Chapter Text
The doors to the Special Investigation Division burst inward causing the cessation of normal investigative activity. Two young men dressed all in black strode in and flanked the now open doors, immediately clearing the way for a similarly dressed man and woman. Their eyes swept the room professionally. When no one moved to attack, they stepped apart and faced each other to allow for the entrance of a striking figure.
She was dressed in the height of fashion, her lips painted a brilliant shade of red which in no way distracted from the stark white streak accenting her hairline above her left eyebrow and flowing through the shoulder length of her stylishly cut black hair. Two more dangerous looking young men followed in her wake. She ended her dramatic entrance with an aggressive stance and an expectant expression.
“Sister Zhu, what brings you to the SID this morning?” Chief Zhao cheerfully greeted her with open arms.
Her security seemed to take offense at the overly familiar and possibly disrespectful greeting to the leader of the Yashou Alliance. She stopped the incipient fuss with a hand swiftly raised from a hinged elbow.
“Eh, I heard there was a new chief,” she shrugged one elegant shoulder. “How could I not come?”
“Right, right,” Chief Zhao dissembled, catching onto his mistake. He was finding it a little difficult to remember he was supposed to be impersonating his own nephew. He compensated by sticking a little formality into this phrasing, “Please, come to my office. I will prepare some tea for you.”
“Humph, as if,” she said doubtfully. She turned to address her entourage tersely. “You guys,” she jerked her head towards the rest of the room’s occupants, “make friends with the humans. And the ghosts.” She swept out of the central space and into the office.
Chief Zhao grinned at the collective room and gave them a pair of enthusiastic finger guns. This was to congratulate his subordinates on not attacking the delegation and encourage the Yashou to follow Leader Zhu’s orders.
Zhao closed the office door and was about to repeat his offer of tea, when he found himself with his arms full of Zhu Hong. He returned the hug patiently and waited. After a moment she sniffed dramatically, pushed him back a step and punched him in the shoulder.
“Oww,” Zhao Yun Lan complained per expectation, rubbing at the spot that was surely going to bruise. “You are so mean.”
Zhu Hong nodded in agreement like the queen she was.
"But just as pretty,” he remarked to make her smile, “I like the hair.”
She side-eyed him with a dismissive look and a wrinkled nose, “Shrapnel from that mess in Dixing damaged the follicles, I got tired of coloring it.” She curled a finger around the lock under discussion and tugged it gently. “All the boys find it attractive.”
Zhao Yun Lan waggled his eyebrows suggestively, “I couldn’t help but notice the eye candy.”
“Cute and lethal, just the way I like them.”
They smiled in complete sympathy with one another.
“So why are you here?” Zhao Yun Lan asked. Though her messenger had given him notice of her arrival, details about the purpose of her visit had been lacking. Not that he wasn't extremely grateful for the heads up. If Zhu Hong and her party had crashed in without warning things could have gotten bloody. The people who Zhao Yun Lan would forever think of as the new guys had only limited experience with Dixingren. Most of that experience was with the worst of those who had been trapped above after the doors between Dixing and Haixing closed. The Yashou were not Dixingren, however the SID was trigger happy enough that they might not have noticed the difference before things got out of hand. It was one of the many, many things he was trying to change.
“To see you, you dope.” Zhu Hong informed him impatiently. She was a bit irritated with Zhao Yun Lan’s inability to understand that he should have gotten in touch. Stupid Human, she might not have known he was back at all except Shen Wei had followed the proper forms and protocol by sending a letter and gifts. “Also I wanted to talk to Shen Ye Zun. We need to hash out Yashou access to Dixing.”
Zhao Yun Lan was surprised, “Is there that much interest?” He gestured Zhu Hong into a chair before seating himself at his desk, recklessly reclining backwards so he could prop his feet up.
Zhu Hong smiled at the familiar sight.
“Not really, but if they are denied access there will be a lot of griping. Better to set out the rules early.” She definitely wanted to get things straight with Shen Ye Zun before the recently formed Bureau of Interspecies Relations got involved. On paper it was a good idea, but Human bureaucracy being what it was she wanted an understanding between Yashou and Dixing before throwing Humans into the mix.
“I would have thought you guys would be focused on a Yashou door.”
“It hasn't reopened yet. His calculations put it out another several decades to a century.”
Zhao Yun Lan raised his eyebrows, “How much faith are you putting in the estimate?” The last time he had paid attention to that debate between Shen Wei and his brother they were speculating that the energies resulting from that last use of the collective Hallows might have destabilized the older doorways permanently.
Zhu Hong rolled her eyes, “He’s still Dr. Shen. It’s not like his exalted position made him forget how to add. As things stand, I’m happy to not have to worry about fortifying a back door into Yashou territory until we find out how well opening up travel between the realms is going to work." She grimaced briefly and changed the subject, "How are you and Shen Wei doing?”
“Shen Wei is great. The university fell all over themselves to have him back. And I am once again master of this place,” Zhao Yun Lan demonstrated the vastness of his domain with expansive hands.
She nodded, raised an eyebrow and added, "That isn't what I wanted to know.”
Zhao Yun Lan's head tilted in acknowledgement of his inability to distract her as well as her right to inquire. “Fine. We are both fine. Thank you for asking.”
“Okay, so why are you blinking like that?” Zhu Hong narrowed her eyes in sudden wariness and not a little disappointment. “You had best not be flirting.”
Zhao Yun Lan, who until that moment had not realized that his eyes were bothering him, abruptly froze in suspicion and concern.
“Zhao Yun Lan?” to be honest she had thought he was about to make her victim to one of his jokes. She watched, puzzled, as he turned to look over his shoulder and out the window.
“Still a sunny day, huh?”
“Yes,” she stretched out the word. “Zhao Yun Lan, you may not have gotten any older but you seem to have gotten even weirder.”
Zhao Yun Lan patted the air with a hand absently, thinking about pots and kettles as he pulled out his phone. He squinted at the display before poking at what he hoped was the correct icon, “Excuse me. Hey, Ghost,” he said into the phone, “quit trying to blow up the lab with Lin Jing and come in here a minute to talk with Sister Zhu.” Disconnecting abruptly, he peered at the screen for a second. He stared, first closing one eye and then the other, before giving up and putting it back in his pocket.
The words had been flippant, but Zhu Hong was well aware of how much her former chief hid behind his flippancy. “Zhao Yun Lan, you are starting to scare me.”
“Zhu Hong, meimei,” Shen Ye Zun greeted the seated woman as he strode in the door. He raised his eyebrows at her lack of enthusiasm to see him. Though they had been in communication for years, he was unsure if he was disappointed or relieved that she hadn't immediately jumped up to embrace him.
Zhu Hong smiled softly and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Shen Ye Zun returned the smile, causing the skin around his eyes to crinkle. He squeezed back and she released her hold on him. His suit was cut per usual in the latest style, though his preferred pale palette was out of fashion at the moment. She was pleased to see he was wearing his almost colorless hair down. His hair had always been a reliable indicator of his mood. The present unrestrained style indicated he was feeling good about his visit to Haixing and things were going well with whatever he and Lin Jing were collaborating on.
Finished with their acknowledgments to one another, Zhu Hong gestured at Zhao Yun Lan with wide eyes.
Shen Ye Zun glanced to the other man and shrugged fractionally at Zhu Hong. He had seemed well enough earlier.
“Zhao Yun Lan?” he questioned the SID Chief.
“It’s getting kinda dark in here,” Zhao Yun Lan locked eyes with the brother of his better half. “Do you know where he is?”
Shen Ye Zun’s head twitched minutely to the side. He curled his hands in a gesture familiar, but not, as he called forth twin balls of dark energy to scan his surroundings. In the distance an alarm blared as Lin Jing’s instruments registered the use of power. Zhao Yun Lan figured it had to be a substantial blip because he had not realized Shen Ye Zun’s range could reach as far as the University.
For all the raw strength he possessed, Zhao Yun Lan had always thought Shen Ye Zun’s exercise of power seemed not as practiced or elegant as Shen Wei’s. He also did not close his eyes when he used it the way his brother did. This meant he was watching as Lin Jing burst through the office door, weapon at the ready. Closely on his heels were Zhu Hong’s entourage in addition to the on-site SID field agents. The door to the office was exceedingly full of people jockeying for the best position from which to intervene if necessary.
“He is out of the city or below,” Shen Ye Zun reported as he released the power. He pulled out his phone from breast pocket of his jacket, rapidly thumbing through screens.
Zhao Yun Lan made a cutting motion across his throat, and jerked his head slightly, signaling Lin Jing to cut the alarm. Lin Jing used his own phone to do so and proved his genius by shooing all the onlookers away complaining loudly about false alarms and the waste of his invaluable time.
“There is nothing on his calendar,” Shen Ye Zun reported as he pushed an icon to make a call. “Madam Liu, I apologize for interrupting your morning. Have you any idea where my absent minded brother has taken himself off to?”
Madam Liu, was one of Shen Ye Zun's favorite people. She was pleasant, polite, and super-efficient. Her official position was research assistant to Professor Shen Wei. Her actual job was keeping track of him and helping him interface with the modern world since Gege was even more technologically challenged these days.
Computers and communication had advanced apace with the meeting of the innovations above and the research into forgotten technologies below through the communication network Ye Zun had created with Lin Jing. Ye Zun was of the opinion that Gege’s reluctance to become more proficient with technology was due to habit rather than actual preference for older methods of handling information. Gege claimed he thought better with a brush in his hand and, by the way, exactly who was it who had found the book detailing the creation of green crystal matrixes in the dusty back reaches of the Hall of Records?
Madam Liu functioned as a much needed intermediary between Gege and his struggle with modernity. The university had appointed her to the positon after Shen Wei mentioned they might occasionally lose him to Dixing for a decade or so. Desperate to retain access to his brain, the research it produced, and the likelihood of his being a liaison between Dragon City University and the fledgling Dixing Academies they had shoved a tech capable body at Shen Wei hoping to keep him happy and productive. At a minimum, and provided the BIR (which really meant the SID) through the work of Drs. Shen and Lin could fix the current bandwidth issues between realms they hoped they could retain him to teach remotely. It helped immeasurably that she had actually been one of Professor Shen's students back in the day, and was thus well aware of what she was letting herself in for.
“Good Morning, Dr. Shen. He was supposed to be working in his office today. Hmmm, nothing has appeared on his schedule. I did connect him with a call from the darknet earlier, a Mr. Guo.”
“Ah, that must be it. If Guo Chang Cheng made a request, Gege would have gone to meet him.”
Zhao Yun Lan and Zhu Hong sat up in tandem at the mention of Xiao Guo.
“Should I mark him out for the rest of the day, do you think? Only he had office hours scheduled for this afternoon.”
“That might be best. I’ll remind him, again, that he should keep you apprised of his whereabouts. Thank you very much Madam Liu.”
If someone wanted to get Shen Wei or Hei Pao below for whatever purpose Guo would be the easiest led and the quickest way to go about it. But that would mean that Chu Shu Zhi would had to have been gotten around or disposed of first.
“Zhao Yun Lan?” he was asking for permission. Shen Ye Zun may be at the top of the food chain in Dixing, but above ground he was answerable to the Guardian. Anything less would disappoint Gege.
Zhao Yun Lan's mind made the connections just as quickly as his genius Ghost. The conclusions were not reassuring. His jaw firmed. “Find him,” he ordered, setting Shen Ye Zun loose upon Dixing.
The Dixingren wasted no time, spreading his hands and opening a portal simultaneously. A second later he disappeared into it.
“Dammit,” Zhao cursed, “He didn’t take me. Sister Zhu help me to follow.” He stood up and reached a not quite blind hand in her direction.
“Only if you tell me what is going on,” she said as she rose to help him. “Where are we going?”
“Gateroom, I can’t call a portal so I am going to have to go through the door," he said, thankful she was willing to walk and talk. "You remember when I went blind.”
“Yes," she shivered at the memory, "Shen Wei fixed it.” Zhao Yun Lan's hold on her arm tightened a bit in reassurance.
“He fixed it by sharing his ability to see with me,” that was a fairly simplistic if easy to understand explanation. “If he does not have enough energy to maintain my sight he is in trouble.” Technically he shouldn't be dependent on Shen Wei for his sight. His Professor thought it a quirk of memory as opposed to any real need. Maintaining his own vision was something Zhao Yun Lan was supposed to be working on but, if sharing sight was going to serve as an early warning system that Shen Wei needed help, he was fully on board with totally abandoning that idea. “And we have another problem.”
Zhu Hong paused for a moment and balanced Zhao Yun Lan when he missed a step so she could crook her finger for two of her security detail to follow. Shen Wei in trouble usually required something short of an army to sort out. “Of course, that’s just the way our luck runs. What is the problem?”
“I just sent Shen Ye Zun to find him.” He tallied the hazy group forming behind them. Two of Zhu Hong's security, two of the new guys, he was sure if Daqing wasn't catting around he would be joining the mix. He really hoped the Dixingren on the other side didn't mistake them for an invasion force.
“You doubt he can do it?” she asked incredulously as they stepped into the basement room containing the only currently active doorway between Haixing and Dixing. Lin Jing was waiting for them beside what Zhu Hong hoped was a thoroughly tested control panel. This was supposed to allow SID to control Human/Yashou access to Dixing in addition to giving them the opportunity to vet the Dixingren who wanted to visit or immigrate to Haixing.
“Hell, no. But he has two settings,” Zhao Yun Lan reminded her dryly, “null or total destruction." He waggled his fingers pointedly at the gate, visible to him now only because of it's size. The gate which existed solely because Shen Ye Zun had literally torn a hole between the realms the last time someone had thought it was a good idea to lure and trap Shen Wei below.
Lin Jing finished giving his minion instructions and watched closely as the junior scientist entered the sequence to open the door. Satisfied, he nodded and took his place with the retinue of travelers.
Zhao Yun Lan took a deep breath and prepared to lead the way forward.
"If I let his brother destroy Dixing, Shen Wei will never forgive me.”