Chapter Text
Liyue’s warm breeze brushed Xingqiu’s cheeks. Peacock blue hair tickled his eyelids and golden eyes twinkled. The boy sat underneath a Sandbearer tree, its heart shaped leaves slowly drifting to the ground. Xingqiu admired a pair twirling in the air. Their golden veins glowed beneath the sunlight, the two of them danced in an enchanting movement. Though fleeting, the adepti burned the image into his memory.
It was the beginning of Fall but seasons did not matter to immortal beings such as Xingqiu. Yet he cherishes every year, for each year, stories end but new ones are born. A new year, a new season, a new story. Speaking of new stories, the latest series of The Legends Of The Guhua Clan should’ve been published by now.
Stretching his legs, Xingqiu quickly headed over to the bookstore. Upon arriving at Wanwen Bookhouse the sun has reached its highest point, which means the city will be bustling with people (citizens and foreigners alike). Slim fingers traced across the wooden shelves, flitting through the books in search of the new volume until he spotted the familiar navy blue cover. Taking it off the shelf Xingqiu rejoiced at the sight of the book in his hands. The novel smelled of cedar wood.
Immediately bringing it up to the counter, he purchased the book before heading down the red-painted stairs. Sparing a glance towards the streets below a soft ache settled in his heart.
Ah….this, this is what we fought for..
The carefree smiles of the people of Liyue, yes, this is what he sought and fought for. What the adepti and Rex Lapis fought for. A sorrowful sort of joy settled within him, stirring him on the inside, thus he quickly escaped to Wuwan hill to enjoy his book in peace. No one comes to the place during the day after all.
Xingqiu skidded over to the worn down pavilion near the hidden domain, with a few swipes he dusted off any grime that settled over time before sitting. He glanced at the spirit flames and cicins whizzing around with an amused grin. Slender fingers carefully unfurled the pages, he first traced the textured surface of the paper and how the faint smell of wood calmed him. Blinking away the excitement, Xingqiu, now more relaxed, enthusiastically began reading. His butterscotch eyes glazing over each character, absolutely entranced by the writing.
It wasn’t until he was already half way through the book when a disturbance broke Xingqiu out of his fantasies. A grimy feeling inched up his spine as he felt something malicious, dangerous, and sinister near the abandoned village nearby.
“What a hostile spirit,” The adeptus softly shook his head. Pouting slightly, Xingqiu never found himself to be the picky type but the spirit’s quite obvious baleful energy will naturally interrupt the reading. Thus, Xingqiu made up his mind. “I guess I’ll have to take care of it.”
Dealing with the remnants of the dead, especially malicious ones, was no stranger to Xingqiu. He’s done it hundreds of times before, albeit it was a few decades ago. It’s fine— He told himself. Indeed it was because soon after he left his spot the ominous aura quickly faded.
Hmm?
Did it detect Xingqiu and quickly fled?
Surely his skills couldn’t have rusted this much to be detected by such an amateur spirit.
A bit dumbfounded when the evil spirit’s presence vanished completely Xingqiu hurried over to the edge of the cliff. There, he saw a group of young children (probably around ten to twelve years old).
‘Why on Teyvat would children come to this place?’ He found himself pondering.
Ah but Xingqiu didn’t let the gradually large area of Yang energy go undetected. Like a protective shield or more like a comfortable embrace it encircled the group of kids. That’s what scared the evil spirit away, he concluded. Now, who would be emitting such strong Yang energy? He scanned the kids, there were 3 of them, two having dark ombre hair and one of them standing out with his fluffy, sky blue locks.
Xingqiu couldn't properly pinpoint who contained the energy, and as an adeptus changing his form is a piece of cake. Sending a bit of adeptul energy coursing through him, his appearance soon changed from a young man to the image of a small child. Satisfied with the outcome, the now-boy approached the others.
“Xiangling! Why’d you bring us here? This place is crawling with frogs and it gives me the creeps too….” Xinyan complained, her copper eyes scanning their surroundings while in a stance as if she would run away the moment she saw the amphibian.
Xiangling in turn giggled. “Oh relax Xinyan! You’re just paranoid! Plus, didn’t we promise we’d help Chongyun find a spirit to exorcise?”
The mentioned boy, Chongyun, squirmed when the attention was then directed at him.
Xinyan whined. “Chongyun, now that we’re here do you…ya know, are there any ghosts?” Her eyes shook, but most likely not from the eerie destination but from the potential frogs inhabiting the nearby swamp instead. “If..if there aren’t any, can we jus’ leave? Please?”
Chongyun’s eyes scanned their surroundings again with a face of disappointment. He sighed. “I don’t see any evil spirits around here,” he pouted dejectedly, “Xiangling let’s go back. We can try again next time.”
Xiangling grumbled before sporting her signature ‘sunshine’ smile. “Alright! Once we get home, want to try my new recipe?” She said with seemingly stars in her eyes. Chongyun and Xinyan both eyed each other with an iffy expression, they silently prayed it doesn’t contain a weird ingredient Xiangling found in the wild. Slime condensate meals looked too gross for them to form an appetite no matter how tasty it was.
“Hi~~” A young voice containing a rasp rang from behind them.
“HIIIIK!” Xinyan squealed before bolting off. Xiangling, in a fit of shock, chased after her leaving Chongyun behind. The boy in question stared wearily at the new kid. The boy had cerulean hair with abnormal bangs where one lock was longer than the rest. He had cor lapis coloured eyes, although a bit dull and the outfit he wore was definitely one of a rich, young master. Just what could this mysterious boy want?
He scratched the back of his head, “Well, that was awkward heh…uhm….I go by Xingqiu, how about you my liege?” Xingqiu moved closer to Chongyun with an outstretched hand. The latter’s ice blue eyelashes fluttered a few times before reciprocating the hand shake with uncertainty.
The young exorcist shifted his parasol, “Hello, my name is Chongyun,” A thin layer of sweat began forming on his temple as he felt Xingqiu’s intense stare bore into him with their hands still intertwined. “Well, bye now,” Giving a small bow, Chongyun ran after the others in haste.
“Wha— HEY! Wait!” Xingqiu shouts, running after the other. Unfortunately, it seems his advancement only made Chongyun speed up.
‘How can a human adolescent run so fast with such short legs!’ He huffed, Xingqiu wasn’t tired, in fact his stamina had barely depleted but he was irritated with how slow he was because his legs were significantly smaller.
“Oh Morax…” Xingqiu muttered a curse.
Although athletic, Chongyun was still a child and he was running from an adepti in disguise so naturally Xingqiu quickly closed the distance between them within seconds, “I told you to stop-wha—WAIT WATCH OUT-!” Chongyun suddenly stopped but with the momentum Xingqiu was going it was inevitable they would crash.
The two yelped in unison as they tumbled down the grass hill. Xingqiu eventually crashed into the wall of a cliff with Chongyun smacking into him. The two of them hissed in pain from the cuts that germinated.
‘Shit’
The two would have many nasty bruises by tomorrow.
Golden eyes quickly inspected the young boy, “A-are you okay?” Chongyun brushed off the debris from his cloud-like hair. Xingqiu had an urge to run his hand through it . He whimpered, his face was smeared with dirt and the white outfit he wore was dirtied in dust and grime. Miraculously, his parasol came out unharmed rolling only a few feet away from them.
Chongyun pushed himself off of Xingqiu before helping him up. “I’m sorry…” That made Xingqiu confused. Why would he say sorry? Shouldn’t he be mad at Xingqiu instead?
“Why are you apologizing? I’m the one that chased you and crashed into you!” He beckoned.
“But..I’m the one that stopped and and if I had listened and stopped running we wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” Ah crap. Chongyun began sniffling.
“N-nonsense! Like I said, I spooked you and I know I was acting pretty creepy back there so your reaction is justified! So don’t apologize!”
“Ok..why were you chasing me in the first place?” Chongyun recovered fast, so fast Xingqiu was sceptical if the kid exorcist who was on the verge of crying a few seconds ago was all an act.
“Well, I wanted to be your friend of course!” Cheeks heating up slightly, he had never so enthusiastically asked to befriend someone, especially a human child of all things, but close up like this Xingqiu is 100% sure the strong yang energy was coming from Chongyun. He almost felt pity, everybody knows you’re meant to have a balanced yin and yang energy but this boy’s yang energy is overloaded. He couldn’t imagine how much difficulty the kid had to endure in his short life.
Chongyun flushed a bit. Oh? Was he perhaps not used to people wanting to be his friend?
“Is that so, well sure we can be friends. Uhm, if you want I’m heading over to Liyue harbour for dinner…Xiangling, uh the one wearing orange. Her dad owns a restaurant so if you want,,,” Chongyun mumbled, playing with his fingers.
Xingqiu beamed. “Of course! It will be my pleasure!” Hopping over to the parasol, the adeptus in disguise picked it up and handed it over to the icy boy. “Here.”
“Thankyou, Xingqiu.”
A giggle. “No need for thanks, this is what friends do! We help each other out! Now quickly let’s go to the restaurant, I am famished!” Expressing it further by rubbing his stomach and pouting, Xingqiu grabbed Chongyun’s wrist. “Lead the way Chongyun!”
He had a feeling the incoming years would be very interesting.
It wasn’t long until they found the two girls who ran off ahead. It seems after realizing their companion wasn’t with them they came back. Xingqiu supposed it saved them the trouble of looking for the two, but he couldn’t shake off the disappointment of having his time with Chongyun interrupted.
Xingqiu slapped away the thought. Internally lecturing himself.
What are you thinking? You’re jealous of kids hanging out with their friends? You’re a thousands years old adeptus be more mature!
Oh
Is hanging out with children making the honourable adeptus age regress?
Oh.
Xiangling’s call was loud enough to snap him out from his semi internal crisis. “Chongyun! Are you okay? I-I didn’t mean to leave you behind!” Chongyun who was beside him wore a small smile which may or may not have tugged at Xingqiu’s heart strings.
“Don’t worry about it Xiangling, I’m fine, see?” The boy, with hands outstretched, did a displaying motion on himself.
“Well that’s good to hear, but who’s this fellow you’ve brought with?” Xinyan inquired. Her sharp eyes squinting at the clear rich-kid energy Xingqiu carried. Xingqiu cautiously waved and gave a small smile which he hoped was welcoming. It didn’t seem to work though because Xinyan only frowned and moved a few steps away.
A tug on his sleeves made Xingqiu’s attention diverted back to Chongyun. “This is my friend Xingqiu, I found him soon after you guys left.”
Friend. Right, Xingqiu and Chongyun are friends now. Even though he was the one that initiated it it seems genuinely being called someone’s friend stirred up pleasant but sorrowful memories. Maybe, just maybe, Xingqiu can find the same solace from decades ago amongst his new human friends .
“A pleasure to meet you, Xingqiu, at your service my liege.”
Xinyan raised an eyebrow at his sophisticated way of speaking. Yup, they definitely think he belongs in a rich family now.
“Name’s Xinyan, and she’s Xiangling and ya already know Chongyun.” A nonchalant tone was used to reply to him but it held no malice.
“Ah! You’re the one that ran away after I said hi!” He pointed, acting much more childish than he’d liked but A. He’s in the form of a child and B. It was amusing.
Xinyan’s face immediately reddened, barely noticeable on her dark skin. Poofy hair which sprouted from her head like flower buds shook as she ran to Xiangling. Xingqiu couldn’t help but notice the large spikes decorating them.
“X, Xiangling, this guy’s a creep,” The two girls latched onto each other.
“Come on Xinyan, how is he a creep?”
“How? He crept up on us in that creepy village, chased us, and is now reminding me about that-that embarrassing moment!” Amber pupils shook. Xinyan looked seriously offended here. Ah…Maybe Xingqiu went too far.
Mustering up the most apologetic look ever. “I’m sorry Xinyan, I didn’t mean to frighten you, I only wished to be your friend,” That….should do the trick now right?
Indeed it was as Xinyan slowly walked towards him, bowing her head slightly.
“I’m sorry as well, I do come off a bit strong at times but I’d love to be your friend!” A large grin which was then blocked by the beaming sunshine of Xiangling.
“I can be your friend too! I can too! By the way, wanna come eat at my family’s restaurant? It’s the best in all of Liyue!” She practically screamed into his ears. Xingqiu liked her enthusiasm though, seriously, how did these two become friends with Chongyun who is the complete opposite? Teal strands concealed aureate eyes as they side glanced at Chongyun. He was looking at a tree nearby, Xingqiu noted. Looking up as well, he could see a bird nest and a blue bird. Did Chongyun perhaps like the colour blue? It’s certainly a possibility with how much blue Chongyun wears although it’s mainly dominated by white.
Xiangling jumps between them, no, not walk, literally jump. “OIIII! You two! We need to hurry back if we want to eat the food before it gets cold!” She huffed before placing her fists on her hips. Chongyun smiled awkwardly at him.
“Sorry about her, Xiangling gets intense when it comes to food.”
“Well of course! Food is the meaning of life! It’s what keeps us alive and happy! Now come quickly!” Before either of the three could protest, Xiangling took off. Akin to before but with their roles reversed, it was Xinyan who chased after Xiangling and the two left behind followed closely after them.
—
The children who stood out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the civilians thanks to their colourful clothes quickly approached the popular restaurant known as Wanmin restaurant. The chef managing the small place took notice of the approaching group. Seeing his daughter at the head of the line, chef Mao could swore he felt a blood vein bulge on his temple.
“Mao Xiangling.” Uh oh, he whipped out the full name. “What time is it?” Xiangling’s face instantly turned pale. Her usually rosy complexion was now haggard. She squeaked.
“Y, yes dad?” Xingqiu could hear her audibly gulp.
Xiangling’s father, Chef Mao, looked at his daughter disapprovingly before he continued. “It is past closing time. You had me worried sick, where were you?!”
“W, we were by the village near Wuwan hill….” The young chef glanced at Xinyan to avoid eye contact from her furious dad. The latter frowned.
“Wuwan hill?! That creepy ol’ place? Don’t you know how dangerous it is? Everybody knows there are ruin machines and lawachurl sightings there!” He lectured, absolutely furious. Chongyun could see chef Mao’s usual skin tone go through three different shades of red as if he’s eaten spicy food for a whole day.
Xiangling whined, she poked at her braids. “Ah dad I’m sorry but can we not talk about this right now? We have mouths to feed!” She gestures towards the three around her. To this, Chef Mao could only sigh before beckoning the group to come closer.
“Hello Xinyan, Chongyun, and….” Xingqiu blinked at Chef Mao a few times before introducing himself. “And Xingqiu. I’ve never seen you before but I hope you become good friends with this child.” He side-eyed Xiangling.
The adeptus in disguise put on a smile. “Of course sir!” Although his real attention was really just befriending Chongyun, what comes and goes I guess.
The adult beamed. “Enough chit chatting shall I whip up dinner?” It wasn’t even a question, it was a need. Everybody vigorously nodded their heads to which Xiangling’s father immediately grabbed ingredients and tools off of shelves before getting to work. Soon, the wafting fragrance of balanced, healthy, and delightful dishes filled the air. Xingqiu, who’s eaten many luxurious foods before, couldn’t help but drool. Home cooking really was the best.
They were starving when everything was finally prepared. It definitely didn’t help that the whole room smelled like a lovable and delicious warm meal, so when chef Mao came out of the kitchen carrying a few trays of fried fish, black-back perch stew, adeptus’ temptation, and full moon eggs, it was basically a blessing.
While admiring the variety of dishes, Xingqiu felt a tug on his sleeves. “Xingqiu, are you not gonna eat?” There was Chongyun, with his cheeks already full with rice and other food. He smiled.
“Ah yes, I was just admiring our meal,” It was true of course but now the only thing on his mind was how cute Chongyun looked with his face stuffed. Round cheeks like a hamster, Xingqiu could literally combust. “By the way Chongyun, are you not going to eat the fried fish? It’s heavenly.”
Chongyun looked troubled. He mumbled a few times when Xingqiu shoved a piece of fried fish into the former’s mouth. Xingqiu smiled while the girls beside them gaped, the adeptus could immediately feel something was off.
“Uhm…what’s wrong?” Xiangling stared at him, amused and scared-no…worried. Uh.
Chongyun stood up immediately, so fast the table shook slightly. His face was heated and he looked florid.
Ah
Chongyun has an abundance of yang energy, someone of his age couldn't possibly have had it under control now so generally anything that invokes a strong reaction to the host is avoided. Ah….shit.
How could he forget about such an important fact?!? Was Xingqiu actually age regressing by being around these three kids? Is this the unknown power of human adolescents? Scary…
—
It was amusing Xingqiu had to admit, seeing this small human create such a ruckus. Yup, spicy food or anything hot in general for Chongyun will result in him like this, duly noted. Chongyun, immediately after consuming the spicy food Xingqiu fed him became hyper active, it was extremely chaotic where even Chef Mao could do nothing. Xingqiu, being the one responsible for the whole situation is now currently bringing the other bluenette to bed.
Chef Mao had reasoned that perhaps some rest in some cooled bed sheets would help alleviate some of the effects of the over abundance of yang energy. Fortunately it did, Chongyun was now currently lying on top of the bed, snuggling into the cold pillow. Although he squirmed a bit here and there, the bluenette didn’t give any indication of springing up like a wraith and causing havoc.
Xingqiu grinned softly before turning around to leave. Chongyun grumbled uncomfortably which caused the adeptus to swerve his head back. Quickly rushing to him, Xingqiu placed his pale palm over Chongyun’s forehead where it was sweating a lot. His pupils dilated. Chongyun’s temperature was so hot! Did he catch a fever?!
Oh no what should he do? A part of Xingqiu reasoned to go downstairs to notify the others, but another part screamed at him to help the child. However, if one of the people downstairs thought they were staying upstairs for too long they might walk in on the treatment. Aiya..
“So difficult…” Mumbling, Xingqiu glanced at Chongyun squirming in pain. He sighed before placing his hand directly above Chongyun’s face which was twisted in discomfort. The palm of his hand began glowing a soft, faint blue glow. Soon, the healing properties kicked in and Chongyun’s expression instantly relaxed. A few more seconds pass before Xingqiu retracts his hand. As long as the boy was no longer in heavy discomfort everything should be fine. Thanks to that, he left the room for Chongyun to rest properly.
So….hot…….
It hurts…make it stop…..
My head..ugh.
Hot..hot.hot….it’s..hot…..burning……
Please….stop..
Ah….
Warm…
Cool…..
Cold..
It’s..comforting….
My body feels light…
I’m sleepy…
The feeling is gone….?
Please come back…
…
Chongyun awoke to the distant sounds of early birds chirping and spreading their songs. He knew they were probably the finches that found a nest on the roof. Memories from last night were murky and cloudy, he couldn’t recall anything except for vague memories and a certain comfort he felt. He forgot the feeling though, which disappointed him greatly. Chongyun concluded his yang energy must have gotten triggered again, how? He couldn’t remember.
Chongyun sank his face into pale palms. Groaning. When will he finally learn to control his Yang energy? Hopefully soon, he doesn’t know how long he can endure his situation before finally snapping.
That soothing feeling last night, like a cool embrace…what was it? The sunlight reflected off of icy blue hair and cat-like eyes. Lashes fluttered open and closed. Chongyun exited the guest room, as expected he was the first awake aside from Chef Mao who’s already up and readying the restaurant.
Chongyun had a feeling, a feeling that perhaps his life will take a very interesting turn that will change his life forever.