Shang Qinghua goes to take a self-indulgent peek at his baby protagonist son and gets a kick to the shrivelled heart for his troubles. He gave up on changing the story years ago! Yet he finds himself helping his protagonist son's adoptive mother anyway. Just this one change won't matter too much, right? One little change leads to more. Shang Qinghua never meant to care, but he becomes invested in making sure that his new family survives the looming plot. With the changes to the world cascading around him, with his position as a traitor pulling him between his sect and a certain ice demon, and with the protagonist growing up so quickly, how is one displaced author meant to ensure that everything turns out all right? A Pre-Canon to Canon Divergence story.

Shang Qinghua has made certain oversights. He never, in any of his escape plans, accounted for the presence of his bro. And so, like a cornered animal would, Shang Qinghua bares his teeth. It should have been a warning, but the demon just laughs.

Liu Qingge gets over his feelings toward Shen Qingqiu. He's promptly courted by newlyweds Shang Qinghua and Mobei-Jun. Eventual MoShangLiu happy ending

"I'm sorry I mocked you, yesterday," Ning Yingying says at last. "About giving the demoness a shot with you. I am forced to admit we can maybe learn something from the way you do things." "The way I do things," Liu Mingyan repeats. "You mean not having sex?" "Yeah," says Ning Yingying. Liu Mingyan is unsure how to feel about "not having sex" being one of her defining characteristics. She never set out for it to happen, although it is true that she didn't set out for it to not happen, either. All she knows is she is entirely uninterested in sex with Binghe, and that is apparently enough to make her unique.