Work Text:
Scrolls clatter to the floor, waking the heavenly official who had been napping at his desk for the past half an hour. Afternoon sunshine filtered in, creating a warm and cozy environment in the cluttered workspace, hence the reason why the owner of said workspace had fallen asleep while sorting through paperwork.
Feng Xin stretched and rubbed his neck where it felt stiff from the odd sleeping position. His last assignments had required a lot of paperwork, and he already let the scrolls from a few missions ago pile up, so he set aside a day to try and complete it all in one go.
“No wonder something like this was Ling Wen’s punishment.” Feng Xin groaned. He made a pretty good dent in his work, but even that didn’t feel like an accomplishment considering how much he still had left. Why did his last mission even need this much paperwork? The issue had been solved, wasn’t that good enough? He tried scrubbing the sleep from his eyes as he picked up the next scroll and began to read it over.
Feng Xin casually tuned into the communication array while he worked, it provided good background noise, and despite some shouting that sometimes occurred, it helped him focus. He wasn’t used to sitting down and working on one thing when he was younger and protecting the prince; he much rather be up and about. So becoming a heavenly official and slowly going up in the ranks made him adapt. It’s not like he was constantly hounding the communication array like Mu Qing; paperwork wasn’t an often enough occurrence for that. He wasn’t the only official to do this too, plenty of officials casually creeped on the communication array just in case anything exciting happened.
A few small messages had come over the communication array a couple of times as he easily breezed through another scroll, but he paid them no mind till he heard a familiar calm voice.
“Excuse me, please. I’m seeking assistance on a mission in the north if someone wishes to volunteer.” Xie Lian piped up, ever so polite as usual.
With that, Feng Xin set down his current scroll and decided it was time for a break. He quickly spoke up before Xie Lian could leave. “Dianxia! You require assistance?”
“Ah, I do but-”
“I will come. Where do you need me to meet you?”
“Do you not want to hear what this mission entails before rushing in head-on?” Xie Lian sounded uneasy.
“Not necessary. You know I will help when you need me. No matter the assignment, Dianxia.”
Mu Qing’s taunting voice rang out in the array. “What a loyal dog. We’re meeting at an inn just outside the town. You’re already late. Hurry up!”
Feng Xin rolled his eyes. “Oh great, you’re coming along as well?”
“I’ve been sitting here waiting with Dianxia. You’re the one tagging along!”
“Mu Qing, please.” Xie Lian softly chided.“Yes, thank you for volunteering Feng Xin. I really appreciate it. We will wait for your arrival.”
I wonder what all that was about , Feng Xin thought as he exited the array and prepared to descend. He had never heard Xie Lian sound so uncertain about him joining him on a mission.
Once world side Feng Xin easily made it to the small inn on the outskirts of town. It was a very small town, but despite this, it was known for having a few prosperous inns that took advantage of a natural hot spring. Many travelers come through to rest and rejuvenate in these hot springs, creating a steady income for the few business owners in the area. It was a real tourist trap along a busy road.
The inn Xie Lian had chosen to meet in was a bit more run-down than the rest, probably on the cheaper side, not that the crowned prince really cared. It was obviously not an inn connected to the hot springs, so it brought in a lot less business. Feng Xin guessed they had already booked a room as their rendezvous point before and after taking care of whatever it is they needed to take care of. He headed right in and up to the front desk.
Looking around, there were no patrons out in the main room; no one having tea or melon seeds. It was completely deserted. The owner of the inn approached Feng Xin and, due to the lack of traffic, assumed he was here for the one group who was already upstairs.
“They said they were expecting one other. I assume you’re him??”
Feng Xin nodded silently.
“Up the stairs and the second door to the right.” The innkeeper gestured to his right.
“Thank you.” Feng Xin murmured and made his way up. The stairs groaned and creaked beneath his feet from lack of upkeep from the less popular little inn. From somewhere above him, he heard light chatter. It sounded like three people instead of the two he expected, and the voices sounded light like windchimes.
This confused Feng Xin, and nerves started to weigh down in his gut; something seemed off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Probably still tired from falling asleep earlier and heard incorrectly, he thought to himself. He did feel kind of groggy still and gently touched the side of his face that had been pressed against the desk during his accidental nap. Hopefully, there was no red indent still there. He didn’t need to give Mu Qing any more reasons to give him sass.
His mind wandered as he made his way down the hall. Maybe taking this mission was a mistake, he had so much work he still needed to do, and this will only make him too tired to finish it later. He could dump the work on one of his subordinates or Ling Wen, but he didn’t feel right doing that, and he would rather only use that method if he absolutely had to.
Feng Xin sighed and entered the little room where the rest of the group had been patiently waiting for him. It’s not like he would back out now after volunteering his time for Xie Lian.
He got about halfway into the room when he finally looked up. Both his heart and stomach felt like they had dropped into his feet simultaneously. These were not his friends. There had been something different about the voices he heard.
Three women sat poised at a table in the room, two wearing light-colored robes and one with darker.
Feng Xin’s brain stopped working. He was already all the way in the room with the door closed behind him, and to make things worse, his vision was currently spinning. Usually, when fight or flight set in for him, he would go with his fighting instinct, but these were women! He couldn’t fight women! They didn’t do anything wrong; he had barged into their room like a pervert!
Before he knew what he was doing, he had walked over to the first thing that looked like a second exit and took it. Idiot.
He walked right into a closet and closed the door behind him. Blood was rushing in his ears and turning his face a deep scarlet. Over the rushing, he could hear the women giggling and murmuring softly to each other. He couldn’t pick up on anything they said, but he knew they were talking about him. The strange man who decided to close himself in their closet.
Cold sweat was beginning to slide down his back. Was he in the wrong room? There was no one else in the inn, though! The second door on the right! The second door on the right!... or was it the second door on the left?? He couldn’t remember anymore, and his racing thoughts came to an abrupt stop when he noticed the closet door in front of him was jiggling.
One of the women was opening the door!! How— They didn’t just go get help??
The door slid open to reveal the woman in the darker robes standing there with a hand on her hip. She looked quite amused as Feng Xin who’s eyes were probably bugging out of his skull in shock.
“What do we have here, hm?” She said in a teasing voice.
There was something about her that seemed familiar, but Feng Xin was too busy internally combusting. The woman sauntered closer to him, pinning him in the closet so he couldn’t sneak past and escape without potentially touching her. He tried to shuffle deeper into the closet, but the back of his heels smacked against something, and he fell back onto his butt. He didn’t know what he fell onto, but it was solid enough to break his fall, and a stack of extra folded blankets came toppling down onto his head.
He heard the women laughing again as he clumsily tried to get back up, failing a few times, and lifting the blanket currently over his head so he could see. At this point, his entire being must have been glowing red from embarrassment.
The woman in the dark robes still crowded over him, and he could see the other two sitting at the table like before. One had lost her composure and was laughing hysterically behind a fan while the other covered her face in second-hand embarrassment.
“What are you doing sneaking into a woman’s room so casually? You must have a lot of nerve.” The dark robed woman smirked.
“Please. I didn’t—” Feng Xin pleaded but was quickly interrupted.
“Leave him alone.” The woman whose head was in her hands spoke up in his defense. Her voice was soft and calming with a hint of exasperation.
The dark robed woman turned back to her. “What? Big baby can’t handle a few women! I’m just reacting how any woman would! You don’t think I shouldn’t practice a bit?”
Practice? What? Feng Xin thought.
That’s when he noticed again the woman with the fan. It was the Wind Master! How did he not recognize her?? And the woman in white was wearing something very similar to Xie Lian!
Feng Xin immediately choked on his own spit at the realization. Mu Qing jumped back in surprise at the man choking.
“YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Feng Xin sputtered, properly getting to his feet.
Finally coming to his senses, he took in how his friends actually looked. Shi Qingxuan was just as he remembered, but this was the first time seeing Xie Lian and Mu Qing take on a different form.
Xie Lian looked about the same but had dropped a few inches in height, and his jaw was a little less square. He had a very soft silhouette, hips jutting out only a little more than usual, and what Feng Xin assumed were very small breasts that hid below the fabric on his chest. Xie Lian was never a fan of following Shi Qingxuan in changing his form, so it was obvious he did as little as possible. Although, Feng Xin did have to wonder if Xie Lian really held back or if he would actually look like that. Elegantly androgynous, much like his normal form.
Mu Qing, on the other hand, had dropped quite a few inches to his height that seemed to have gone straight to his hips and chest area. He had a beautiful hourglass silhouette and a bust size similar to the Wind Master’s. His usual garb was of the current women’s fashion, including a window in the front where Feng Xin could easily see Mu Qing’s cleavage spilling out. In fact, he may have been staring at them too long because, at this moment, Mu Qing waved a hand in front of his face.
“Have you recovered yet? We waited forever for you to get here, and now you’re acting like an idiot.”
“It’s not my fault! No one told me you all would be in disguise!!” Feng Xin at last pushed past Mu Qing to get out of the closet and brush himself off.
Xie Lian spoke up again. “That’s my fault. I really wanted to let you know all the details of the mission before you arrived, but we are on a tight schedule.”
“That was quite entertaining, though, you have to admit!” Shi Qingxuan laughed.
Feng Xin groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, gritting his teeth. “It’s fine, really. I will keep my promise and still help you all out.”
Mu Qing sauntered up behind him and bumped Feng Xin with his hip. Feng Xin immediately jumped back in horror.
“I will keep my promise for Dianxia only! You can fuck off!”
Mu Qing only cackled. He was having way too much fun taking advantage of Feng Xin’s obvious discomfort.
Xie Lian clapped his hands together and stood. “It’s settled then! We should leave here as soon as Feng Xin gets changed. It’s not far to the inn we need to investigate, but I can still give you a rundown of the situation on the way.”
“Oh yeah, I interrupted you earlier before I could hear what this mission was about.” Feng Xin inquired while preparing to transform.
Xie Lian went silent for a moment, looking guilty.
“What, what is it?”
Over Xie Lian’s shoulder, Feng Xin could see Shi Qingxuan and Mu Qing holding back laughter.
Xie Lian brushed a lock of hair out of the way and smiled. “Ah, there was word of a powerful spirit plaguing this area. It resides in the women’s bathhouse at the most popular inn.”
Oh.
Feng Xin should have just stayed home to finish his paperwork.