(BL) The Evil Sect Brother Quits

The morning bell rang once—deep and heavy.

Shen Jiu looked up from the scrolls he'd been annotating, recognizing the tone. A field assignment. The first in months.

From his window, he saw disciples already gathering in the courtyard like restless birds, excitement and dread mingling in their movements. Shen Jiu folded the scrolls neatly, brushed invisible dust from his sleeve, and made his way out with his usual composed stride.

He found Elder Mu waiting in the audience hall, a blue waxed packet in hand. The elder's face was calm, but the faint furrow in his brow betrayed unease.

"You'll be heading to Qingshi Hamlet," the elder said, handing him the mission packet. "They've reported qi disturbances near the village shrine. Livestock collapsing, strange lights in the forest, and a child murmuring in tongues."

Shen Jiu flipped open the seal and skimmed the notes. The symptoms were textbook. Spiritual parasites or low-level demon infestation.

"Who reported it?" he asked.

"The Shrinekeeper himself. Through the Jade-Thread Network. You're to investigate and resolve the issue within three days."

Shen Jiu nodded. "I'll need two juniors. I request Luo Wen and Wen Li."

Elder Mu raised a thick brow. "That girl again? Isn't she... quiet?"

"She's disciplined," Shen Jiu replied. "And precise with talisman placement. I trust her judgment."

"Very well," Elder Mu said. "The contract's minor, but Qingshi borders the old battlefield woods. Stay sharp. And Shen Jiu—" he lowered his voice, "Don't let the boy show too much. We're only beginning to gain favor from the capital sects again."

Shen Jiu didn't know if "the boy" referred to Luo Wen or himself. Either way, he bowed, tucked the packet into his sleeve, and left.

---

Luo Wen accepted the assignment without question.

He smiled, the edges of his mouth lifting in a way that seemed practiced, but not forced. "Wherever you lead, I'll follow."

Shen Jiu chuckled, already adjusting his outer robes. "It's not a romantic pilgrimage, it's a demon-cleansing mission."

"But if you walk ahead," Luo Wen said softly, "I'd follow even into hell."

Shen Jiu pretended not to hear that part.

---

They departed just after dawn.

The sun filtered through early spring clouds, dappling the road in soft gold. The three of them moved in near silence, their pace even, travel-light packs slung neatly across their backs.

Luo Wen kept to Shen Jiu's right, always half a step behind, eyes lowered but always alert. Wen Li, quieter still, walked on the left edge of the group, often glancing at her surroundings—but more than once, her gaze flicked toward Luo Wen.

Not hostile. Not frightened.

Just... studying.

They made camp under a crooked mulberry tree before nightfall. Shen Jiu brewed tea with spiritual herbs, handed each of them a steaming cup, and assigned watches with casual efficiency.

"Luo Wen, you take first. I'll follow, then Wen Li last."

"Yes, Shixiong," Luo Wen replied immediately.

Wen Li nodded, her voice a whisper. "Understood."

The fire crackled low, casting dancing shadows on their robes. The night was calm—but not silent. The trees sighed in the distance, and once or twice, something rustled in the dark. A rabbit, perhaps. Or not.

---

During his watch, Luo Wen sat still as a statue.

His gaze never left the faint rise and fall of Shen Jiu's chest where he slept—soft breaths, peaceful, lips parted slightly. The pendant glowed faintly between the folds of his robe, pulsing once, twice.

That tether—anchored in kindness, in mistaken trust—was growing stronger.

He'd reinforced it subtly. A trace of blood smeared across the base during cleaning. A muttered phrase in the old tongue. Shen Jiu had accepted it all without question, as if offering himself willingly.

He didn't know.

He didn't see.

He'd given himself up like a lamb walking into the tiger's den and thinking it was a temple.

Luo Wen's fingers curled against his thigh, calming himself.

One day, he would kneel at Shen Jiu's side—not as a disciple—but as the one thing stronger than fate.

---

They reached Qingshi Hamlet by the next afternoon.

It was a small place—no more than a scattering of huts along the edge of muddy rice fields. Mist clung to the wet earth, and the trees pressed close, their branches too still.

The Shrinekeeper met them at the border stone, bowing low despite his age.

"We've lost four oxen," he said, voice shaking. "And my granddaughter hasn't woken for two days. Her breath is shallow. She speaks in a tongue I've never known."

He handed Shen Jiu a small talisman, faded and frayed. "The well near the shrine is warm to the touch. I fear something moved in."

Shen Jiu glanced toward the forest path beyond. "Take us there."

---

The shrine was a ruin.

Its beams slouched under their own weight. The offering altar had long since collapsed, and what remained of the warding rope was gnawed and blackened, like something had burned it from within.

Wen Li moved immediately, pulling talisman paper and ink from her bag, her hands steady.

Shen Jiu made a circle of salt around the base, inscribing the old Frost Moon cleansing glyphs. He crouched near the well, drawing qi into his fingertips.

Luo Wen knelt beside him, his expression serene.

"There's mold," he murmured. "Rotten grief. It's clinging to the walls of the well like lichen."

"Old battlefield residue?" Shen Jiu guessed.

"No," Luo Wen said. "Something feeding on it."

Shen Jiu brushed dust from the floorboards near the altar—and found a brand seared into the wood. A claw mark in the shape of a crescent.

He frowned. "Bone leech?"

"Or worse."

Luo Wen didn't smile this time.

---

That night, the girl screamed.

They rushed to the hut where she lay. Her limbs flailed, her eyes wide open but unseeing, mouth uttering thick syllables in a language that curled the air around it.

Wen Li froze in the doorway, scrolls in hand.

Shen Jiu moved to her side, calling for cold water and incense. "Hold her steady."

But before he could apply the cleansing charm, Luo Wen stepped forward.

"Let me."

His voice was gentle. He raised two fingers and touched the girl's brow.

A flicker of dark energy passed into her. Too fast to see. Too quiet to be heard.

The girl stilled.

Her breathing slowed.

Shen Jiu looked at him. "You knew how to dispel it?"

"She was dreaming of someone else's death," Luo Wen whispered. "I just helped her forget."

Wen Li stared. Her fingers tightened around her scroll.

---

The demon came at dawn.

It slithered from the woods as a long-limbed shadow, featureless except for its mouth—too wide, lined with teeth like broken pottery. It hissed at the sunrise, recoiling from the light.

Shen Jiu moved forward with his sword drawn, setting his stance. "It's feeding on decay. Be careful."

Wen Li positioned her seals with quiet precision. "I'll cover the south perimeter."

But Luo Wen stepped ahead of them both.

His aura flared—a deep red ripple beneath his robes, silent and deadly. The demon hissed again but faltered. It recognized something in him. Something old.

It tried to flee.

It didn't get far.

A whip-like tendril of crimson qi lashed out, catching the demon mid-leap. It writhed, shrieked—but in seconds, its form disintegrated into ash. The wind carried it away.

Shen Jiu lowered his sword, stunned.

Wen Li didn't move. Her eyes stayed locked on the boy in front of them, his breathing perfectly even.

Luo Wen turned back slowly.

His smile was small. Sincere.

"You don't have to lift your sword, Shixiong," he said. "Not when I'm here."

---

They departed the village an hour after sunrise.

The Shrinekeeper offered them dried fruit, warm cloth, and hand-woven tokens. Shen Jiu bowed and refused politely, though he accepted one charm for the girl—who now slept soundly, free of fever.

As they passed the boundary stones, Shen Jiu caught a flicker of something dark in the well's reflection—but when he turned, it was gone.

"Maybe we'll get a simple assignment next time," he muttered.

Luo Wen walked beside him, smiling faintly.

"I don't mind," he said.

"Why?"

"Because outside the walls," Luo Wen said softly, "there's danger everywhere. And danger reminds you who matters."

Shen Jiu frowned. "Is that so?"

"Mm." Luo Wen looked ahead.

He didn't need to look at the pendant to know it was glowing again.

---