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Chapter Text

“You traitor!” the man screamed, rage filling every part of voice. Hit with a burst of wind, Yanqing was sent flying, back hitting some sort of barrier before he fell to the ground. “How could it have come to this?” the man questioned, anguish joining the rage in his voice, as he ran forward with a speed that Yanqing had only previously seen from Feixiao, yet, despite appearing in front of the boy in an instant, Yanqing was able to lift his sword and block the oncoming swing. The force in which their swords clashed reverberated through all the bones in Yanqing’s torso, causing him to shudder in slight pain. Where were his other swords? Yanqing couldn’t find them, he only had his main sword, Yanzhou, with him, but the blade felt… disconnected from him, despite it still working reliably alongside him. Left with no other option, and not having the strength to push the man away, especially with his opponent practically on top of him, Yanqing summoned jagged swords made of ice and sent them towards the man’s back. In order to dodge the oncoming attack, the man was forced to break his stalemate with Yanqing and jump back. Yanqing cursed as, with the man out of the way, the ice swords were now hurtling towards him. Yanqing was adept at using his ice to coat and control multiple swords at once. Though using and controlling swords made purely of ice was a different challenge, Yanqing was usually in great control of his power, yet, this time, the ice swords refused to listen to the qi that usually commanded it. Sitting down, with his back against the barrier and several ice swords speeding towards him, Yanqing had no time or space to dodge; the boy raised Yanzhou to defend himself from the blades of his own making. He deflected 1 ice sword, two ice swords, 3 ice swords, before letting out a sharp inhale as the 4^th impaled his side. Despite the pain, Yanqing managed to deflect the 5^th, only for the 6^th to stab his arm.

Yanqing grunted as he pulled the two swords out, leaving them haphazardly on the ground. It wasn’t wise to pull out an object that had made a deep wound, but Yanqing healed fast, and the ice was just so, so cold. Like most ice users, Yanqing had an increased resistance to low temperatures, the temperature of his and others’ ice had never bothered him before, but now, impaled with his own icy blades, the piercing cold bit at his wounds, numbing the surrounding area yet engendering pain, nonetheless.

Yanqing finally rose to his feet, looking around for his opponent who had disappeared from his line of sight. “How pathetic” he heard the man say. Yanqing turned to the direction of the voice but saw nothing “you slander THEIR name, fight THEIR divine creations, join those who want to kill THEM for THEIR gift, yet you still rely on THEIR blessing to fight.” Yanqing gritted his teeth and sent an uncontrolled blast of ice in the direction the voice was coming from. “You’re a hypocrite!” the man exclaimed, realisation coating his voice. “You’re a hypocrite, and there’s nothing worse!” despite the harsh words, the man sounded almost excited and eager.

Yanqing ran towards the direction of the voice, sword in hand, when, suddenly, the ground fractured beneath him and he fell into the void beneath him; down, down, down, Yanqing felt like his decent would never stop. Occasionally, he would pass by a flash of pale yellow, but it would disappear before he could get a good look at it. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of falling, Yanqing’s body came to a sudden holt; not due to the presence of ground, rather, his body suddenly stopped mid-air, levitating. It was as if there were string attached to his back, holding him up, face down in a lying position. However, the levitation was the least of Yanqing’s worries, as, right in front of his face, the boy found a head. The head seemed to belong to a woman, her hair, a pale yellow, ended at the same point the head ended. Yanqing let out a slow, shaky breath and his head flinched backwards; the rest of his body completely immobilised. At Yanqing’s movement, the head’s eyes and mouth snapped open. It stared through Yanqing and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Yanqing shot up with a scream, eyes immediately landing on a man with a guandao raised, seemingly poised to attack. Instinctively, Yanqing sent several swords at the man who deflected them all. Yanqing clutched his chest in pain and started scratching at his neck. His lungs felt tight; it felt as if he was breathing through a tiny straw. If not for the small clouds of air that he saw coming out of his mouth, Yanqing would be certain he wasn’t able to breathe at all. Despite his asphyxiation, Yanqing once again prepped himself to attack, only to be interrupted by a voice.

“Calm down” the man ordered, his voice steady but still showing hints of panic. Yanqing froze at the voice, instantly recognising it’s owner.

“Can’t breathe” Yanqing rasped, desperately trying to convey the situation he was in.

“Yes, you can” Jing Yuan stated, dismissing his guandao as he walked towards the boy. Yanqing managed to shoot his mentor an bewildered look. Surely if he were able to breathe, he wouldn’t be struggling to do so. The man sat next to the boy and placed his hand on Yanqing’s back “just focus on my breathing”. Jing Yuan made his breaths slow and exaggerated and it wasn’t long before Yanqing started to follow his rhythm, making deep inhales and slow exhales. Jing Yuan slowly counted to 10. By the time he got to 7, Yanqing’s breathing had almost completely stabled out. “Are you alright?” the man asked. Yanqing nodded, still too focused on breathing to speak.

Suddenly, Yanqing spotted a hint of red in the corner of his eye. The red was on his arm, yet his arm wasn’t the source of the red.

“You’re bleeding” Yanqing noted. Though Jing Yuan seemed mostly unharmed, Yanqing saw two gashes on the man: one on his arm, another on his side.

“It’s nothing serious” Jing Yuan assured. “It might need to be bandaged, but other than that, it’ll heal on its own quite quickly”.

Jing Yuan was right, the cuts were small, but the seriousness of the cuts weren’t what the boy was worried about. The man had been hit in roughly the same places Yanqing had been hit in his dream. Yanqing had woken up in a frozen room to the man holding his guandao. Jing Yuan was ready to defend himself against the attack Yanqing instinctively sent at him. On the floor lay shattered icicles. Surrounding Jing Yuan’s wounds was a thin layer of frost, blood mixing in, turning the pinkish hue red. No, the severity of Jing Yuan’s wounds was not what Yanqing was worried about.

“Did I hurt you?” Yanqing whispered, voice shaking. Despite it being phrased like a question, both he and Jing Yuan knew that Yanqing already knew the answer.

Jing Yuan gave Yanqing a small, soft, comforting smile “it’s not your fault. You didn’t mean to”.

Chapter Text

Jing Yuan awoke in the middle of the night (or maybe it was early morning) to a chill in the air. With alarm, he noted that, despite it being summer, his breath was as visible as it would be in winter. Jing Yuan frowned. Even in his sleep riddled state, he knew that there were only 4 potential reasons for such a sudden change in temperature:

1. Something like a Stelleron was causing abnormal weather changes
2. There was an error with the Luofu’s artificial weather system
3. Yanqing was using his ice powers
4. There was an intruder in the house using ice powers

Jing Yuan immediately ruled out reasons 1 and 2. The Stelleron on the Luofu had been sealed and was heavily guarded. Even if the Stelleron was unsealed and another Stelleron joined it, there wouldn’t be such a drastic change in temperature so soon- Jarilo IV entered its ice age years after the initial Stelleron burst- nor would change in temperature be the first and only symptom of the Cancer of All Worlds. As for the Luofu’s weather system, it had many protocols and fail-safes to prevent this exact situation. If anything did happen, then Jing Yuan would be notified before the situation got this bad. That left options 3 and 4. Both were plausible, yet both were concerning. Yanqing would not use his ice, especially to such a degree, for no reason. It was quite possible that 3 and 4 combined into one situation: a skilled intruder broke in and Yanqing was fighting them. Yet, Jing Yuan noted, he did not hear the chaotic sounds of weapons clashing or yells that would be indicative of a fight Yanqing was a part of.

Jing Yuan grabbed his guandao and started to leave his room to investigate. He went to open the door but immediately recoiled as the ice-cold metal of the doorknob burnt his hand. Jing Yuan tried again, this time prepared for the biting pain. It took a considerable amount of effort to open the door, the man concluded that his door was slightly frozen shut. When the door eventually gave way, Jing Yuan’s eyes widened as he lay his eyes on the scene outside of his door. Ice and frost with a unique pink hue covered the hallway, with the ice thickening the closer it was to Yanqing’s room. It would appear that the boy was indeed the source of the sudden chill.

It took Jing Yuan longer than he would like to admit to run to Yanqing’s room. The ice and frost coating the floor of the hallway had hindered the man’s ability to run, instead causing him to slip and skid on his way to the boy.

Upon reaching Yanqing’s door, Jing Yuan was met with a massive blockade of ice. The ice seemed to trap Yanqing in his room and stop Jing Yuan from entering…or at least it would have if its opponent was not Jing Yuan. A few years ago, a History Fictionologist spread rumours that Jing Yuan’s guandao, Starfall Reverie, weighed 13,500 catties. As expected from a History Fictionologist, the information was completely made up, Jing Yuan was nowhere near capable of carrying such weight without the assistance of Lightning Lord; even so, Starfall Reverie still held enough weight, and Jing Yuan enough strength, to have little problem smashing Yanqing’s unusually strong ice to bits and force open the door.

Yanqing’s room was practically a freezer. No part of any surface was without a thick coat of ice and frost. Jing Yuan was shivering, fingers already starting to turn blue, yet his focus was entirely on Yanqing. The boy was thrashing around in his sleep, terror gripping his face as he let out the occasional whimper and grunt. A nightmare? Jing Yuan cautiously took a few steps forward, only for Yanqing to conjure up 6 icicles and send them towards Jing Yuan. Jing Yuan was half-expecting it; Yanqing was not the first, nor would he be the last, soldier to start attacking people in his sleep when in the depths of a realistic nightmare; Jing Yuan himself had fallen victim to that situation, especially after the fall of the High Cloud Quintet. The man raised his guandao and started to shatter the icicles. One icicle grazed his side while another grazed his arm. Jing Yuan once again started to walk towards Yanqing, intent on rousing the boy. “Yanqing!” he called, but the boy simply sent a blast of ice in Jing Yuan’s direction, though it didn’t hit its mark. The whole situation reminded Jing Yuan of Jingliu, of when she started to lose herself to the depths of mara and began attacking anyone in sight. The man banished the memory of his mentor, she was not who he was concerned about right now. Jing Yuan frowned and once more raised his guandao. He had to get close to Yanqing, whether it be to wake him up or subdue him until he woke up on his own, but, clearly, the boy was not going to make it easy for Jing Yuan to get close.

Jing Yuan once more started to move forward, guandao in hand, ready to defend himself, when, suddenly, Yanqing shot up in his bed with a scream. The scream sent chills down his spine. Jing Yuan had heard that type of scream many times from comrades, enemies, and civilians. By now, he had steeled himself against it, screams of pure pain and terror no longer provoking the same response as it did the first time he heard them, but no amount of experience could’ve prepared him for hearing it out of Yanqing’s mouth. Never before had anything instilled such a strong need to protect.

The dozens of swords in Yanqing’s room started moving, all under the control of Yanqing’s qi, yet not all were under Yanqing's control. Not yet capable of controlling so many weapons at once, most swords simply levitated, still in their sheaths. Yanqing managed to send 8 swords at Jing Yuan. Fortunately, with so much of the boy’s qi focused on levitating the other swords, when he was only used to wielding 6 swords, the blades sent to Jing Yuan severely lacked the force and co-ordination the boy would normally attack enemies with, allowing Jing Yuan to easily deflect them. The man’s eyes locked onto Yanqing’s, noting that that they were open, though were also glazed and hazy. Yanqing’s breath was coming out in short puffs, the boy was gripping his chest through his pajama shirt with one hand, the other hand was scratching his neck. Jing Yuan felt Yanqing’s qi accumulating, likely to prepare to attack again.

“Calm down” Jing Yuan ordered, somehow keeping his voice steady, despite his whole body shaking (Jing Yuan wanted to blame the cold for his shaking body, but he knew that defending against Yanqing's attacks had warmed his body up enough to stop the shivering). It was clear that Yanqing was in the throes of a severe panic attack, so the man wasn’t confident his order would do anything, yet, to his surprise, recognition flashed through the boy’s eyes and the swords cluttered to the ground.

“Can’t breathe” the boy managed to rasp, tears starting to fall down his cheeks before they crystalised into ice.

“Yes, you can” Jing Yuan assured. Since there was no threat of attack, he dismissed his guandao as he walked towards Yanqing. All too familiar with panic attacks and hyperventilation, Jing Yuan sat beside Yanqing and started to coach the boy through it. “Just focus on my breathing” the man instructed, making loud and exaggerated inhales and exhales. It seemed to help since Yanqing’s breathing started to slow down and even out. As a precaution, Jing Yuan started to count to 10 aloud.

As soon as Jing Yuan thought Yanqing’s panic attack subsided, the boy stiffened, eyes locked onto the grazes Jing Yuan sustained earlier, blood from the wounds dripping onto Yanqing’s arm. “You’re bleeding” the boy mumbled.

Oh. Yanqing had always been overly concerned about Jing Yuan; the man recalled the aftermath of the Stelleron incident, about how Yanqing was constantly hovering over him, making sure that Jing Yuan wasn’t exerting himself, of course Yanqing would be worried about 2 small cuts. Jing Yuan did a quick assessment of his wounds. They were deep enough to bleed, but not enough to need stitches or the intervention of doctors. Just stopping the bleeding would be enough. “It’s nothing serious” Jing Yuan assured the boy. “It might need to be bandaged, but other than that, it’ll heal on its own quite quickly”.

Yanqing was silent for a while before eventually whispering “did I hurt you?”

Oh. So that’s what Yanqing was truly worried about, not the severity of the wounds, but the fact that he was responsible for them. Jing Yuan looked at the boy and tried to give a comforting smile “it’s not your fault. You didn’t mean to”. Jing Yuan wasn’t saying that just to make Yanqing feel better, he knew that Yanqing would never intentionally hurt him. He knew, experienced, how severe panic attacks occurring after nightmares hindered your ability to reason, how your body felt disconnected from your mind and the only thought running through your head was the desire to survive the situation your brain forced you into. The assurance didn’t seem to be assuring the boy, as Yanqing looked horrified, eyes distant. Jing Yuan frowned, the last thing that was needed was for Yanqing to enter another panic attack, he had to distract the boy.

“Are you able to walk?” Jing Yuan asked the boy “I’m sure there’s some hot chocolate downstairs, if you care for some”.

Though the guilt of hurting his mentor never left his face, Yanqing did perk up at the idea of hot chocolate. “There is?” he asked, “how come I’ve never seen any?”

Jing Yuan chuckled “because I put it in places you’re too short to see, let alone reach”. Yanqing shot the man an incredulous and indignant look, one that said ‘are you serious?’. Upon seeing the look, Jing Yuan’s chuckles only got louder.

Chapter Text

Yanqing sighed and got up from bed, however, his legs felt like jelly and his knees immediately buckled as soon as Yanqing put weight on them (though if anyone were to ask, Yanqing would most certainly claim that he simply slipped on the ice). Jing Yuan caught Yanqing before the boy could fall to the floor. “Are you alright?” the man asked. Yanqing nodded and steadied himself, taking deep breaths as his legs started to feel more solid. Jing Yuan relaxed his hold on the boy before letting go completely once he realised that Yanqing was now able to stand on his own two feet and the two left the room for the kitchen.

Just moments later, Yanqing was sitting on the sofa in the living room, covered in a soft blanket that Jing Yuan had pulled out from who-knows-where. Yanqing hadn’t noticed the man grab the blanket, just that it was handed to him as he was instructed to relax while Jing Yuan made the hot chocolate. Jing Yuan had then proceeded to walk over to a giant cupboard in the living room and pull out a bag of marshmallows and a tin of high quality hot chocolate powder from the highest shelf, ignoring Yanqing’s side eye as he did so. Jing Yuan would have to find another hiding place for sweet treats, lest Yanqing decided to pull up a chair to get to them.

Jing Yuan entered the kitchen, filled up the kettle with water, and grabbed two mugs. As the man put in the powder and milk in the cups and stirred while waiting for the kettle to boil, he thought back on the events of that night. There was one thing did not make sense to Jing Yuan, and that was why Yanqing had a nightmare so bad. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for soldiers to dream about horrific scenarios they had encountered, but under Jing Yuan’s supervision, Yanqing had been sheltered from the horrors of being in the knights; nothing he experienced should be enough to provoke such a reaction, Jing Yuan had to get to the bottom of it. The man’s thoughts were interrupted by the click of the kettle, indicating that the water had boiled. Jing Yuan poured the water into the mugs and stirred once again. He then added a large number of marshmallows to each mug before topping it off with some whipped cream he found in the fridge. Jing Yuan smiled at the unhealthy concoctions, knowing that, if he had a bar of chocolate, he would certainly grate some over the top. Being a Cloud Knight meant keeping a heathy body, so it wasn’t often that the two indulged themselves. Whenever times of indulgence did occur, they were sure to make the most out of it.

Jing Yuan put the two mugs on a tray and carried them out to the living room. Upon hearing Jing Yuan’s footsteps, Yanqing craned his neck to look at his mentor, face lighting up when he saw the two mugs of pure diabetes Jing Yuan had made. The man chuckled and placed the tray on the table in front of the sofa, and the two started to drink.

After a while of comfortable silence, Jing Yuan decided to bring up the reason they were down there: “must have been some nightmare” he mused. Yanqing lowered his half-empty mug and nodded. Jing Yuan placed his own mug on the table and turned to his student “do you want to talk about it” he asked, “I find that talking about such nightmares can help with the feelings they bring”.
Yanqing took another sip of his hot chocolate, relishing in the sweetness, as he recalled the nightmare. “I was fighting someone” he started “the guy that I was fighting kept saying things like how I’m a traitor and a hypocrite. He was really strong, and I wasn’t able to fight properly since I couldn’t really control my ice, and I only had one sword. There was also the head of a woman there, but even though she had no body, she wasn’t dead, and she screamed as soon as I saw her.” Yanqing frowned “she looked familiar, but I can’t place her”.
Jing Yuan hummed in contemplation “what about the person you were fighting?” he asked, lifting his mug from the table to take another sip, “did he look familiar?”
Yanqing thought back to the man, he did look familiar, though the boy was certain he had never seen his opponent before. The man had blonde hair, a rarity on the Xianzhou. The only man Yanqing had met with blonde hair who seemed remotely similar to his opponent was Luocha, and it was most definitely not the merchant, the eyes didn’t match… Yanqing’s thoughts trailed off as he came to an epiphany: he did know where he had seen the man before! “He looked like an older version of me” Yanqing realised.

Chapter Text

Jing Yuan froze, the mug at his lips “like an older version of you?” he repeated.
“Yes” Yanqing confirmed, taking note of Jing Yuan’s body language “is there something wrong?”
Jing Yuan took a quick sip of his hot chocolate “no” he answered curtly.
“General!” Yanqing chastised.
Jing Yuan looked at the boy in a brief moment of confusion before remembering the conversation they had just a few weeks prior. Jing Yuan had promised to be more truthful and trusting towards Yanqing. The boy had likely picked up on the fact that Jing Yuan wasn’t entirely honest. “Apologies” Jing Yuan said, “force of habit”. Jing Yuan thought about what to tell Yanqing “I’m not sure whether there’s something wrong” he settled on admitting.
Yanqing looked at the man in confusion “you’re not sure?” he asked.
Jing Yuan sighed and gently placed the mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of them. “It could just be a nightmare, but it could also be connected to your past. If it’s connected to your past, I’m not sure what that could entail, nor am I permitted to tell you any more about your past than you already know” he explained.

Yanqing frowned. When General Feixiao told him that being an Abomination wasn’t something he could simply accept and move on in life with, he had assumed that the Foxian was simply referring to any emotions that it would bring regarding his place on the Xianzhou and the Hunt, emotions that Yanqing believed he had already sorted through, but perhaps she was also saying that Yanqing couldn’t just brush his past under the rug and pretend he was just a regular Xianzhou Native, that his past would always find a way to creep up on him, no matter how much he wished to leave it behind him.

Jing Yuan interrupted the boy's thoughts “I’ll make a record of this in your case file” he stated. Yanqing looked at the man in confusion, was a nightmare worth putting in this highly classified case file? Jing Yuan continued: “for now, other than that, lets brush this off as a nightmare. If you get another strange nightmare, or if anything else you consider strange happens, tell me. If this is connected to your past and it continues to happen, I’ll likely have to inform the Marshal.”

“I will” Yanqing promised, finishing his hot chocolate and wiping the whipped cream off his mouth with the back of his hand. The boy stretched and got up “I’m going to take a shower” he announced. The nightmare had left him cold and sweaty; though the hot chocolate had warmed him up, Yanqing still felt icky and, besides, a hot shower was always relaxing.
“Let me check your temperature first” Jing Yuan said. Seeing Yanqing’s look of confusion, the man elaborated: “since your room was so cold, your body temperature will also be extremely cold. If your body hasn’t sufficiently warmed up yet, having too hot a shower can change your body temperature so suddenly, it’ll put you into shock.” Yanqing nodded and allowed Jing Yuan to place a hand to his forehead. Upon feeling Yanqing's temperature, the man nodded, pleased. “Go on then” he said, patting the boy’s shoulder, “there should be some clean pyjamas in the laundry room. Don’t use your shower though, your room is so cold the shower probably won’t work. There’s also no guarantee that ice hasn’t blocked the pipes.” Yanqing once more nodded, though he also internally winced at the thought of how much damage his ice would cause to his mentor’s house and at the effort it would take to clean all of it up.

40 minutes later, Yanqing stepped out of the shower with a sigh of content. Typically, he didn’t take so long to shower, but the warm water was doing wonders for both his mind and body. After drying his body and dressing in new pyjamas, the boy went to leave for Jing Yuan’s room (he’d have to borrow the man’s hairdryer since the ice probably damaged his own. At the very least, it would be a hassle to go back into his room and locate the item when everything was covered in ice), however, just when he was about to leave, something caught the corner of his eye.

Yanqing frowned, stepping towards the mirror poised above the sink, he reached out a hand and wiped the condensation from the glass. Upon looking at 'his' reflection, his eyes went wide, and he took a step back, “what the hell!?” the boy exclaimed, shaky hands tracing over his face.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. “Is everything alright?” Jing Yuan asked, likely passing by the room when he heard Yanqing’s yell.

Yanqing bolted to the door and pulled it open with a force that took the General by surprise. “General, is there something on my face?” the boy questioned, voice filled with panic.
Jing Yuan frowned, placing his hands on the boy’s shoulder “your face looks normal” the man assured “what’s wrong?”
“When I looked in the mirror just now, my face had 2 huge scars on it!” Yanqing explained.
Jing Yuan frowned. Most Abominations, including Xianzhou Natives, weren’t capable of scaring; the power of the Plague’s Author allowed their cells to regenerate, healing any wound completely, assuming the person was still alive. Even someone who lost a limb would be able to regain it without a trace of scar tissue. Even so, Jing Yuan had his theory. “Where were these…scars?” Jing Yuan asked cautiously, “and what did they look like?”
Yanqing placed a finger in a space a few millimeters above his left eyebrow “one started here” he said, then dragged his finger straight down over his eye, stopping when his finger was just a few milimeters away from his nose, “and ended here” he finished. The boy then placed a finger on the very top of his forehead, just slightly left of the centre, “the other one started here" he began, this time dragging is finger down in a curve towards the right side of his face. The finger passed the bridge of his nose, just narrowly missing his right eye and kept moving down, finishing at his jawline, “and ended here” Yanqing said. Jing Yuan’s frown deepened at the support of his theory. “Is this part of my past that you can’t tell me?” Yanqing asked, noticing his mentor’s silent frown.

Jing Yuan sighed “probably” he confirmed. “I’ll have a talk with the Marshal about this. I don’t know if she’ll allow you to know any more than you already do, but at the very least, we’ll try to sort out these…incidents.”
Yanqing nodded “well then, I’m going to bed” he announced, heading to one of the spare rooms (he couldn't exactly sleep in his own room), “goodnight”. The boy paused for a moment before adding “dad”. Ever since Jing Yuan had called Yanqing his son, the boy had decided to try and get into the habit of calling the General ‘dad’ in private, though the term still felt alien on his tongue and the habit of calling his father figure 'General' all the time had yet to slip.
“Goodnight” Jing Yuan echoed, a small smile gracing his face. “Are you alright to sleep on your own?” the man asked.
Yanqing was absolutely not ok to sleep on his own. In fact, the feeling of terror had yet to fully leave the boy and the whole situation creeped him out. A part of Yanqing wanted to revert back to his younger self, where he wasn’t part of the Cloud Knights, and would ask to sleep with Jing Yuan when he was scared or sick. However, it had only been a few weeks since Yanqing lashed out at Jing Yuan for constantly treating him like a child. Yanqing didn’t want to be a hypocrite. “I’ll be fine” he assured, convincing himself that he was old and mature enough to sleep well despite his unease and, to be honest, fear.

Jing Yuan nodded, though seemed unconvinced. “One more thing…” the man started, picking a small bag up from a nearby table and giving it to Yanqing. The boy opened the bag to find the charms Jing Yuan would have him wear on his uniform. “Until this issue is resolved, you should wear them as often as possible, even while you sleep” Jing Yuan explained. Yanqing looked at the charms in the bag. Despite not being one bit superstitious, the boy couldn't help but feel comforted by their presence. Yanqing once more nodded at Jing Yuan and started to wear the various different charms. Once the boy finished putting them on, he continued heading to the guest room.

Yanqing sighed; the unfamiliar bed he was lying on felt strange, making sleep somewhat difficult. The boy turned on his side, hoping to get more comfortable, yet the movement only caused a quiet, yet noticeable, sound to echo in the room, as each movement triggered the many bells on Yanqing’s charms. The boy sighed once more; being on his side caused his fragrant bag (Jing Yuan called it a ‘xiang bao’) and jade charm to dig into his side. Lying down with a red string talisman on his leg was mildly irritating as each movement of the leg caused it to move and lying on the leg simply caused the rope to dig into his leg just enough to be uncomfortable while the longevity lock was heavy enough to pull at his pyjama shirt. Yanqing sighed for a third time: it was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

Yanqing yawned for the umpteenth time, prompting his student to stop her story. “Master Yanqing, are you ok?” March asked, “this is, like, the billionth time you’ve yawned”.

Stelle gave a cheeky grin and offered up an explanation “maybe your story is boring him” she teased.

March huffed and turned to her crew member “no way!” she protested. “I’m super good at telling stories, and Master Yanqing is always ready to listen to our adventures”.

“It has nothing to do with the story” Yanqing confirmed, “I just didn’t sleep well last night”. While there were no more strange instances that night, the combination of anxiety and the discomfort of sleeping with the charms meant that Yanqing had gotten very little sleep that night. The next morning, he ran into March 7^th, Dan Heng, and Stelle, who were saying their goodbyes to the people on the Luofu before they headed out for their next world. The 3 had invited Yanqing for some tea, and the boy, desperately needing the caffeine, readily accepted; though was unable to stop yawning while March was telling him about Sunday, their newest (though, likely temporary) crew member, how they were going to Amphoreus, and how she hoped to gain some more information on her past there.

“Is there a reason you couldn’t sleep properly?” Dan Heng asked, “you seem… stressed” he noted.

“Ah, it’s nothing” Yanqing assured. While Jing Yuan’s reaction made it clear that this was definitely something, it was too long a story to explain, especially when the crew didn’t know that Yanqing was an Abomination, and Yanqing didn’t even know the whole situation himself. “I just had a strange dream”.

“A strange dream?” March echoed. “Maybe we can help. We did spend a lot of time on Penacony, and Stelle and I did a few classes in Dreamweaver Academy, so we know a bit about dreams”.

Stelle frowned “is this really the same situation?” she asked, “dreams in Penacony are pretty different to normal dreams”.

Dan Heng nodded in agreement “I doubt March has any idea what she’s doing” he stated.

Yanqing laughed “it’s just one weird dream where I was fighting someone weird. It’s not a big deal” he assured, trying not to think about the decapitated head whose scream still sent chills down his spine.

His answer only peaked more of March’s curiosity. “You were fighting someone weird?” she asked.

Yanqing nodded “The person looked a lot like me, just older. It’s hard to explain, but I got the feeling that he both was and wasn’t me” he explained.

“I get that sort of dream sometimes” Dan Heng revealed “though the person I’m fighting is Dan Feng”.

“Aha!” March exclaimed, as if she had solved the mystery.

Stelle looked at March quizzically “Aha?” she questioned, “what do THEY have to do with this?”

March sighed “not the Aeon, silly. I said ‘aha’ because I figured it out. Since Master Yanqing is also a Vidyadhara, and the Vidyadhara have a medication to let them remember their past life through dreams, maybe this person was his previous incarnation!”

The table was silent for a few seconds. “I’m… not a Vidyadhara” Yanqing revealed.

March seemed taken aback “huh? You’re not? But Qingzu said you were!”

“And you believed her?” Stelle asked incredulously. “He doesn’t even have the ears”.

“Qingzu said they were bitten off by rats” March explained, “although… now that I say it out loud, it does sound kind of stupid. Even so, Dan Heng’s ears look human most of the time, why can’t Yanqing’s look human?”

Dan Heng sighed “my ears are a… unique case” he explained. “Also, do Yanqing’s ears look like they’ve been injured in any way, much less bitten off?”.

March rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed “heh, I see…”.

Yanqing laughed “I’m sorry, Qingzu loves to spread misinformation to guests. She once convinced a member of the IPC that the General used to be a crosstalk comedian”. The 3 crew members laughed alongside the boy at the image of Jing Yuan doing crosstalk.

Suddenly, Yanqing heard a girl calling his name, he turned to the direction of the voice to see a panicked Sushang running towards him. “What’s wrong?” the boy asked.

Sushang took a moment to catch her breath before launching into an explanation “I was on patrol and stumbled on a meeting in one of the Fragmented areas. I was about to tell them to clear out when I overheard them call the Plague’s Author ‘Merciful Medicus’. I think it was a Disciple of Sanctus Medicus meeting!” The Knight took a deep breath before continuing her rambling. “There were too many of them to even consider taking them on by myself, and it was pretty far away from where the other patrols were, so I started running towards the Seat of Divine Foresight to inform the General, but then I saw you. If you were there, I think we could take them all on!”.

Yanqing immediately stood up and readied his swords “let’s go” he agreed, apologising to the Astral Express for cutting their meeting short.

“Wait!” Dan Heng’s voice stopped Yanqing before the boy could run towards the site of the meeting. Yanqing turned to give a confused look to Dan Heng. “You should tell Jing Yuan first” Dan Heng stated, “what if this is bigger than you think, or Jing Yuan already knows of the group and is planning something. Storming in could just make things worse” the man explained.

Dan Heng had a point. Yanqing inwardly cursed himself for so easily falling back into the habit of running to fight without thinking it through, and he pulled out his phone to call the General. It didn’t take long for Jing Yuan to pick up and Yanqing to relay the situation.

After ending the call, Yanqing placed his phone in his pocket and turned to Sushang. “We’ve been given the go-ahead to scout out and collect information on the group but we’re not to act unless either we or someone else is in danger. The General is sending in a squad to back us up. Once the squad arrives, we are to listen to Colonel Ling Ling, she and her team have been investigating these guys. Before they arrive, I’m in charge of the mission.” Sushang nodded and the two ran off towards the Fragmentum.

Yanqing frowned as he peered from behind the stack of boxes he and Sushang were hiding behind. The meeting was close enough to see, but not close enough to hear what was going on. The boy looked at the large building that was surrounded by members of Sanctus Medicus. He then looked at the multitude of boxes that surrounded the area. “They seem to be shipping something” Yanqing muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Sushang to hear. “Do you have your body cam on?” he asked Sushang. The woman nodded. “Don’t try to get closer to the group” Yanqing ordered “at least not until they move to a place where we can get closer without being noticed. If you can, try and pry open one of the boxes and make sure your body cam captures what’s in it. I’ll create a distraction”. Sushang once more nodded and Yanqing took advantage of a guard’s lax gaze to bolt towards a closer stack of boxes.

“Shipment…. well?”

Yanqing’s eyes widened has he realised that he was close enough to catch the occasional word the members said. The boy took out his phone to record the audio, not trusting his ability to record anything else while staying unnoticed. Even if most of it was incomprehensible, perhaps inferred context could still provide information for the General.

Yanqing looked around the area, trying to find a way to distract the guards without giving himself away, suddenly, he saw a guard walking near a different stack of boxes. Yanqing grinned and sent a thin sheet of ice towards the guard’s feet. It was thin enough that it was difficult to see, and, on this hot day, it would melt quite quickly. The guard slipped on the ice with a yell and crashed into the boxes, the boxes falling open as they fell, revealing white powder that spilled out onto the floor. As expected, the Disciples rushed over at the noise. “What’s going on?” one asked.

The guard that had slipped and was sitting down rubbing his head, instantly stood to attention at the sight of the disciple that asked. Given how the man reacted, Yanqing assumed that the woman who asked was an important figure in the Disciples. “I slipped and fell onto the boxes. I apologise”. The man’s voice was trembling as he bowed his head. The Disciples all started yelling at once. Yanqing caught things like “how could you be so careless?” and “do you know how much money you’ve just lost us?”

Yanqing frowned. With the amount of people there, he was at a higher risk of getting caught. Yanqing looked towards Sushang who gave him a thumbs up and decided to leave, lamenting at the potential loss of some important dialogue.

“I got the boxes open and caught it on camera” Sushang reported after the boy had returned to her side “it was filled with what looked like pills”.

Yanqing frowned “pills?” he asked. “The boxes that the guard fell over were filled with white powder”.

Sushang mirrored his look of confusion and opened her mouth before a voice cut through: “the powder is likely the pills grounded up”.

Yanqing’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even realised someone was there. He and Sushang both immediately swung their weapons towards the third person, but both stopped when they saw a person in Cloud Knight uniform. “Colonel Ling Ling!” Yanqing realised.

Ling Ling smiled “It’s been a while” she greeted with a two fingered salute, despite being higher ranking than Yanqing. “Last time I saw you was before you became a Lieutenant. This lady must be Recruit Sushang, right?”

Sushang stood to attention as much as she could while staying hidden “yes ma’am” she answered.

Ling Ling nodded in acknowledgement. “My team and I were responsible for busting members of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus after the Stelleron Incident. The group here makes drugs for the Disciples and they’ve evaded us for some time, though we managed to get a guy on the inside about a week ago. Unfortunately, since he wasn’t long initiated, it’s too risky to attempt to sneak a camera in because they keep checking him for wires. We have enough proof of their activities for a reasonable prospect of conviction, however, it’s less proof than I would like…”

“Sushang managed to get a video of the pills in one of the boxes, and I have an audio recording of them yelling about how much money they could’ve made off of some of the powder” Yanqing stated.

Ling Ling grinned “great. That’s another stack of evidence for the investigation. What’s more, this place fits our intel on the main base for this branch. You two really stumbled onto a goldmine for us. My squad is skilled at infiltration; they’re gaining more evidence as we speak. Wait for my signal, and then we’ll go in for the attack. For now, just observe.”

Yanqing and Sushang nodded and steeled themselves. They watched as a woman in black secretly handed a disciple guard a small camera; the guard then subtly entering the building. Another Cloud Knight was by the boxes of white powder, taking samples. Presumably, there were many more members of Ling Ling’s squad doing things that Yanqing couldn’t see.

The 3 knights were silent for a while, and Yanqing had gotten jittery, quietly bouncing his leg up and down and keeping his hand on his sword.

Finally, Ling Ling placed her finger to a com device in her ear, “lets take them down. Try to keep as much evidence preserved as possible” she ordered.

With that, around a dozen Cloud Knights appeared from all sides, turning the meeting place into a battlefield. Yanqing, Sushang, and Ling Ling also entered the battlefield and began quickly taking down the Disciples. Out of the corner of his eye, Yanqing spotted a woman, the Disciple he suspected was an important person, trying to take advantage of the commotion to run away. Yanqing gritted his teeth. He wasn’t going to let her get away.

The boy quickly began his pursuit of the woman, weaving between boxes with ease. She was fast, but it didn’t take long for Yanqing to catch up. He sent a flying sword towards the woman, but before it could hit her, she threw a box towards the sword, the lid opening and white power spilling out. Yanqing sputtered and coughed as the white powder hit his face, entering his mouth and nose. Nevertheless, Yanqing didn’t allow it to stop him and continued chasing after the woman. He once again caught up quickly and, this time, kicked the woman in her stomach, causing her to be blown back into a wall. Yanqing quickly ran to close the distance between them, turning his ice-coated blade to the blunt end and aiming it at the woman’s head, intending to put an end to the fight.

“Yanqing, stop!” Ling Ling yelled. Yanqing stopped in his tracks and turned to the Knight in confusion. “She’s done” Ling Ling stated. “We can arrest her now. There’s no need to knock her out”.

Yanqing turned back to the woman he was about to strike down, noting the woman’s posture. She was sitting against the wall, hands in the air, not attempting to get away or fight. It appeared that the kick and the cornering had taken the fight out of her. There was no need to knock her out.

“Are you alright?” Sushang asked, having seen the incident. “It’s not like you to try and take a fight too far”.

“I…I don’t know what came over me” Yanqing muttered, watching the squad take the woman away. He didn’t even consider that the woman had given in, despite the obvious signs, he just chased the thrill of the fight. A tinge of fear entered Yanqing as he realised that, in that moment, he didn’t care what happened to the Disciple, he only cared about winning that fight.

“You have some powder on your face” Ling Ling noted. “You likely inhaled or ingested some when she threw that box at you. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the drugs they were making; you should get yourself checked up in the Alchemy Commission to make sure it hasn’t affected you. Who knows, maybe it’s the reason you didn’t stop fighting. The Disciples have been known to make drugs that cause aggression and emotional instability.”

Yanqing silently nodded and wiped the powder from his face. He did feel a little strange, alongside a sense of dread. He decided that Ling Ling was right and headed towards the Alchemy Commission, sending Jing Yuan a quick text telling him what happened.

With a creak, the door to the clinic’s room opened. Yanqing and Jing Yuan instantly turned their heads to the noise, only to find Lingsha walking in and greeting them.

“Well?” Jing Yuan prompted.

“I’ve analysed the components in the white powder. As Colonel Ling Ling theorised, this drug can indeed cause emotional outbursts and a change in personality” Lingsha announced.

Jing Yuan, who had come to the Alchemy Commission partially to check up on Yanqing and partially to check up on Ling Ling’s investigation, asked “do you know what the drug was used for and any other effects Yanqing might experience and how long they will last?”

Lingsha nodded. “Based on my current findings, it seems like another drug to induce Mara on an individual. Fortunately, due to a combination of Lieutenant Yanqing’s young age, the fact that the powder form seems to be less effective than the pill form, and the small dose he received, the drug and its effects shouldn’t last more than a week. During that week, Lieutenant Yanqing may suffer from more instances of emotional instability as well as migraines due to the large amount of Abundance energy in the powder.”

Jing Yuan nodded, pleased that the effects would only be temporary “thank you, Cauldron Master”.

Throughout this, Yanqing remained silent, though took in every word. When he heard Jing Yuan would be coming to the Alchemy Commission, Yanqing was unsure on how to face the man. Taking a fight too far was both unlike Yanqing and unbecoming of a Cloud Knight, especially a general’s retainer. When Jing Yuan walked into that room, Yanqing could sense the disappointment that his teacher was trying to suppress. It was clear that the man was disappointed in Yanqing’s actions, though wanted to make sure that the drug wasn’t responsible for them before talking about it. Yanqing thinks he should feel relieved knowing that the drug was to blame, nevertheless, he still felt shame in the fact that he took it too far, and how he had managed to ingest the drug in the first place, even if it was accidental.

“You are to be on sick leave until the drug fully exits your body.” Jing Yuan’s voice cut Yanqing out of his introspection; the boy noted that Lingsha had left the room without him noticing. The boy opened his mouth to interject, but Jing Yuan didn’t let him. “I know you haven’t long come out of your last medical leave, but we can’t be too careful, especially when it comes to new drugs created by the Disciples. It will only be a week”.

Yanqing frowned “but I feel fine. Why can’t I just go back to work and deal with the issue if and when it comes?”

Jing Yuan returned the frown. “I hope I don’t need to explain why that would be a dangerous and, quite frankly, stupid thing to do. If you were really fine, I don’t believe you would’ve proposed that idea, nor would you be fighting me on this. You are not the only person whose mind has been messed with by a drug. It’s often hard to realise that you’re not acting like yourself until you’ve sobered up.”

Yanqing once more went to interject, when a searing pain suddenly assaulted him. It felt like a bug was running across his brain, and his head felt like it was on fire, and his head was thumping in pain; he could hear his own blood in his head and that only made the pain worse. Yanqing groaned and tried to massage his head, when Jing Yuan, having figured out the boy was having a migraine attack, handed Yanqing some painkillers that Lingsha had left in the room. Yanqing took them gratefully, wondering how long he would have to wait for them to kick in. He didn’t get to wonder long, as the medication was strong enough to knock him out within a few minutes.

Chapter Text

When Yanqing woke up, he was in his room, dressed in his pyjamas and covered with the charms Jing Yuan insisted he wear. It didn’t take long for the boy to take of the charms, eye them with trepidation, and wander downstairs, scratching an itch on his face as he went. He was hungry.

Yanqing walked downstairs to find Jing Yuan reading a book in the living room. The man looked up at the boy “good afternoon” he greeted.

Yanqing balked, “afternoon?” he questioned.

Jing Yuan nodded as Yanqing walked towards him “the pain killer was… quite effective” he explained. “How are you feeling now?”

Yanqing scratched an itch on his face, “hungry” he bluntly answered.

Jing Yuan chuckled. “I’ll make some lunch then” he promised. “While I’m doing that, you should put your charms back on”.

Yanqing scratched an itch on his face “I don’t think I need to wear them right now” he protested.

Jing Yuan shook his head and immediately shut the protest down “You must wear them. If you don’t, you could potentially be dealing with worse than nightmares”.

Yanqing scratched an itch on his face “actually, I’ve been meaning to tell you that I don’t think the nightmare was a big deal. I was just tired and when you’re tired, things seem like a bigger deal than they actually are”.

Jing Yuan frowned. “You’re wearing those charms” he ordered. “I know your case, you may not think it’s a big deal, but I would rather be safe than sorry. It’s just a few charms; the same ones you’ve worn every day for 14 years.”

“…Fine” Yanqing grumbled and started to walk back upstairs. The boy paused for moment before asking “hey, after lunch, could we spar?”

Jing Yuan nodded “of course”. Yanqing nodded back and continued his walk upstairs.

When the boy was out of sight, Jing Yuan started to make some Dim Sum for them both. It wouldn’t be a full meal of Dim Sum, that would take quite a while to prepare, but it would still be a hearty meal. If anyone who was close to Jing Yuan were there, they would notice the tense posture of the man, and how his eyes, which were normally calm, were hardened and showed how the man’s brain was in overdrive.

Jing Yuan was almost done with the Dim Sum when Yanqing walked back downstairs, having taken far longer than usual to put the charms on. The boy was wearing all his charms, however, Jing Yuan noted that the jade and xiang bao was on Yanqing’s left side rather than on the right, where the boy would usually wear them. The bamboo flute, which was usually worn underneath jade and xiang bao, was on his right side. The longevity lock was placed on the left side of his chest, as it always was, however, it was pinned to Yanqing’s shirt rather than his sash. The red string worn on Yanqing’s right leg was just slightly higher than the boy would normally put it. “Go lay the table” Jing Yuan said. “Lunch should be finished by the time you’re done”. Yanqing nodded, grabbed some cutlery, and left.

It didn’t take long for the two to eat their meal. Yanqing let out a satisfied sigh. “You were certainly hungry” Jing Yuan drawled. “You don’t normally eat so much or so quickly”.

Yanqing shrugged “maybe the drug makes you hungrier” he suggested.

Jing Yuan hummed, “maybe...”

Yanqing scratched an itch on his face as he put his chopsticks down. “Let’s spar” he urged.

“We need to wash up first” Jing Yuan responded.

Yanqing grumbled but complied, scratching his face as he went. The two put most of the dishes in the dishwasher and washed by hand what couldn’t be put in the dishwasher. After they were done, Yanqing eagerly turned to Jing Yuan who simply nodded.

Yanqing ran out into the garden, as Jing Yuan walked behind him. When the man reached Yanqing, he noted that the boy already had his sword, just one sword, at the ready. “We’ll be using wooden swords” Jing Yuan decided. Yanqing whipped his head around to look at Jing Yuan, as if the decision was a personal transgression. He went to protest before Jing Yuan said “I’m not risking what happened with the Disciples happening again. Either we spar with wooden swords, or we don’t spar at all”. Yanqing scratched an itch on his face and begrudgingly accepted.

The two stood opposite each other, and it didn’t take long for Yanqing to lunge towards Jing Yuan. Jing Yuan blocked the swing. Yanqing tried to overpower Jing Yuan; however, his attempts were futile, and he leaped back to stop Jing Yuan overpowering him. Before Jing Yuan could launch a counterattack, Yanqing once again came at him, this time using speed to his advantage. He quickly closed the self-imposed gap and swung at Jing Yuan as fast and as hard as he could. Jing Yuan just about managed to block the swing. The man raised his own wooden sword to attack, but before the attack could land, Yanqing kicked the man in the stomach as hard as he could, letting out a “tch” when the kick only sent Jing Yuan back half a step. Jing Yuan reached out and grabbed Yanqing’s outstretched leg. The boy saw it coming, but his mind was moving far faster than his body, and found himself caught. “That’s enough!” Jing Yuan declared “you’re starting to take things too far again”. Yanqing did not concede, and instead twisted his body around, freeing his leg from Jing Yuan’s grasp.

The boy forced the fight to continue, sending an unending swarm of attacks towards Jing Yuan, forcing the man to stay on the defensive. Yanqing would regularly win against Jing Yuan in spars, but Jing Yuan was never forced to be on the defensive this much. 30 minutes in and the man had yet the land a single blow on the boy. Though Yanqing’s physical ability was the same as always, the swordsman had become more ruthless when attacking and seemed far more experienced than in previous spars. It was as if Jing Yuan was facing someone else.

Jing Yuan winced slightly as Yanqing landed a blow to his face, before deciding that enough was enough. Jing Yuan summoned Lightning Lord and had them subdue the boy. The attack caught the boy by surprise, but, as Jing Yuan’s real blade pointed towards him, it wasn’t long before the his surprise turned into rage. “What the hell?!” Yanqing roared “you’re the one who insisted on wooden swords, why are you breaking your own condition?”

Jing Yuan frowned. He had figured out the true reason behind Yanqing's actions the moment the boy came downstairs without his charms. Nevertheless, hearing Yanqing, someone who respected his elders and very rarely yelled at another person, explode in such anger was quite jarring. “I ordered the end of the spar. You forced it to continue” the man explained.

Yanqing looked bewildered, as if he couldn't fathom the thought that refusing to end a spar would cause Jing Yuan to break his rule. “That’s what this is about?” he asked, not seeing the issue.

“Not entirely…” Jing Yuan drawled. “I will always end a spar if it goes too far, Yanqing knows that. This is less about the spar and more about you possessing Yanqing’s body”.