Chapter Text
Dan Feng is ambushed on his way back from the Alchemy Commission, by… Yingxing?
No. This man has stolen Yingxing’s face. Yingxing once warned Dan Feng that he was a popular man. (“A lot of people like to cosplay as me, so make sure not to fall for it!”) Like Dan Feng would ever be tricked by a cheap disguise.
“Good cosplay,” Dan Feng says, and tries to walk past the man.
“What the-” The man mutters. “The fuck am I cosplaying as?”
“Yingxing,” Dan Feng answers, in case it was a trivia question. Humans are quite silly. “Would you like a picture?”
The Yingxing cosplayer scowls rather brilliantly (ruining Yingxing’s usual placid expression). He levels his sword at Dan Feng’s nose. He’s holding… quite a remarkable replica of the Shard Sword. Impressive. “Where is Dan Heng?”
Dan Feng does not know who that is. “I owe you no information.”
The Yingxing lookalike’s scowl deepens. “I don’t expect anything useful from you. Where is Jing Yuan?”
What in Long’s name is wrong with these doppelgangers and their obsession with Jingliu’s disciple? “I know no one by that name.” Children should not be involved in the obsessions of weird fans.
The man looks more upset. “Am I in an alternate universe…?”
Good to know, Dan Feng thinks, that there seems to be a universe in the world set with Jing Yuan as the sun to which other planets orbit (a/n: yeah, it exists and it’s gwen’s dashboard). Dan Heng… Heng? Ah.
He sighs in resignation. “I’ll take you to Heng.”
“...Heng?” The man does not stop scowling, but at least he lowers his weapon. “So uncreative. This kind of username would get him doxxed in a minute.”
Uncomprehending of any meaning from the man’s mouth, Dan Feng chooses to enquire politely about the man’s identity and his relationship with Heng. “What is your name?”
“Ren.”
“Are you Heng’s… friend?”
“None of your business.”
“And Jing Yuan? Why are you looking for him?”
“...Stop talking.”
They head towards the Vidyadhara estate. Ren eyes him with suspicion. “I thought you were taking me to… Heng.”
“I am.”
The man’s frown deepens. “Did you kidnap him?”
Dan Feng scoffs. “He is lodging with me, out of his own free will.”
Ren looks incredulous at that. “Sounds fake, but okay,” he mutters.
“Ren?!” Heng - Dan Heng - displays true emotion for the first time since Dan Feng has met him. He rushes up to Ren, and raises an arm. Ren raises one back. That is when Dan Feng realizes the peculiar bracer Dan Heng wears is part of a matching set.
Dan Heng breathes, “It’s really you.”
“As if some idiot would go around pretending to be me.” Ren folds his arms, as if he isn’t the one running around with someone’s face.
“So your real name is Dan Heng?” Dan Feng folds his arms and tries not to feel too smug. (He fails.) “You should have just shared. No need for embarrassment to be named after yours truly.”
Ren is looking between them, gaze bouncing rapidly from Dan Feng to Dan Heng. He says, with a marvel, “You two don’t get along.”
Dan Heng glances at him, confused. “What made you think we’d get along, considering?”
Ren pauses, thinking about it. “...Huh.”
Ren knows something. Dan Feng will have to interrogate him.
“Whatever,” Ren says. “We’ve wasted enough time. Let’s go.” He snags Dan Heng’s arm ungracefully, like a brute, and to Dan Feng’s surprise, Dan Heng allows it.
“You have the way back home?” Dan Heng sounds relieved. Dan Feng is so affronted - he could have furnished Dan Heng with the most advanced starskiffs at a moment’s notice.
“Yeah,” Ren grunts. “It’s a ritual thing. The curio is about… memory. Or something. We just have to repeat the ritual and get out of here.”
Dan Heng narrows his eyes. “You don’t sound certain. Are you sure you remember what to do?”
Ren snaps at him, “Of course I remember the instructions.”
Dan Heng pulls his arm out of Ren’s grip and says, “Tell me the steps.”
A long silence, as Ren thinks. Quietly he says, “Oh, shit.”
“Ren!” Dan Heng shakes his shoulders, with more force than he probably realizes. “Did they send you here with any notes?”
“Fucking chill!” Ren snaps. “Just check my phone?”
Dan Feng watches in abject horror as Dan Heng shoves his whole hand down Ren’s back pocket- oh, it’s to retrieve the phone.
“What in Lan’s name is this? It’s all gibberish!” Dan Heng throws his hands in the air. ”You didn’t land on it too hard, did you?”
“No. …Maybe.” Ren stuffs his hands in his pockets. “We’ll just wait for Jing Yuan.”
“He’s a child!! He’s nine years old!!”
The exclamation comes from Dan Feng, and they both turn to stare at him.
Ren looks impressed. “Oh, shit, we’re 7XX years in the past?”
Dan Heng slaps his forehead.
Dan Feng looks between them. “You’re what?”
The truth comes to light, as does all things.
“Is that why you were being so weird towards me?” Dan Heng says. “You thought I was a High Elder from a different ship? Who just coincidentally happened to look exactly like you?”
Ren looks at Dan Heng curiously. “He was weird, how?”
Dan Feng says, “Do not disclose such sensitive information-”
Dan Heng ignores him. “It felt like a strange ego thing. He tried to give me his stuff.”
“Obviously I’m not letting you have it now,” Dan Feng grumbles.
“...Okay,” Ren says. “Weirdo.”
Dan Feng decides not to smite Ren. The only reason he must feel comfortable acting so familiarly with Dan Feng, is due to his proximity to his reincarnation. Dan Feng replays the scene of Dan Heng practically fondling him instead of just asking for his cellular device.
They must be really close.
Dan Feng enquires, “And Jing Yuan, to you both, is…?”
“Nobody.” “An old friend.” They look at each other.
Dan Feng nods. Presumably Jingliu’s disciple stays close to the High Cloud… Quartet (Quintet?). Yingxing’s lookalike, then, must be a descendant of some sort. Speaking of:
“If you are having trouble with your phone, I can ask Yingxing to look at it.”
“Ugh,” Ren says.
Dan Heng roughly elbows him. “That would be great.”
Ren folds his arms and says nothing.
Yingxing arrives with his tools, and with Baiheng and Jingliu in tow. Up close, Yingxing and Ren look more alike than Dan Feng could have ever imagined. It’s amazing how well Yingxing’s genetics have been preserved in his descendant.
“I can’t say phones are my speciality, but I’ll become an expert in anything you give me,” Yingxing brags. Dan Feng doesn’t refute it, because it’s true. Ren, however, looks upset.
“Arrogance will be your downfall.”
“Rude,” Yingxing says, and takes the phone anyways, because he can’t keep his hands to himself when there’s a puzzle in front of him.
“Be nice,” Dan Heng mumbles to Ren.
Ren scoffs, “I wouldn’t be here to save your sorry ass if Jing Yuan didn’t beg on his knees for it.”
Dan Heng stares at Ren skeptically.
“Alright, fine, he didn’t. But he asked me to, and I guess I owe him one for letting me go free.”
“Don’t we all,” Dan Heng mutters.
Yingxing pipes up, “You guys are talking about Jing Yuan? Like…” He gestures with his hands, to indicate roughly the height of a child.
Ren growls, “He doesn’t stay that size forever.”
Dan Feng sighs. “They’re from the future. 7XX years, to be precise.”
“Oh, thank Lan,” Yingxing says, surprising them all. They turn to see him glowering at Ren's phone. “And here I thought I just didn’t understand this model at all.”
“Give it to me if you can’t fix it,” Ren snaps.
“I’ve had this thing for five minutes, chill!”
Dan Heng checks, “Jing Yuan still has the original curio, yes?”
Ren nods.
“Then it’s only a matter of time before he comes to get us.”
“This is Jing Yuan we’re talking about,” Ren complains. “If he doesn’t think there’s an immediate danger, he’s going to take his sweet time for his own amusement.”
Dan Heng quickly turns and says to Yingxing, “You must fix his phone as quickly as possible. Please.”
“I’m worried you both are relying too much on Jing Yuan in the future,” Yingxing says skeptically. Dan Feng nods in agreement.