Chapter Text
Fu Xuan was enjoying (in her opinion) a very well-deserved break when Jing Yuan flagged her down. She set down her tea cup and raised her eyebrow. (sus emoji)
“Ah! Fu Xuan. A delight to see you here!” The General smiled and cocked his head to the side. “What are you doing?”
“We both know you don’t care for the answer.” Fu Xuan said, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.
“Insightful as ever. Can you read my mind?” Jing Yuan laughed. Fu Xuan was unamused. He cleared his throat. “Here’s the thing…ever since Yanqing ran off to look for Blade, I’ve been wary of leaving him by himself.”
“And you want me to look after him.” Fu Xuan sighed. Jing Yuan nodded his head in agreement. “Bring him to the Divination Commission. I have…preparations to make. What is it that you need to be alone for?”
The General scratched his neck, and a wobbly smile spread across his face. Fu Xuan was going to puke. “You know of Welt Yang? One of the Nameless. He-”
“You need not continue. I neither have time nor interest.” Fu Xuan said matter-of-factly. Jing Yuan looked a little hurt, but she didn’t really care.
---
So. Here's the thing.
Yanqing’s not exactly the best with social cues. He knows that - Sushang already makes fun of him enough for it (though he thinks she can’t really be talking). Still, he’s not completely inept either. He likes to think he’s pretty good at reading people he’s close to.
His amazing observation skills and cunning intellect have pointed him to a rather concerning conclusion:
Something’s off with the General.
Now, Yanqing knows that there's always something wrong with the General. He is an old man after all, so one day he’s either having back pain and then the other he’s embarrassing Yanqing (in front of his fellow Cloud Knights no less)! But these problems are things Yanqing can manage.
But now, he genuinely has no clue what’s going on with the General, so in true genius fashion, he starts by listing everything first before making a hypothesis.
First, the General has been…oddly productive? While Yanqing will always defend his dad’s, ahem, the General’s honor, he will privately admit that man doesn’t have the best work ethic. Usually the man sleeps around and pushes his work off until the night. Now, the case is different.
It seems Jing Yuan actually wants to do paperwork - and he does it super fast too. It’s almost as if he’s trying to squeeze in more time for…something.
When he asks Madam Yukong about this, her lips curl into a knowing smile.
“Maybe he’s working on improving himself,” she had said, though Yanqing has a feeling she didn’t tell him her full thoughts. “I know I tried to impress Caiyi with how fast I could get things done.” She looks to the sky. Yanqing follows her eyes but sees nothing there.
Second, the General seems preoccupied all the time. The man has suddenly started to bring his phone with him everywhere , which is surprising since, being old and all, he can barely operate it. Whenever his phone dings, he stops what he’s doing and checks it.
Even when the phone doesn’t ring, Jing Yuan’s always checking it as if he’s waiting for something.
He relays this fact to Qingzu, who simply shakes her head and smiles when he tells her. “Let him have his fun,” she had said. Yanqing isn’t really sure what she meant by that.
Third, the General has been sneaking off.
Whenever Jing Yuan finishes his work, he quietly leaves to some random place and doesn’t come until the evening. Yanqing has to admit, the General’s smile when he comes back home is nice to see. But that doesn’t negate the fact that the General is sneaking off without telling Yanqing anything!
That’s all he’s really observed, and to his frustration, he can’t think of a single reason to explain why he’s acting this way. So he recruits help.
That evening, he corners Sushang and Guinaifen at Aurum Alley and tells them everything.
The two stare at him for a moment before laughing. It’s not a pretty sound. He’s sure that some of the people there turn to look at them with concern.
“Oh, Yanqing,” Sushang says, “you really are stupid!”
Yanqing sputters at that, glaring up at her. “Am not!”
“Are too!”
“Oh, leave him be, Sushang,” Guinaifen says with a laugh. “You’re so adorable, Yanqing.”
“And stupid,” Sushang adds helpfully with a smile.
“Ah, he’ll figure it out eventually.”
“Really? Look at him. He kinda is blind to the obvious? He still doesn't know about Qingque and Lady Fu Xuan, or us for that matter.”
“You? What do you mean? Have you guys fallen out?” His response only makes the girls laugh harder. He winces at the sound.
“See,” Sushang says, “stu-pid!”
“You’re one to talk!” He says in response, which makes Sushang stick out her tongue at him.
Guinaifen just shakes her head. “Adorable.”
Yanqing feels his face heat up so he storms out of the alley, away from the two who were laughing like maniacs. So, he still doesn’t know anything. Great. Unbeknownst to him, the girls trail behind.
As Yanqing is mulling this new information in his head, a servant he knows well runs up to him. He’s heaving from all the running. “The…huff…general…told me to deliver a message to you.” He straightened himself and sighed. “You are to report to the Master Diviner at the Divination Commission.”
“The General couldn’t tell me himself?” Yanqing asks, his suspicions growing once more. Oh yeah, the General is definitely hiding something.
“He has already left -” The servant starts.
“For what?” Yanqing is so close to the servant there is barely an inch between them. This is it. He’s kickstarting his detective arc.
“Uh…It’s classified.” The servant pushes Yanqing back. “I have some work to get back to, I trust you will follow the General’s instructions?”
Yanqing squints, severely contemplating. “O-kay.” he huffs after a while, confusion evident in his voice.
He hears muffled snorts of laughter behind him, turning around to see Guinaifen and Sushang behind.
“Oh my god!” Guiniafen says, crouching down to Yanqing’s level. “Did you figure it out?”
“Of course he didn’t, Little Gui,” Sushang says, fake empathy in her voice. “He’s stupid.”
“So true,” Guinaifen says, patting Yanqing’s head.
Embarrassed, Yanqing takes his super-secret-powerful sword plush from his pocket and throws it at Guinaifen’s face. The girl chokes at this, caught between utter disbelief and amusement.
Yanqing turns and runs the other way. He needs better friends.
---
“That much is fine.” Fu Xuan nods in approval. Qingque sighs from relief, the box the Master Diviner has been making her heave around is huge.
“Right at the entrance? What is this even for?” Qingque can’t help but wonder aloud.
“Not what, but who. Ah, here he is now.” Fu Xuan smiles at the boy who is running up to them, his ponytail bouncing up and down. This statement clears nothing up for Qingque.
“Hello Lady Fu!” He smiles brightly. “And Qingque!”
“Ahem. That’s Miss Qingque.” Fu Xuan reprimands. Yanqing smiles sheepishly. “Anyways, I brought this special box for you.”
“Ooh. What’s inside?” Yanqing’s eyes light up.
“Qingque? Will you open it?” Fu Xuan asks. Qingque does as she’s told.
“It’s just a normal box.” Qingque muses. “I don’t get it.” Fu Xuan gestures for Yanqing to step inside. Once he does, she requests for Qingque to close it.
“Now what happens?” Yanqing asks, his voice muffled.
“You stay there, safe and sound, until the General comes back. I’m going to get my tea, so Qingque will stay with you until I come back.”
“HUH?” Yanqing starts banging on the box.
Qingque winces. “Why me?”
“Well you’re the only one I trust enough.” Fu Xuan says. Was that a sliver of a smile Qingque saw?
“Well, when you put it that way…” Qingque looks at the ground.
“LET ME OUT! I DON’T WANT TO LISTEN TO THIS ANYMORE!”
---
March, despite Dan Heng’s arguments, is a very smart, talented, and hard-working detective. When she’s on a case, she always solves it immediately. Dan Heng likes to say that just because she makes up a story to explain it doesn’t mean it’s done. But March knows her worth.
A little after she joined the express, she found mysterious coffee cups in the trash. Detective March took the case and figured out it was Welt throwing away Himeko’s coffee in the span of just ten minutes!
Or, or, that time when Stelle and Dan Heng started to act strange. She unveiled their secret gaming club within a day! She still isn’t sure why they were playing with that Stellaron Hunter though.
Point is, March is a very seasoned detective. Whenever there’s a problem on the express, that’s when her deduction skills shine. And she’s been alerted by her amazing side-kick Stelle of a new, VERY mysterious problem: Mr. Yang.
Okay, March isn’t saying that Mr. Grandpa is the problem, but rather that he has a problem. Okay, and March knows that he has back problems, but that’s not what she’s talking about!
She’s talking about his very…suspicious behavior. See, Mr. Yang is usually kind of emo. Like Dan Heng! But, recently, Mr. Yang’s been…weirdly happy.
Don’t take March the wrong way. Seeing the old man happy is great, but he’s only happy when he’s with his phone?! March suspects he may be turning into a teenager.
He always spends his time shopping when they stop at certain planets, buying little trinkets that she knows he doesn’t like. These trinkets always seem to vanish when they visit the Loufu.
Speaking of the Loufu, it’s kind of weird how Mr. Yang kind of just…disappears whenever they visit, He leaves them with Himeko and goes off doing his own thing. March asked Himeko about this once, and, though the woman said nothing in response, a small smile graced her lips. And even if Himeko has a pretty smile, she was not helping March one bit.
Anyway, after gathering all her evidence, March comes to a slightly worrying conclusion. She gathers Dan Heng and Stelle in the main car one day and tells them about this.
Dan Hengs blinks for a second. “I’m sorry,” he says, “you think Mr. Yang is drug dealing?”
“And he tells me that eating trash isn’t good for me” Stelle rolls her eyes.
“...That’s a separate matter.” Dan Heng clears his throat.
“How so? My trash doesn’t deserve that kind of slander! Trash is-”
“Hey! Listen to me!” March waves her hand in front of the other two. “This is important!”
Stelle was about to open her mouth but Dan Heng beat her to the punch. “March, while I do agree he is acting strange I don’t think he is drug dealing.”
“What could it be then?” March sighs, sinking into the couch.
“I don’t think we should rule out meeting someone in private though.” Stelle says, suddenly switching from a trash fanatic to a being with common sense.
“Maybe it’s-” Before Dan Heng could finish his hypothesis, a sultry voice called out to the trio. The lights in the train went off.
“Now, now, don’t jump to conclusions…” Stelle felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Kafka?” Stelle asked, shocked but honestly not surprised.
“You.” Dan Heng drew his spear. March drew her bow.
“Woah woah! I’m not here to hurt you. I’m not even here for business! Today, I come as Kafka, not a Stellaron Hunter. Shocking, eh?” Kafka smiled as she said this, while the trio side eyed each other warily. “By the way…where’s Himeko?”
“Could you have been any less obvious?” March asked.
“Hmm…I don’t know what your talking about. Could you just point me in her direction? You know, I’m here to help her.”
“Do you think Kafka is Mr. Yang’s seller?” March whispered.
“No, I think Mr. Yang is actually -” Dan Heng was interrupted again.
“Ah! Himeko! Lovely as ever!” Kafka said obnoxiously loud. Just what was she doing?
Himeko’s eyes narrowed as she stepped between Kafka and the trio. Kafka smiled even wider, earning a sigh from Himeko. “If you’re here, you must have something important to say. Spit it out, and leave.”
“Aw, you’re breaking my heart! I didn’t know a rose’s thorns were so sharp! But actually I’m not here for any…particular reason. Elio said you’d be handling something fun today.”
“We actually don’t have anything planned.” Stelle scratched her neck.
“I was talking to Himeko.” Kafka said, somehow staring deeper into her eyes.
“Himeko?” Dan Heng turned to her. “What is she talking about?”
“I truly have no clue.” Himeko shook her head, stealing a glance at Kafka.
Kafka laughed. “Well Miss Navigator, I’m at your service today.”
“Not sure I’ll need it…” Himeko said.
“Oh, you will. Elio said so.” Kafka was so close to her, their noses almost touched.
“Um, maybe we should go to March’s room to talk.” Dan Heng said, pulling the other two with him. Kafka waved her hand at them dismissively.