Secrets Hidden Within The Bamboo Forest

🎍Six🎍

Once that door closed and curtains drawn closed, Shen Qingqiu discarded that fan as he looked at the tea from earlier this morning which now had gone cold. Doesn't matter the temperature. He needed to know.

Was he, or was he not a ghoul?
If he was, then the tea would taste like complete shit.
If he wasn't then it'll have a different taste that he wouldn't be used to.
Picking it up, he took a sip.
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The taste... It was...

Not complete shit?

Of course it tasted bad but not so much-he could easily look past it.
He removed the cup from his lips as he stared at the cold tea.

He...

Could drink it?

Shen Qingqiu, having tasted the strange, but delicious tea, he downed it, wanting-needing more. He ended up drinking the whole pot of tea. In the end, he shed tears.
This was the taste humans get when they drink tea? He couldn't help but want more.
But this wasn't the time to become a fat ass and eat so much, he needed to prepare for the upcoming events in the book that were almost around the corner.
What could he do?
Well, he could enter seclusion and cultivate and figure out his strange body. Surely he JUST ate flesh not long ago and he is still able to drink this human beverage.
He needed time to think and to himself.
He gathered himself before once more walking all the way to Yue Qingyuan's peak and telling him he'll be in seclusion for a while.

"What for?" Asked Yue Qingyuan.
"Immortal Alliance Conference" Shen Qingqiu said, face behind his fan as usual as he walked alongside Yue Qingyuan in a random garden they happened to be in.
But it wasn't just the Conference that he needed the seclusion.
One was that he was still a bit unfamiliar with his cultivation.
Two was that he needed to figure out what his problem was, flesh and human food? Something isn't right about that mix.
He was happy to know he could eat human food, but he was still in shock about that tea that he wasn't ready to eat human food just yet.

He managed to get permission from Yue Qingyuan to go to the Ling Xi Caves, but he had a minor quest to do before he left for X amount of years. He quickly grabbed a proper training manual and hunted for Luo Binghe.
He couldn't find him, so, he had to play dog and use what Ghoul abilities he has with him since the transmigration to hunt for Binghe. He earlier caught his scent, and he followed that.

He managed to find Luo Binghe in a clearing, practicing with the wrong book. Shen Qingqiu watched for a while before making himself known. Luo Binghe tripped over his own feet and fell on the grass. Shen Qingqiu smiled at that, thankfully his fan covered most of his face so no one knew of his smile but himself.
Luo Binghe scrambled to his feet and bowed to Shen Qingqiu.
"S-Shizun I-"
Shen Qingqiu walked up, Luo Binghe flinched and shrunk back, thinking he was going to get hit by his clumsiness.
"You did your best" Shen Qinqgiu said, giving the curls on Luo Binghe's head some light pats.
Luo Binghe looked up just when Shen Qingqiu went to remove his hand, but he stopped, and playfully pulled at one of Luo Binghe's curls. Once he released said curl it bounced back in place with a sway.
Shen Qingqiu will be honest and say, he was and is a sucker for curly hair. His mother had some waves, but he remembered when he was younger, her hair was shorter and therefore a lot more curlier, he remember playing with the curls for so long when his mother said one day that it was enough.
Shen Qinqgiu will and always love curly hair. Luo Binghe's hair was no different, although it was a bit frizzy and dry, nothing he couldn't help fix.
"Shizun?" Luo Binghe's voice snapped Shen Qingqiu out of his trance as he ended up pulling at that same curl and pulling it before letting it go over and over.
Shen Qingqiu did a silent "Heh" before pulling something out of his robes.
"Here, I've taken some time to think that maybe you're better suited for this manual then what the others had. Give this a try and see if it works for your kind of foundation" Shen Qingqiu said, bullshitting quite well through his teeth.
Shen Qinqgiu held it to Luo Binghe, and he stared at it before looking up to Shen Qingqiu.
"What? Don't want it?" Shen Qinqgiu asked.
Luo Binghe took the book in his hands.
"Thanking Shizun!" Luo Binghe bowed.
"No need, I'm just making sure you're doing well. Now, give that other book" Shen Qingqiu held his hand out once more.
Luo Binghe nodded, and gave him the manual that Ming Fan had given him years ago. Shen Qingqiu nodded as he set the manual in his robes, replacing where the one in Luo Binghe's hands was.
"I'll be going in seclusion" Shen Qinqgiu started off "When I return, I want to see some results" Shen Qingqiu said.
If before, those words "I want to see some results" used to be said in a harsh way, they were now said in a caring way.
"Uh.. Y-yes Shizun" Luo Binghe said, watching as Shen Qingqiu now turned away to walk off.
Luo Binghe watched as Shen Qingqiu disappeared, and he looked down at that book. It seemed the rumors were true. Ever since Shen Qinqgiu fell sick and awoken, he's been different. Very different.
Luo Binghe didn't hate it. But.. Would it be bad for him to take advantage of that and try to be closer to his Shizun? After all...
He did deliver this manual specifically to him, right?