Thread by @mzblackpoison

#shl au where zzs is a huli jing (from that lip read eh?🥴) and forced to seduce and kill for prince jin. all other 81 members of his clan have been wiped from under the prince's rule and operations.
only zzs remains; the last living huli jing and he's desperate to leave.

SIDE NOTE if you don't know what the 'huli jing lip read' is, then check out avenuex's video at 12:54

and you might as well enjoy all the other dog food :D

i will definitely continue writing this into a thread fic.
probably will start writing tmr but my mind is bursting with ideas all of a sudden

#shl #wenzhou hulijing au
shifu qin huaizhang passes away when zhou zishu is only 16 year old. he's much too young to take over as the four seasons manor's new master and direct the sect - he can only just manage to take care of himself

prince jin is a beacon of light in the dark tunnel
but it goes further down hill from there.
over the next decade and more, zzs takes his four seasons manor disciples and founds the Heaven's Window where zzs trains his disciple brothers and sisters to serve his cousin

at the same time, zzs watches his disciples die one by one. all by his instructions to follow prince jin's orders.

heaven's window is a tool. a sharp dagger hidden in the dark, silently awaiting and executing prince jin's every bloody order.
a tool zzs forged & sharpened himself

a tool zzs created, blinded by cousin's sweet words of justice, creation of a better nation, and most importantly, protection.

oh, zzs would not realize just how willfully blind he had been until it was too late, much too late - until just a handful of his clan remained.

the last thread had been the death of minister li's daughter - or rather, the murder of his shidi's secret lover.

zzs had been willfully turning a blind eye to all the signs, time after time giving prince jin the benefit of doubt and another chance. but deep down, zzw knew.

he knew all along, really. zzs knew from the beginning prince jin was only after his skills and powers, and his control over the rest of his sect, for the sake of their skills as well.

huli jing, that's what the prince was truly after:

Dozens of natural born seducers. prince jin had wasted no time to recruit his otherworldly cousin with sweet talk - and zzs fell for it.

over the next decade his trained his sect disciples and other soldiers into deadly assassins and the heaven's window was born.

over the same decade, zzs watched his clan mates perish while he continued to live on and sentence more members of the association to their deaths.

zzs never understand Why prince jin was sending heaven's window onto such dangerous missions, why he seemed to be deliberately

killing of zzs's clan mates.

the death of his little shidi was a turning point and zzs knew he could not continue on with a clear conscious. young miss li's murder was the last thread and by old man bi's death, zzs had hardened his heart and knew he was not wrong anymore.

zzs was not wrong to use the nails on himself nearly two years earlier; it was time for him to leave too.

with the sixth nail lodged in his torso, zzs wonders if he ever had a choice.
had he had more sense back then and refused working for prince jin, would he not also have just sentence his sect to annihilation. the prince would have still killed over his clan mates right before him

it doesn't matter anymore. six of the seven nails are in place, he's lost all but one tail now and his sense are beginning to fade. he barely smells anymore and his sense of taste is heavily impacted, he even finds his ears ringing on occasion.

zzs has made his decision; regardless of what prince jin wants, he Will be leaving heaven's window.

his sect members have either died or left with seven nails in their bodies, so zzs will do the same.

all that remains is finding the moment to announce his departure.

the opportunity arises when zzs finishes his latest assignment: collecting information from a low rank official under a minister notorious for objecting anything prince jin's factions mentions.

it's routine to zzs by now.

he either slips into the target's bed or slits the target's neck, sometimes it's both - whatever achieves the prince's objectives best.

his latest mission went off without a hitch - one remaining tail or not - under the slight excuse of exhaustion, zzs excused himself to half a month of seclusion.

on the last day of his 'break' he received summons from prince jin, as expected.

with the seventh and final nail clenched in hand, zzs paid prince jin a visit. hopefully, for that last time he would see the man's face.

perhaps it was their decade long 'friendship' that made prince jin let zzs leave unscathed,

perhaps prince jin merely didn't want to slaughter the last remaining huli jing. regardless, zzs's time was limited now. a slow death in three years, maybe that was enough to allow prince jin to free him.

zzs wanted to return home.

home.

what right did he have to step foot in the four seasons manor anymore? he no longer had a home.

he was going to wander. find bustling towns, beautiful lake and forests, eat good food, and drink aged wined until his end. that's find to him.

that was the plan at least, until the stumbled upon the nosiest man in existent and his knuckle-headed, also quite nosy servant.

zzs knew he was done for when he avoided the maid's flurry of attacks and spotted the pristinely dressed man watching his feet with rapt attention

in an effort to run away (again), zzs had used the last of his energy charm the man. a simple spell really, but as he was on the last leg of his life, even the simple charm spell drained him of his energy, but it gave him the time and opportunity to flee.

then the man reappeared

zzs had been Trying to admire the blooming blossoms and newly acquired wine at the island of the mirror lake manor.

lo and behold, nosy gongzi in green had followed over. ah, no, not 'followed' but let fate allow them to merely meet again.

tsk, what BS.

despite his walk through the forest being disrupted, zzs made his way to the mirror lake manor and, against better judgment, spelled the servant to stop throwing barely concealed insults at him and show him to his 'room'.

to call it a room.... well...

it's a shack, really, but more than enough for a 'hobo', yes?

zzs gladly accepts the woodshed before shooing off the servant with a request for alcohol and food before collapsing. he doesn't bother to conceal the groan as he settles down.

his muscles twinge upon relaxing and loosening, no longer fighting the pressure of gravity to keep himself upright.
and in his gut, he feels the rapidly diminishing reserve of his powers flicker and shudder, a little flame always at risk of being blown out.

he needs to meditate.

it seems he has amazing timing, because as he recovers his hearing he hears the faint but recognizable and familiar sounds of fighting.

outside the shack, the previously pleasantly cool air runs hot stuffy.

although zzs can't smell anymore, he's sure the air should be smelling like smoke. the flickers of amber and orange dance past the courtyard, mingling with the terrified screams of servants begging for help and to be spared.

where are any of the elders or senior disciples?

up top a roof, he watches the scene below: mere servants running for their lives; truly, where were the trained martial artists? wasn't this the mirror lake sect, one of the five lake alliance sects?

hopping down, zzs drew his sword and quickly dealt with the three assailants.

red robes, white masks, and black head wraps - the ghost valley. he tosses the thought aside, choosing to save the old man trying to escape with a young master - the same one having given zzs some money. a genuine young child, clearly not adept in martial arts though.

even at only a fraction of his strength, the red ghosts were no match for him. that was expected.

turning away to follow the old man and young master, he spotted a flutter of white from the corner of his eye.

it was that nosy man, now wearing snow white robes.

instantly zzs's hackles raised. this was too convenient to be a coincidence.

zzs left then, ignoring the man's near manic expression and faux depiction of calm. that gaze held too much killing intent, but also smth else. maybe curiosity.

the injured old man was still able to row the boat in order to flee the burning manor.

zzs collapses beside the old man. his core feels like a dimly lit candle. even the movement of sitting down seems to make it tremble and waver - moments from extinguishing.

zzs was sure tonight would be his last night as his reserve of powers was diminished and his energy sapped already, but there was quite a turn of events.

the outspoken maid in purple from earlier crashed through the rotten roof, and using her thin, white whip she easily

obliterated the crowd of ghosts.

it was a mistake to step in and help. even with just a few moves, zzs could feel all the work his last minute meditation just now disappear. deep, painful coughs wrecked his lungs and chest.

truly what a turn of events this was, for the worse!

darn this nosy man! what his purpose for sticking around. like zzs, this 'wen kexing' was also wearing a mask of his own, and it concealed A Lot. zzs was completely in the dark about his intentions and goals.

to make things worse, the young brat was clearly injured but refused to be looked at, instead choosing to sit alone huddled against himself.

well, his home was just burned to the ground and his family likely dead in all honesty. he needed some time alone.

but damn, nosy wkx and his maid! what a noisy duo...

zzs didn't bother eating the flatbread. in his desperation for rest, he used the last of his energy and power to charm the man once again. a sweet smile despite his grubby disguise and a tilt of his head.

as soon as he saw the weariness disappear in wkx's eyes, he quickly dropped the spell and prayed it was enough, which it was. wkx urged his maid to finish her meal and rest for the night.

the next day would be a busy one. zzs promptly fell asleep.

/that's basically the end of ep 2. let's see when i continue this twt fic.