"STOP!" A voice hollered into the conversation.

To Wei Ying's surprise, the so-called 'Gege' had stepped forwards and flung his arms out to defend 'San Lang' from the other black and red robed cultivator. "I am deeply sorry for the commotion we've caused. Please... how about we talk about this over some cup of tea..?"

'San Lang' frowned, "Gege, there's no need to interact with these bunch of vermin scum-"

"Shizun is not a vermin scum!" The cultivator with the red mark had fumed. "Take back your words right now, or else!" He pointed his sword's blade at the 'Gege', who was still shielding the 'San Lang' behind.

"San Lang, please..." 'Gege' had frowned. "Just think of them as our guests."

Wei Ying patiently waited, examining the entire situation willfully. His eyes scanned over everyone and came to the conclusion... everyone is hot. "Fine." 'San Lang' had sighed. The danger that was once present on his face had vanished, as if it was never there to begin with. "But if any one of them tries anything funny, I'll cut off their heads."

"I'd like to see you try." The man with the red mark had retorted.

'Shizun' and 'Gege' had sent looks of disapproval to their partners, while Wei Ying silently snickered behind Lan Zhan—who still held a neutral expression, despite all that was happening before them. "We can go find an empty tea-store and calm down." 'Gege' had added.

Wei Ying frowned. "What about tea snacks?"

Gege's eyes had brightened. "Good suggestion!"

A teasing smile plastered on Wei Ying's face as he snickered, "I want extra spicy ones-"

"Thank you for ordering." The waitress had chorused before sashaying back to the kitchen.

Wei Ying could only silently muffle his cries as nothing but plain white steaming buns were ordered. There were no seasonings, and no spices. Just plain bread. One could say it was worse than the food of GusuLan. "Why did you order the cheapest from the menu?" Wei Ying whined. The 'Gege' had only shyly smiled, not at all aware of the fact that he was being ridiculed at the moment. "I only have so little of money. And mantou are better than the scraps people throw at you when performing on the streets."

"You've performed on the streets before?" Wei Ying pondered.

The 'Gege' blushed in embarrassment, "No! Not at all, I've only seen some do so."

Wei Ying swept his gaze over to the obsessive couple. One had a fan covering the bottom of his face, while the other clutched tightly on their Shizun's sleeves as if their lives depended on it. "What are you looking at?" The man with the red mark had glared. Wei Ying found himself frowning in response, "Why can't I look? It's not like my eyes can shoot laser beams."

"I know they can't, but with just one look and they can dirty Shizun." The man with the red mark had shot back. Wei Ying found himself succumbing to an irritable feeling. CAN YOU SHUT UP ALREADY, MAN thoughts swarmed in every corner of his head.

"How about we start with names first." The 'Gege' had weakly smiled. "I am Xie Lian, just a random scrap picker."

"Then how does a scrap picker end up with a maniac that carries a scimitar." The man with the red mark frowned.

His 'Shizun' smacked him on the head with his fan, saying, "You should ask yourself how does a demon lord ends up learning from an incompetent master of a peak."

"What?" Wei Ying was alarmed, with his gaze falling towards the man with the red mark. "You're a Demon Lord?"

"That's right. The name is Luo Binghe, ruler and lord of the demons." A wide and arrogant smile plastered over onto the Demon Lord's face. His 'Shizun' had only sighed behind that placated fan of his. "I'm Shen Qingqiu."

"And you're... a Peak Master?" Wei Ying tested the waters.

Shen Qingqiu had nodded to agree.

"Then... this gentleman is..?" Wei Ying nudged over to the man with the scimitar, who still hasn't spoken. That man sat leisurely, as if that lowly wooden chair had fulfilled the entirety of his needs. An arm of his had lazily rested against the chair's back, while his chin gained a shrewdly sharp angle. "I'm a Ghost King. But for the sake of formalities, just call me Hua Chengzhu, though I'm actually called Hua Cheng."

"Ghost King..." Wei Ying tried to process everything down. So he had encountered a scrap picker, a sect master, a demon lord, and a ghost king. Great.

"What about this ?" Xie Lian gently smiled, gesturing towards Wei Ying.

(公子) =

"Ah," Wei Ying felt the need to cough and pamper himself after witnessing all the great entries so far. "I am the Yiling Patriarch, known for controlling fierce corpses with just one blow of my flute! My name is Wei Ying, courtesy name Wei Wuxian, but my entitlement really is no big deal." He laughed.

"Ohh... so it's no big deal." Xie Lian added.

"Yeah, so Gege doesn't need to think much further." Hua Cheng had chuckled.

Wei Ying felt embarrassment welling up inside of him. I totally ruined everything! "Lan Zhan, courtesy name Lan Wangji, and entitled HanGuang-Jun." Lan Zhan had bowed his head. His introduction came and left within the snap of fingers, and none had any objections.

They all introduced themselves without a care of their own identity. After all, it wasn't like knowing that could kill themselves... right?

"Alright. I'm not believing that you're a Ghost King, and I'm definitely not going to believe you can control corpses." Luo Binghe frowned.

"You do realize that nobody's going to believe your identity either?" Hua Cheng responded casually.

"Believe it or not, I don't care." Luo Binghe snarled. "But you," he sent a glare at Wei Ying's direction. "You and your ol' partner barged into Cang Qiong Mountain without any permission. You both deserve a beating."

Hua Cheng coughed. "And y'all had all trespassed my territory. So... do you wish to pay your debt?"

"Hey!" Wei Ying pouted. "Don't bully the young."

Luo Binghe's eyes had thinned. "How do you know you're the young!"

"By looks." Wei Ying snickered.

"Well," Xie Lian giggled. "I doubt any of you are as old as me."

"Gege," Hua Cheng added. "There's no need to be ashamed of age."

They all threw surprised glances at Xie Lian, who hadn't noticed their momentarily stupefied faces, and picked up a mantou. He took a small bite into it, enjoying the nonexistent flavour there was. "Hmm..? Is nobody hungry?" He finally noticed everyone's stumped expressions (aside from Hua Cheng).

"You're still in the mood for food?" Luo Binghe was exasperated.

"Binghe," Shen Qingqiu shook his head at his disciple, "We may never understand these commoners."

Luo Binghe had instantly shut up, as if he realized that he may have offended something he never should've. "Anyways," Hua Cheng picked the subject back up. "What were you guys doing in my territory?"

"I'm telling y'all," Wei Ying frowned, "It was to investigate the sudden earthquake."

"The heavens may never know the limits to natural disasters." Xie Lian sighed.

"Pfft," Luo Binghe broke out into a laugh. "You believe in such thing as 'heaven'?"

"You don't?" Xie Lian gasped. "Don't you ever pray to temples for wealth and prosperity? Or am I just being ignorant of the youth?"

Hua Cheng shook his head, "No, Gege. They're just scum lower than scum."

Wei Ying threw accusing glances at Hua Cheng, but decided to give in later. There was no telling how vast that man's abilities were. "I should ask the rest about the sudden earthquake." Xie Lian mumbled. "Ask who?" Luo Binghe sneaked closer. "My friends." A small smile revealed on Xie Lian's lips.

"You have friends?" Luo Binghe gasped.

He was smacked by Shen Qingqiu's fan.

"O-of course I do." Xie Lian stammered, "Although I may look like I don't...?"

"Then..." Wei Ying smiled. "From now on, we'll all be friends."

"No." Luo Binghe frowned. Shen Qingqiu smacked him with the fan once again. "Ouch... Shizun... stop hitting me with your fan please..."

"Deserves it..." Wei Ying snickered in the corner.

"Well," Xie Lian stood up from the table, stuffing a few mantou under his sleeves while throwing a few ingots on the table, "Since this was all just a misunderstanding, we'll be leaving now."

Hua Cheng got up as well, swiftly walking to Xie Lian's side like a fluttering butterfly.

"Hope to see you never again." Luo Binghe mumbled under his breath. He was hit by the fan again. "Shizun..."

Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan got up from the table as well, ready to leave. "Let's go too then, Lan Zhan." Wei Ying cheerfully chirped. They trailed after Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, making sure to straighten their backs after remembering one of them was a calamity. But it didn't take that long for them to pass out right on the spot.

"What... happened...?" Wei Wuxian yawned.

The darkness that once shrouded his vision had dispersed, revealing a warm setting of bamboo sprouts and... Cang Qiong Mountain? It was then Wei Wuxian realized that he was tied up. Are you kidding me... he frowned. I'm the fucking Yiling Patriarch, aren't I?

"You woke up." A cheerful voice exclaimed. Wei Ying turned around to find Xie Lian next to him on the ground, also with his arms tied up behind. "What happened?" Wei Ying sweated. "Where's Lan Zhan?"

"He's right next to you." Xie Lian gently nudged to Wei Ying's other side.

Indeed, the cold-faced man was beside Wei Ying, also tied up, but his cold face was ruthlessly colder than before. "Lan Zhan..." Wei Ying fumbled.

"I assure you that there's no need to worry," Wei Ying's attention was attracted by Hua Cheng, who was tied up next to Xie Lian. "There's no way they could possibly outwit the heavens."

"The heavens?" Wei Ying was puzzled. He tried pulling at the binds around him, but they had only tightened. A magical artifact? He possibly pondered.

"At last, you guys have woken up." The familiar voice had radiated next to their ears. "Luo Binghe," Wei Ying scowled. "What do you want from us?"

"Hey," Luo Binghe frowned. "It's not my request, but rather Shizun's."

As he said that, Shen Qingqiu had stepped out from the shadows. "Welcome to Cang Qiong Mountain." He fanned himself with his fan, with air soothing throughout his hair. "We've found you all rather quite suspicious. Not many would claim themselves to be a Ghost King nor the master of fierce corpses. Besides, there are no such things as fierce corpses or ghosts."

"And there are no demons." Wei Ying and Hua Cheng chorused in sync.

Luo Binghe frowned, "You're not allowed to interrupt Shizun!"

Shen Qingqiu gestured for Luo Binghe to keep silent as he continued on, "You may not have noticed it, but after that earthquake, I felt like I was in a different place. It was as if the ground began moving us to different sections around the world. I don't remember seeing your territory, Ghost King, and I certainly don't remember that tea shop we went to around the corner. So... just what happened."

Little did anyone know, Shen Qingqiu's rational conclusion was all from his inner thoughts of 'HOLY SHIT! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THE SYSTEM LEFT ME HANGING LIKE THIS! THE WORLD IS CHANGING! WHAT A SCUMBAG!'

"Shizun is so smart and intelligible." Luo Binghe praised.

"Even a beggar could figure that out in an instant." Wei Wuxian whistled.

"Well," Xie Lian gently explained, "If we decide to go on with Peak Master Shen's theory, then that just means we're all from three different worlds that collided against each other when the earthquake occurred. However, I'm not sure as to why Peak Master Shen decided to bring us to his peak, perhaps for further examination? But I'm just a scrap picker, there's not much I can contribute."

"Not much you can contribute?" Luo Binghe frowned. "When we tried to knock the 'Yiling Patriarch' and his hubby out, they went down easily! But Hua Chengzhu and you... both of you dodged the attack and then submitted instantly! I don't believe any normal scrap picker could have such skills."

"Learned them from the Ghost King." Xie Lian looked away.

"But..." Wei Ying began to calculate. "If what we all said was true..."

He looked over at Luo Binghe, "Then there are demons," glanced over at Hua Chengzu, "Ghosts," and then lastly his husband beside him, "And fierce corpses. But ever since the earthquake... what happened to them?"

Silence enraptured them into a heated contest of brains. Thoughts squandered their minds as they tried to think of an answer. But that silence was involuntarily cut off from a shrill scream outside. "DEMONS, NO—NOT ONLY DEMONS! WHAT ARE THESE THINGS... GHOSTS... OR CORPSES!?!"

Shen Qingqiu swore underneath his breath as he grabbed Luo Binghe by the wrist. "We have to go check up on the situation outside. Hope you don't die." Then, they ran off.

"But... what about us?" Wei Ying whimpered.

They were all tied up to pillars inside a large peak, unknowing of what was going on outside, or what will happen to them if they don't get out. Wei Ying struggled with the bind's strength, which continuously seemed to retract spiritual energy from himself. "Gh... this thing is annoying." He frowned.

"." Xie Lian gently waved to him. "Don't use your spiritual energy."

(兄) =

"Then how else am I supposed to tear this thing to shreds-" Wei Ying paused when he noticed something unsightly. "How did you guys escape already!?!" He hollered in shock.

Indeed, Xie Lian and Hua Cheng had already ripped the binds to shreds. "The secret isn't to use spiritual powers, but your natural strength." Hua Cheng lazily explained as he took out the scimitar and slashed it down at the binds, breaking the two lovebirds free. "Thank you," Wei Ying chirped, while Lan Zhan followed after with a "Mn".

"Now, we've got to see what's going on out there." Xie Lian lowered his voice down to a soft whisper.

Following his command, they raced out of the peak, slamming the double doors open with force only to find... a land scattered full of demons, fierce corpses, and ghosts! "This is troublesome." Wei Ying cursed.

"THE RAINBOW BRIDGE IS BROKEN! DAMN THOSE DEMONS!" They heard a disciple scream from afar.

"WE CAN'T ISSUE FOR ANY REINFORCEMENTS UNTIL THE BRIDGE IS REBUILT!"

Hua Cheng rolled his eyes. "They seriously needed a rainbow bridge to be the only connection to other peaks... and they seriously needed to build it so breakable..."

"That's rough, buddy." Wei Ying joked, pulling out Chengqing—the black jade flute from his waist. "The three types of monsters are all scattered evenly. Afraid we'll have to deal with them all." He informed, serious once again. Xie Lian nodded with the tempo, never breaking eye contact with the enemies.

"San Lang and I will take the rear." Xie Lian added.

"Then Lan Zhan and I will support Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu." Wei Wuxian nodded.

Just like that, they split up.

Xie Lian: Wei-xiong, don't use your spiritual energy.

Wei Ying: Haha! Let me go dig up my corpse and see if I can go back to having no spiritual energy...

Shen Qingqiu: Do all protagonists have a thing for having their spiritual energy suppressed?