf charred black in the corner of the room, but that's not all, Ning Yingying might have found out that Jing is a beast.

Jing. Jing is an actual person, not just an animal. That thought feels disturbing but somehow comforting at the same time. Jing, his Jing, chose to stay by him even when cursed at or treated badly.

He got out of bed, unconsciously being careful not to wake Jing up. Out of habit, he walks over to the cabinet where he keeps the raw meat but stops.

Is Jing even really a mooncoon, or just a shapeshifter beast that looks familiar, and if that is the case, is this even the correct type of food for Jing?

It should be fine since Jing has been eating it for months now, so he just put it in a bowl on the table.

He took a look at the herbs that Ning Yingying had bought but didn't put any in, even though it would make Jing less likely to panic, since he wants to talk properly

He takes another look at the charred furniture in the corner and sighs. He'll need a new shelf, and he needs to fix the hole in the wall. How Jing got out is no longer a mystery.

He doesn't even remember what Jing's human form looked like, because of how shocked he was last night.

But he does remember that Jing does not have clothes on when he transforms, so Shen Qingqiu grabbed a set of robes and set them down on the bed next to the sleeping beast.

Jing doesn't seem to be waking up, so he brews tea and writes a letter to a furniture manufacturer, as well as a request to An Ding Peak for someone to come and fix the hole in the wall. The tea, black tea, helps him wake up easier in the early mornings and has a strong taste.

-

When Shen Yuan came to, he somehow felt like a complete mess yet the best he had been in a while. It was nice to wake up without the suffocating feeling of the tightly tied ribbon around his neck. Wait a minute.

He had learned to shapeshift, and Shen Qingqiu had seen him and thrown him outside. Did Shen Qingqiu bring him back inside? What's going on?

Soon he spots Shen Qingqiu drinking tea at a table, looking at him with a piercing gaze. Somehow it makes him feel awkward rather than afraid, but he does jump a bit when he sees it.

At least he seems to be more calm than in years past. Honestly, Shen Qingqiu seemed quite mad, but with how calm the man is being, he is beginning to doubt himself.

Even if Shen Qingqiu is staring at him with a cold gaze, Shen Yuan can tell that he's not angry. Shen Qingqiu just has what modern-day people call a resting bitch face.

Shen Qingqiu is the first one to break the silence. "I put a set of robes out for you. Get changed; we need to talk." He motioned to the small pile of clothes next to Shen Yuan with his fan.

Shen Yuan isn't quite sure what to do, so he just nods and tries to remember what he had done last time when changing shape. It works to say, as he is now indeed a human once more.

He didn't have time to take a look at himself last night since he had changed back into his beast form to avoid attention once thrown outside, but from what he could tell, he looked at least similar to what he had looked like before regression.

He can't truly know that without a mirror, but the birthmark on his wrist makes him assume as much. It's something he had before regression, and the physique in general is similar to his previous life.

Shen Yuan glances over at Shen Qingqiu; the man had already turned his attention away to some papers that he had in his hands. So, how did these traditional clothes work again? He has a rough idea of it, but he's not quite sure.

He ends up struggling with the clothes more than he thought he would, but what made it embarrassing is that he caught Shen Qingqiu looking at him with a subtle look of amusement while sipping his tea.

He eventually does get the clothes on properly and stumbles out of bed. Honestly, it feels strange to walk on two legs after months of having four, but he has had years upon years of experience in his previous life, so it doesn't take much to readjust.

Shen Qingqiu stays eerily quiet while Shen Yuan takes a seat in front of him, but it's not a threatening silence. He'd say that he has gotten rather good at reading Shen Qingqiu's body language within these months of him staying here, and at the moment, Shen Qingqiu is rather calm.

On the table there's a bowl of meat, still uncooked as usual, which is a bit rude since Shen Qingqiu knows that he's a person, but it's not like it's something he can't eat. Beside the bowl, there's a pair of chopsticks.

For some reason, Shen Qingqiu looked rather surprised when he actually picked up the chopsticks and began eating with them, as if he wasn't expecting Shen Yuan to be able to.

"Are you really a Blood Moon Maine Coon? You seem too intellectual for one." Well, ouch, but it's understandable since they're usually sentient. At the moment, he isn't even sure what Shen Qingqiu is thinking when he asks that question.

Shen Yuan swallowed before answering, nodding. "As far as I know, I'm one." He's not sure what to say since he knows exactly what makes him different, but it's not like he can just say, 'Oh yeah, I actually lived in another world and died, but poof, I'm a kitty cat now.'

Shen Qingqiu tilted his head before looking at his tea and taking a sip. "Are there any more with your level of intelligence?" That question he actually knows the reason for. It would probably be bad for cultivators if pests like these beasts were to become sentient.

Shen Yuan shakes his head. "No, I think I'm the only one." Shen Qingqiu nodded and put down the now-empty tea cup on the table. He looked Shen Yuan in the eye and sighed.

"You'd better listen to me when I say this: never, ever show this form to anyone besides me before I at least teach you how to hide what you really are. Even when you do learn to hide it, only change form when necessary, okay?"

Shen Yuan was taken slightly aback by the sudden change in the tone of voice but nodded in response to the demand.

Another thing that he paid attention to is that Shen Qingqiu said that he'll teach him, at least to hide his race. While Shen Qingqiu's cultivation certainly doesn't match up to the eventual emperor of many realms, the main villain of the story is still pretty strong.

Shen Qingqiu seemed to ease away from the tension once he had gotten Shen Yuan to agree to that. "Do you have a name, or should I continue calling you Jing?"

"I'd rather be called Shen Yuan if you don't mind," he laughed a bit nervously. It's a bit odd to be talking to the person who has kept him as a pet for the last few months. Something in Shen Qingqiu's demeanor shifted when he said that.

-

It's a bit cute, the way Jing. Ah, no, Shen Yuan struggles with dressing up and nervously averts eye contact if I stare for too long. I also can't help but think that Jing chose a name with the same surname as mine.

Of course, he has a ton of questions about where Jing came from and how all of this happened, but just for a moment, he wants to enjoy knowing the fact that he isn't alone.

"You've probably already heard my name, but you can call me Jiu-ge." The surprise in Shen Yuan's eyes makes him smile a bit. Is he surprised because it's not the same title that others call him, or is he surprised because he knows what addressing someone as ge or gege means?

-

It takes a bit for Shen Yuan to realize that Shen Qingqiu is waiting for an answer, but when he eventually does, he's unsure of what he should say. "Alright, Jiu-ge," Shen Yuan responds. He doesn't miss the way Shen Qingqiu smiles when he says that.

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This is the longest chapter so far, and I just want to thank anyone reading this since I've been getting more views here on wattpap lately, thank you!

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