Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the depths of the Shackling Prison, there wasn’t much else for him to do than drown himself in the irrelevant memories of his disillusioned, broken, irrelevant, past life. He dreamed of the oath he made with his four brothers and sisters to the Arbiter Generals of old when the Long’s Scions encountered the Xianzhou Alliance in their endless wanderings.

He dreamed of dancing before an alter— a farce, nothing more than a performance for his people masquerading as a sacred ritual.

A promise 'he' would one day fail to keep...

He dreamed of standing guard over the husk of the dead plague mark for eons, listlessly wondering how the other Vidyadharian High Elders were fairing in their own respective solitary vigils... Until the day she appeared...

He dreamed of a white haired Xianzhou Native raising her ebony hued blade and boldly challenging him to a duel that lasted days before he and all the command he held over the ocean delves conceded to her skill with the humble sword.

He dreamed of watching a craftsman with the lifespan of a cherry blossom hammer away at rare asteroid ore, boldly proclaiming that he'll surpass all the masters who've come before him and matching his wit as they bantered into the early hours of the morning that ended with a freshly forged spear washed away with water from his own cloud hymn magic.

He dreamed of raising a cup filled to the brim with rice wine and toasting to the people he called 'friends'. The lilac furred girl laughing away whilst the white haired swordswoman rolled her eyes and failing miserably to hide the small smile upon her lips. The pale haired craftsman bumped his shoulder good in jest as they watched the pair squabble as the wine washed away their inhibitions…

He dreamed of a boy who followed the snow haired sword master. Who imagined outlandish strategies that even made the nonconformist craftsman arch his eyebrows in skepticism. And that— despite all expectations, each strategy the Lieutenant concocted played out exactly as planned and ended with their victory. When he wasn’t leading the vanguard, the child oft pestered him with harmless jests in an effort to make him smile.

…And a handful of times, the child managed to do the impossible.

And he dreamed of growing old, embittered, and weary under the endless weight of ‘permanence’ and born from his desire to break free, a stupid idea that had taken root.

One that cost three out of five everything and all there was to show for it was four lightless walls, this eternal cold, and biting chains.

Hatching Rebirth.

The scions of Long preached that after undergoing Hatching Rebirth, the soul is cleansed of all wrongdoings— But fearing the loss of their Imbibitor Lunae, the Preceptors awoke the memories of his past life who committed the atrocities he was condemned for.

And thus, his soul was once again tainted with sin, and so the Ten Lords Commission kept him here for killing four thousand six hundred and sixty six Vidyhadara…

…And for what ‘they’ did to Baiheng.

In the back of his mind he knew that he shouldn’t allow himself to be engulfed by these accursed memories from a lifetime that did not belong to him but… living in a blank world surrounded by four walls that were filled with chains that kept him bound, there was nothing else to do...

He looked up when one of these walls fell away. And then he saw the boy 'he'  remembered as the Lieutenant of whom ‘he’ last saw reading out his sentence with his voice cracking at every word…

He was taller than as he was in 'his' memories. His shoulder’s border, eyes dimmer, and yet— he carried a radiance that shone through the suffocating abyss that was his prison that was brighter than the sun.

Now, they called him General.

The General offered a small, sympathetic smile before he informed him in an unwavering voice that he was to be exiled from the Xianzhou Alliance.

Never to return.

Freed from the prison that confined him and the duties that bound him.

After assisting the Healer Lady in repairing the seal over the Ambrosial Arbor, Dan Heng wandered through the marketplace of the Loufu lost in thought.

Rain clouds that were manufactured by the weather machines crafted by the inventors of the Artisanship Commission in the days of old with the assistance of his people’s cloud hymn magic began to take form overhead, making the atmosphere of the now revived Arlum Ally a cool and soothing in the breeze that settled his thoughts somewhat as he contemplated over Jing Yuan’s offer to return to his homeland and live aboard the Loufu now that the sins of his past life were more or less forgiven. He knew Jing Yuan made the offer as a gesture of good will for someone he once considered an old friend... but that friend wasn’t Dan Heng.

Objectively, Dan Heng was needed more to protect the crew of the Astral Express than the well guarded Loufu while the selfish part of him wanted to keep exploring the vast universe as a wanderer. And despite her innate indifference to healing Baiheng Bailu’s proven her resolve to take over the mantle of Imbibitor Lunae… And subjectively speaking… he preferred to continue traveling as a Nameless and cataloging anthropological discoveries in the Express’ archives.  

And yet… Something kept pulling him back to the Loufu. A part of Dan Heng wondered if Dan Feng’s sentiments had crept their way into his mind… influencing his life even now.

Dan Heng shivered, oblivious to the chill in the air.

Ever since Dan Heng left the Loufu in exile, he’d tried to leave his past buried where it belonged and yet it followed him everywhere he went. With the hurt looks he received from the older Vidyadhara of the Loufu, with how Blade relentlessly hunted him across the cosmos to pay for an unobtainable wish with Dan Heng’s life, and in the way Jingliu looked at him with disdainful crimson eyes that burned through the black cloth that kept them covered. 

And then there was Jing Yuan…

At times, Dan Heng wished that the Arbiter General would just view him with contempt  like the rest of Xianzhou Loufu. The way he looked at Dan Heng with genuine earnestness was… more than he could take.

Dan Heng wondered if this was just another remnant of The Permanence that would always cling to him—

"Heyhoooooooo!" 

Dan Heng blinked and realized that he had wandered into the Exalting Sanctum glanced over towards the games parlor. He saw a twin tailed Xianzhou Native with light brown hair wearing Jade Abacus oft used by the Divination Commission standing next to her was a girl whose long red hair was tied in a side tail and was dressed in vibrant red and gold fabrics of a street performer with the Cloud Knight he met during the Stellaron crisis— Sushang was her name. 

The twin tailed girl waved his way, "Wanna play a round of Celestial Jade? We need a fourth player!”

After a moment’s hesitation, Dan Hen figured why not and made his way over to the pavilion.

“Everyone, this is Dan Heng!” Sushang chirped happily before bumping shoulders the same way Yingxing used to do with Dan Feng with the red haired girl next to her, “This is the silent but deadly guy I was telling you about, who helped me fight off the Marastruck at Starskiff Haven!”

“Bae, ‘Silent but deadly’ is not as cool as you think it sounds.” The red haired girl said as she tossed a jade tile from her collection and picked up a new one from the board. Brows furrowing, she sucked in a breath, “What I wouldn’t give to’ve been there on the front lines to film those action scenes, I could barely catch grainy footage of the General throwing down with that big scary lady from here!”

“We were fighting for our lives...” Dan Heng told her as he took a seat at the vacant game board, though this tile game was new to him, it did not take too long to understand the rules of the tile based game.

“I’m fighting for my life every day trying to stay out of the red…”

”I don’t get it, you wear red all the time.” 

”Eh, it’s an outworlder term of phrase…”

Sushang turned back to the Nameless, “Dan Heng, this is my partner, Guinaifen, but you can call her Little Gui for short.”



“I will not—“

“He will not!”

The twin tailed girl picked up a jade time from the table with well practiced precision and focus before introducing herself, “I'm Qingque, a diviner from the Divination Commission. It's my day off by the way."

Glancing towards Dan Heng as she tossed a discarded tile back to the table, "So what’s your deal Mr. Dark, silent, and broody?”

Dan Heng blinked and opened his mouth to reply that he was fine, but he couldn’t form the words…

Putting this internal turmoil that has plagued him since his rebirth into words was... difficult.

Sushang regarded Dan Heng thoughtfully before speaking up, “You know, my Uncle back on the Yaoqing likes to say that if I let heavy thoughts weigh me down, I’ll won’t be able to grow. Maybe you’ll feel lighter if you let them all out!”

Guinafen blinked and turned towards her girlfriend, “You have an uncle? Since when?”

“Well actually he’s my neighbor, but when I was a kid I had trouble pronouncing his name cause one of those old language names, so he tried writing it down but I ended up reading the characters as ‘tree uncle’ instead and it stuck!” Sushang tried to laugh off her childish antics while Qingque, Guinafen, and Dan Heng exchanged concerned looks that the Cloud Knight Lieutenant quickly took notice to, “I have trouble reading— okay!”

”That’s some serious skill issue, sis.”

“Yeah, imagine if the Divine Foresight declared that all Cloud Knights to have a passable reading proficiency.”

Sushang quickly shushed her friends, “I can read— now!”

“Bet.” Qingque gestured towards the store across from the games parlor, “So what’s that sign say?”

Sushang glared at the librarian, ”…That the Master Diviner’s headed right for us.”

“Wha—“ Qingque fell out of her seat as Guinafen and Sushang erupted into laughter.

Dan Heng sighed and in a moment of irrationality, told the three everything that had been troubling him since leaving the Loufu in exile to the best of his ability.

”…I don’t want to live on the Loufu— because I know that’s what Dan Feng would do. but at the same time… I feel as though I’d be leaving something unfinished if I continued traveling.”

Dan Heng hung his head and sighed. He was met with silence. Honestly, he didn’t know why he vented all of this to these three who had no stake in his troubles. He didn’t know what he should’ve expected unpacking all of that—

Guinafen whistled, “And here I thought my dark past was dramatic!” 

Qingque leaned forward, resting her elbows on the wooden table and clasped her hands together as though lost in thought, “I think the root of your deal is you’re worried about Lady Bailu, cause she needs someone to teach her High Elder Cloud Hymn magic? Oh— or do you secretly want to be friends again with the Dozing General? You two may not know eachother now but you used to in another lifetime and that’s gotta mean something, right?”

“I have no interest in getting involved in the Vidyadhara’s politics, or the Divine Foresight—“

Qingque and Guinafen snickered and Dan Heng realized his mistake And rolled his eyes. Sushang on the other hand looked lost in thought as she stared at the jade tiles on the board.

“You’re not who you used to be. And the Loufu’s not the same as when Dan Feng was around either.” Sushang looked up, “Maybe what you need is to take a vacation and see things as they are for yourself rather than through someone else’s eyes?”

“And didn’t you say that Dan Feng created Bailu?” Guinafen added, “So wouldn’t that make her your sister? You ought to spend time with her before she’s all grown up! Trust me, you’re gonna miss the days when your little sister’s cute and wants to play all the time!”

…Perhaps it was because none of these girls knew of the ways of the Vidyhadara that speaking with them was like a fresh perspective. And perhaps if he stayed for a little while, these memories he’ll make aboard the Loufu as it is now will finally allow Dan Feng’s memories to wash away like the tides.

Dan Heng’s thoughts drifted back to the little dragon smiled up at him, "You know what? It's like you're the teacher I've been waiting for!“

“And no one’s telling you to stay for forever,” Sushang exclaimed as her eyes shone with a brilliance only the unbroken youth possessed, “we have smartphones so I’m sure you can call your friends whenever you’re ready to get back to your wanderings. And if that doesn’t work, Qingque can help you find the Express at the Divination Commission—“

”No I won’t!” 

Dan Heng’s phone chimed with a text message from one of the Astral Express Crew’s many group chats from the conductor wishing him well and looking forward to his return to traveling aboard the Express when he pushed passed the doors and strode through the light projections of star chess of the Seat of Divine Foresight’s projection sand pit. 

The aids greeted him with a polite formality that he did not feel he deserved before moving out of earshot.

Jing Yuan’s disciple was assisting his teacher with going over digital documents when he looked up, Dan Heng didn’t miss the small flare in his golden eyes that was quickly snuffed out as he glanced towards the General who silently instructed him to take his leave.

The Cloud Knight Lieutenant silently bowed and gathered the Jade Abacus tablets. Before he left, Dan Heng spotted that same flare in the young Lieutenant’s eyes as he passed the Nameless.

Whether the Lieutenant’s expression was a silent challenge or lingering wariness, Dan Heng could not bring himself to care as he looked back at the General, who regarded the Nameless with seemingly laid back curiosity.

“General,” Dan Heng cleared his throat as he summoned his resolve, “I have made my decision about your offer from earlier…”

Some Time Later...

When Pom Pom announced they were using what little fuel they had to revisit the Xianzhou Loufu for not only a festival and to act as witnesses for the Alliance’s investigation into the Stellaron crisis— but to also pick up the Astral Express’s resident guard and archivist, to say that March 7th and the Trailblazer were confused was an understatement.

“Um Pom Pom, did you bump your head on our last space jump Dan Heng’s been shut in his room this whole time!” March 7th pointed out, gesturing towards the archives where the Expresses Guard slept.

“Uh, no. Not long after the Ambrosial Arbor crisis, Dan Heng he told Pom Pom that he still had unfinished business to attend to on the Loufu, plus since the Express was only given four tickets to the Charmony festival he thought you guys would have a more fun time than he would. He just texted that he was ready to catch up with the crew now!” Pom Pom made a little gesture with his tiny arms pulling the train’s whistle, “Whoo Whoo!”

March 7th and the Trailblazer stared at Pom Pom blankly.

“So, you’re saying that this entire time Dan Heng wasn’t here?”

“Yes.”

“But what about when he showed up with Boothill when we were saving the day on Penacony!?”

“Pom Pom was video chatting with him and Penacony’s dream technology made the halo images look super lifelike!”

“But we’ve been texting him all the time and it’s never came up!”

“Yes, you guys text Pom Pom too. Then there’s the group chat with all of you and the group chat with just the three of you kids. And then there’s the secret group chat with— Pom Pom’s got a backlog of unread messages from just the two of you alone!”

“So then… if Dan Heng’s not here… who the heck’s this guy!?” The Trailblazer pointed to the person standing next to them who was a spitting image of their Vidyadharian friend. Who was reclining on one of the party car’s couches, casually listening to Sush tell one of their bad puns that would send the tellers of dad jokes to tears with a straight face.

Pom Pom shrugged.

When the three stared at ‘Dan Heng’ for a good four minutes and forty five seconds, a grin rivaling that of the Cheshire Cat spread across ‘Dan Heng’s’ face and in the familiar voice of the masked fool who’d tricked, pranked, and kind of tried to kill them throughout their travels on Penacony— she cheered,

“Guess who’s baaaaaaaaaaack~”

“Ah! SPARKLE!”

Acting on pure self preserving impulse, the Trailblazer summoned their trusty baseball bat and with all the power they could muster— they swung.

Under any other normal circumstance, swinging a bat at the head of a little girl would be considered dramatic and a little bit of overkill— but Sparkle literally just tried to blow up the Radiant Feldspar with fire works, so there was no holds bard as far as the Trailblazer was concerned.

And unsurprisingly— the moment their bat made contact with the masked fool, a figurative explosion of paper confetti filled the party car…

The Astral Express’ return to the Loufu was delayed by forty five minutes due to Pom Pom needing to clear out the sea of colourful paper scraps from the party car while March 7th and the Trailblazer tried to help… which added an extra twenty minutes to the delay.

“…I stand by my high morals.”

Chapter Text

Two moons hung in the Loufu’s sky, each half bathed in light showing that the third day of his dual with the impudent Sword Master had drawn to a close…

He clicked his tongue as he sent tidal waves to overwhelm the woman in the black lotus dress. She nimbly jumped into the air and froze the water beneath her feet with each step she took as she charged up the crescent of the largest wave and leaped towards him with her blade in hand. He deflected the blade with his own. But the force behind the Sword Master’s attack sent him reeling back and eh nearly lost his hold over his cloud hymn magic.

He couldn’t believe this. He held the accumulated martial prowess that far exceeded this woman’s lifetime and yet—

Jingliu jumped, her back arched like a crescent moon before she sent a ice infused slash with the power of an entire army driving the sword strike onward directly towards Dan Feng.

And yet she was besting him!

Ice cracked through the air as a frozen swords met a title wave of water before being shattered by the howling winds.

Of all times— why did this man have to show his face now... Dan Heng lamented as he readied the dragon heart pearl he’d hidden within Cloud Piercer to deflect onslaught of ice swords and wind blades aimed for his throat.

Dan Heng recalled a philosophical law where ‘everything that can go wrong will go wrong’ and that… pretty much summarized everything that’s transpired  since the moment he returned to the land of his birth. From being unable to contact the Astral Express Crew who had already ventured into the Loufu, to being forced to ally with a practitioner of the Abundance carrying an even stranger coffin and a Judge of the Ten Lords Commission that once kept him shackled in prison to now coming face to face with the apathetic Stellaron Hunter right when he reached Dragonprayer Terrace.

A violent wind slash knocked Dan Heng from the air. He looked up in time to see the empty shell of a man wearing a maniacal smile raising his sword high overhead.

And… that man...

Several ice blades pierced Blade through the torso before ice encased blade in a frozen tomb. Lieutenant Yanqing let out a breath before he turned towards Dan Heng with narrowed eyes akin to a cat on a hunt about to strike.

“I’m not your enemy!” Dan Heng shouted right before side stepping to dodge a wind blade that sliced past his neck a hair’s breadth away, “I need to get to Scalegorge Waterscape before the Ambrosial Arbor becomes—“

“Why? So you can cause General Jing Yuan even more grief!?” Yanqing snapped as he closed the distance between Dan Heng and himself with a quick dash, freezing the water Dan Heng had conjured with his ice when they locked blades.

Dan Heng’s patience for this child evaporated in that instant, “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Yanqing broke from the blade lock and swiped at the spot where Dan Heng’s chest was but a second ago.

“I know enough! Like how you and General Jing Yuan were friends but after you reincarnated you left everything behind like your past friendships meant nothing!”

“I am not Dan Feng.” Dan Heng told the Lieutenant through gritted teeth.

“Just because you reincarnated doesn't erase the bonds you've made with the people you left behind!” “The Lieutenant snapped, pointing the sword he held towards Dan Heng.

Dan Heng’s his already frayed patience snap, struggling to maintain composure he sent a torrent of water to knock the Lieutenant off his feet before coldly telling him, “Jing Yuan was comrades with Dan Feng— not me. Whatever they had are lost to me.”

As the Lieutenant struggled to stand Dan Heng caught a type of hurt in his gold eyes that children his age didn't carry, “Then... why did you come back?”

"Because the Astral Express, my friends, are in danger—" As Dan Heng spoke, he noticed that he could see his breath in the air...

"Well, since you and General Jing Yuan are no longer friends, I won't feel so bad about this now!"

The hurt in Yanqing’s golden eyes was replaced with pale fire and he nimbly leaped back and sliced through the air with ice in a perfect crescent slice that Dan Feng had seen countless times before. And it was thanks to Dan Feng’s memories that Dan Heng was able to deflect the ice infused sword slash with his spear. 

Yanqing stared at Dan Heng wide eyed and gobsmacked, "You parried that? Are you kidding me!?"

Dan Heng heaved, staring wide eyed at the young Lieutenant as he readjusted his grip on Cloud Piercer, for a split second, he saw Jingliu in the boy’s place, “Wh-Who taught you that sword art?”

“Wouldn’t… Wouldn’t you like to know!” Yanqing huffed, having already burned through too much of his energy.

Dan Heng’s emerald eyes widened. At some point, this child crossed paths with the Loufu’s fallen sword master… and lived to incorporate one of her best sword arts into his skillset.

“You don’t understand! That technique belongs to—“

“That woman…”

Dan Heng and Yanqing froze and turned towards the Stellaron Hunter—

Sickening energy trapped within the hallowed husk of the man standing before them surged, threatening to pour out of it’s host like a geyser ready to burst from the ground.

"DIe... Jingliu..."

Mara seeped wind tore the air asunder, giving Dan Heng and the Cloud Knight Lieutenant less than a moment to evade the Marastruck man’s attack by a hair’s length.

The man called Blade launched himself forward, now designating the Lieutenant as the main target of his rage muddled onslaught. The thought of leaving these two to fight it out briefly crossed Dan Heng’s mind, and glanced towards the awaiting alter of Scalegourge Waterscape…

But when turned back to his opponents, he saw that although Yanqing was able to pay the Marastruck man’s wild swings, it was clear that the gap in experience was far too great for the young Lieutenant and his lack of combat experience would be his undoing in a war of attrition… Heaving a sigh, Dan Heng pulled the currents from the ocean and slammed the torrent into the Marastruck man’s side in one of the brief moments, Yanqing’s was able to push him back to gain distance needed to stick with his qi connected ice swords.

The Lieutenant whirled around, eyes narrowed. Dan Heng felt the air around them take on a biting chill and the waves under his command suddenly froze.

“By the power invested in me, you’re under arrest!”

Dan Heng knew he wouldn’t receive thanks for his efforts, but the thought to leave the Lieutenant on his own returned none the less. Every second waisted here was another second for the Ambrosial Arbor to grow and… bring more destruction to his homeland.

Gritting his teeth, he relented.

“Alright. I will go with you back to the Shackling Prison without any resistance. After these two are dealt with.” Dan Heng gestured towards the already recovering Blade and the Stellaron Hunter who was watching the chaos unfold from where the sea met stone with mild amusement in her lightless eyes, “And after I repair the seal over the Ambrosial Arbor and cleanse its roots—”

“Yeah." The Lieutenant scoffed haughtily as he changed from a single handed grip to two handed and readjusted his stance, “Like I’m gonna deputize one of the vilest criminals in the Alliance and the General’s worst friend of all time, just to win a fight—“

Dan Heng tackled the Cloud Knight Lieutenant before they both became the center of a wind infused eight fold slash when the man who called himself Blade lunged down at them. They both stared at the crushed stone where they once stood for a split second before Yanqing threw his head back and yelled in frustration.

“Ugh! Fine!”

Coating Cloud Piercer in cloud hymn magic, Dan Heng drew in the tides so that knee deep waves coated the shoal before he threw the spear akin to a javelin aiming for the spot where man’s heart should be. In tandem, Yanqing froze the water around the Marastruck man, keeping him pinned in place long enough for Dan Heng’s spear to hit it’s mark—

“All of you!” The Stelleron Hunter’s spirit whisper threaded through the air, “Listen to me!”

Dan Heng opened his eyes and pushed himself upright to sit the side of the bed and breathed out in an effort to recollect himself.

Great, now 'his' memories are seeping into 'my' memories…

He turned and hit his phone’s preset alarm two minutes before it was set to go off. Sitting upright he took several deep breaths to center himself. When he opened his eyes panic surged through his veins when he saw that he was inside a dimly lit room furnished with traditional Xianzhou decor.

A faint buzz caught his attention. Picking up his phone, he saw about fifty new texts primarily from March 7th and the newest addition to the Expresses’ Crew.

Dan Heng sighed and pressed a cool hand too one of his temples in an attempt to center himself. In a practical effort to save credits and strale, Dan Heng accepted Jing Yuan’s offer to stay in the guest room of the general’s house and show Jing Yuan that 'Dan Heng' wasn’t 'Dan Feng'.

But every time he closed his eyes, he was constantly submerged in memories of his past life as though Dan Feng was trying to pull Dan Heng under… 

I knew I would regret this…

He quickly got out of bed and opened the curtains that kept the window to the room covered, bathing the guest room he was staying in a soft light from the Loufu’s artificially generated sun before he switched all thirty two of his Astral Express Crew related chats to mute to better help quiet his mind before tackling what was about to cause his next headache when he glanced over at his suitcase…

Thanks to his rather spur of the moment ‘take time to decompress and unpack some of that baggage you’ve got’ as Pom Pom said, he’d been rather hasty when he packed away his clothes— and so the only thing he had for a sleep shirt was a gift from March 7th consisting of a black short sleeve shirt with ‘Respectless’ written in interstellar common… 

If Jing Yuan, or worse— Yanqing sees me in this, I’ll never hear the end of it…

Dan Heng made a mental note to travel to the market later today before taking a moment to listen of activity in the house. The shower was running, but other than that, he didn’t hear anything, which made sense since the dual hour was six in the morning.

Taking a deep breath, Dan Heng slid open the door to his room and silently shut it behind him before he made his way to the kitchenette of the house he was staying in and set to work making his own variant of cosmic fried rice.

When the rice turned a pale gold in the wok, the sound of another door sliding open snapped Dan Heng to attention.

The jolt of anxiety soon dissipated when the sound of slightly off beat singing filled the halls of the house he was staying in…

“Living. In your mind now~ To late cause you’r mine noo-“ When Lieutenant Yanqing rounded the corner, he jumped when he saw Dan Heng standing across the kitchen counter, before slipping on the polished wood floor and yelled as he fell, “Ow!”

Dan Heng stared at the Cloud Knight Lieutenant who was unironically singing outworlder pop songs based off outworlder films that were based off of pop song culture, who picked himself off from the floor before Yanqing in turn stared at him making the Xianzhou equivalent to fast food in the cheapest and most self deprecating shirt ever conceived.

Yanqing slid off his headphones revealing burning red ears, “Hey, Dan Heng…”

As embarrassing as it was for Yanqing to be caught singing from a soundtrack from an Immersia, Dan Heng knew his own dignity was at stake when Yanqing’s pale gold eyes lingered on the shirt March 7th gave him before he strode towards towards the refrigerator.

You’re worrying too much, Dan Heng thought as he returned to frying the rice and vegetables, Last I checked, the every ship of the Xianzhou Alliance still exclusively spoke the ancient Xianzhou dialect...

“Nice T-shirt.” Yanqing quipped as he withdrew carrots and daikon from the refrigerator, “It suits you.”

…Unless the Divination Commission upgraded the synesthesia beacons to translate written text. Damn it.

“It was a gift.” Dan Heng replied curtly, “Not wearing it would disrespect the one who gifted it to me.”

“I know the Loufu’s only been acquainted with the Astral Express for like, two weeks. But considering that March 7th and you’re friend who has a raccoon for their spirit animal’s already have records in the Realm Keeping Commission for trespassing to take pictures, destroying Artisanship Commission property, and digging through trash… I don’t think either of them would notice if you burned it when they're not looking.” Yanqing replied as he grabbed some vegetables from the refrigerator, “I’m gonna make congee and song lotus cakes… Unless you wanna eat that again.”

The Cloud Knight gestured towards Dan Heng’s half cooked fried rice.

Dan Heng sighed and sat down at the counter and watched as the Lieutenant took over making breakfast, handling the cookware with nearly the same level of of skill as he had with the twelve flying swords, connected into his spinal meridian from the acupuncture points of Dazhui to Yaoyangguan. There was an odd sense of familiarity that tugged at the back of Dan Heng's memory that he brushed aside, lest he drown himself in the abyss of another person's memories again.

“Did Jing Yuan teach you how to cook?” Dan Heng asked Yanqing when he felt himself being tugged into a bygone era of ordering Dim Sum if Baiheng was unable to bring any unusual outworlder delicacies back from her wayfaring excursions.

“Nah, I taught myself.” Yanqing answered with a bit of pride in his voice, “Growing up, we were always ordering dim sum— which isn’t bad, but Lady Bailu says General Jing Yuan needs to cut back on the fried foods so he doesn’t have to see her so much. And then I found this recipe book from the Yaoqing that teaches you how to cook healthy and nutritious food! They’re… just a little on the spicy side though…”

Yanqing took out a jade abacus and showed Dan Heng a list of recipes from a series titled ‘Pure Fiction: Unstoppable Master Jiao’ 

The Lieutenant’s ingenuity and subtle jab towards Dan Heng’s culinary abilities reminded the Nameless that Yanqing caught somewhere between the impudence of a child like Hook and a deference of an adolescent like Sushang, “I think Jing Yuan’s health and wellbeing are in better quality than what he’s making them appear to be…”

If this were any other person, Dan Heng would’ve been concerned about the general’s health, but knowing Bailu’s identity and Jing Yuan’s devious nature— he could take a wild guess the Jing Yuan was actually fine and simply needed an excuse so that he’d be able to converse with the Healer Lady in the absence of the oppressive watch of the Loufu’s Preceptors.

“That’s what Lady Bailu says too! But neither of you’ve seen how fatigued and ill he looks before she sees him! But what do I know? I’m just a swordsman…” Yanqing let out at tired sigh and shook his head, “Anyway, you can never be too cautious when it comes to health— not that the General’s dying or anything. You know, the healers at the Alchemy Commission say that eight hundred’s the new two hundred— the good healers, not the ones who’re secretly Disciples of Sanctus Medicus…”

"I know what you mean." Dan Heng reassured the sword wielder before he continued with his ramblings, “If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to be a disciple to General Jing Yuan?”

He was never ambitious nor seemed interested in passing on Jingliu's brutal instructions...

“It's a pretty boring story. General Jing Yuan found me amongst some wreckage after a battle in one of the Loufu's delves and raised me as his own." Yanqing nimbly took the lotus song cakes out of the oven, "Which is why I wanna return all the kindness and generosity he gave to me back then tenfold!”

Ah. Filial piety, at it’s finest…

“So...” Yanqing drawled, looking back at Dan Heng knowingly, “Are you gonna tell me why're you here? You already said you’d rather go dumpster diving around the universe with the Astral Express guys—“

“That’s not exactly what Trailblazing is…”

“Rather than have anything to do with being Imbibitor Lunae, or the Xianzhou," Yanqing continued as he listed off with his fingers, "or Dad— or the general. And yet, you’re still here. Why?”

"I..." Contradicting emotions crashed within Dan Heng like waves in a storm as he stared at the bowl of congee for a few seconds to try and collect his thoughts. The High Cloud Quintet’s final gathering struck a cord in his heart with how Jingliu and Blade, who, just like the Preceptors and Judges both looked at him with nothing but contempt with the absolute certainty that he and Dan Feng were one and the same. 

And then… they both left. 

And only the general who looked at him without any malice with the faintest trace of hope that something could be revived from the ashes of what once was the High Cloud Quintet only to be spurned at every turn was left staring out at the distant shores aboard of Scalegourge Waterscape. The sight of the lone warrior looking forlornly out at the endless waves was where celebration and merriment once took place was… harder to watch than the bloody dual between Blade and Jingliu that had only happened minutes ago.

Dan Heng sensed that Yanqing felt the same way.

“If I just leave things as they are now. I wouldn’t be any different from Jingliu, Blade, or ‘him’." Dan Heng looked back towards Yanqing with newfound resolution, "I'm here to burry the past. Jing Yuan deserves that much, at the very least."

Yanqing looked at Dan Heng doubtfully. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth to say something else, but the sound of light footsteps followed by a long yawn sounded from the hallway. Prompting him to click his tongue and turn back to the congee he was making seconds before an even more disheveled than usual Jing Yuan, also still wearing his night clothes, entered the kitchen with Mimi perched on his shoulders, “Morning…”

“Mornin’ Dad—“ Yanqing stopped short and hastily corrected himself, “Good morning, General. Breakfast’s ready!”

“Greetings, general.”

“Morning, you two,” Jing Yuan yawned still half asleep as he took a seat at the counter. Mimi jumped from the general's shoulder and padded along the table and proceeded to dip one of her paws in a bowl of congee with neither the master or apprentice making any move to stop her.

Jing Yuan sat down prepared to bowl for himself, “So? Do either of you have any plans for this morning? Perhaps we could spend the morning playing a few rounds of Star Chess.”

Yanqing looked at Dan Heng knowingly, as if to say, ‘Time to put your strale where your mouth is’.

Dan Heng glanced down at the shirt he was wearing, I… am not ready for this.

“Actually…” Dan Yanqing spoke up before the Lieutenant could respond, “Lieutenant Yanqing already offered to show me around the markets in the Central Starskiff Haven.”

Yanqing looked at him, silently asking, ’And why would I do that?’

“As thanks for his assistance in acquiring new Xianzhou clothing, I was going to procure a new sword for him.”

Starwatcher Avenue's stores were already opened by the time they reached the bustling streets of Central Starskifff Haven. Many local vendors and street performers have also began to peddle their trades along the streets as Dan Heng and Yanqing passed by.

“The Artisanship Commission’s are always forging new swords and sending them to the merchants!” Yanqing exclaimed excitedly as he wove through the throngs of people who moved like a river through the streets with ease, “But it takes a keen eye to find the diamonds in the rough!”

They passed a few businessmen in Xianzhou attire wearing pins depicting the Interstellar Peace Corporation’s sigil. Dan Heng glanced back and couldn’t help but think back on how much the Xianzhou Loufu in Dan Feng’s memories would never consider leaving themselves open to IPC infiltration… Dan Heng mentally shook himself and almost hesitantly asked Yanqing, “I take it that the IPC’s established themselves in the Alliance?”

“Not as much as they’re making it out to be.” Yanqing shrugged, looking back towards Dan Heng, “The Loufu’s trading with them to a certain extent. You’ll have to ask Tingyun— Helm Master Yukong about the specifics… Oh! and I heard the Yaoqing lets them do what they want on the planets that are liberated by them, but I think the corporation's gotten the short end of the stick since they’ve gotta supply the Yaoqing with basically unlimited weapons and resources in order to cull the Abominations—”

“Excuse me!?” 

Dan Heng and Yanqing turned to see one of the IPC businessmen who wore sunglasses in overcast weather fuming, at the pair, “The IPC is the greatest business conglomerate in the entire cosmos! How dare you imply imply that we make deals that don’t benefit the Amber Lord…!“

Yanqing grabbed Dan Heng’s sleeve and they quickly moved through the crowd until the businessman’s yells became too distant to hear. Soon, the tension building behind Dan Heng’s brow lessened as well.

"Little Gui’s the best at breaking down the corporation guys’ egos by ‘spitting facts’ but I prefer to let my swords do the talking.” Yanqing grinned at Dan Heng before he quickly added, “But in this case, it’s best not to engage otherwise we’d get in trouble…”

“Slicing the head from the shoulders of an uncouth IPC representative would most certainly land us both back in the Shackling Prison.” Dan Heng quipped. He recalled the name 'Tingyun'— which tanks to March 7th and the Trailblazer, has become synonymous with 'oh my god! What happened to her neck!?’. Many of the stores they passed had her portrait surrounded by white and yellow flower wreaths, ”Was Tingyun was a friend of yours?"

Yanqing slowed his pace and let out a breath, "Yeah, when I was a kid—"

"You're still are one."

"When I was a little kid, Miss Tingyun was one of the first people who caught on that I preferred to practice with swords more than playing with toys and she even went out of her way to find some rare blades as a gift for me..." Yanqing sighed as he watched a Starskiff soar overhead, "I want to believe that she's still alive out there... but that would mean she's... not in a good place."

The Ruin Legion never took prisoners. And speculation on the torturous 'what ifs' was dangerous to the mind and spirit. Dan Heng tried to think of something reassuring without sounding patronizing, "If it's one thing I can recall and know to be true, it is that the spirit of the Path Striders of the Hunt is not easily broken. For all we know, Miss TIngyun could trading in the cosmos far away from the Ruin Legion, blissfully unaware of the turmoil that transpired here." 

"Geeze, when she finds out a Lord Ravager stole her identity, she's gonna want payback with interest... and then we can go to the markets to buy more swords to celebrate!" Yanqing grinned as they approached a stall lined with blades fresh from the forges of the Artisanship Commission.

Yanqing’s eyes lit up like the lights adorning the night market.

Out of all the swords lining the racks, his eyes fell on two blades in particular. The blade located at the center of the rack that was sure to catch the attention of passersby had the seal of the Loufu’s current Furnace Master subtly carved into the blade near the hilt, “By the Reignbough— that’s a Shadeslink Sword! Forged by the Furnace Master himself using an outworld crystal jade. Its luster is compelling, and it's fitted with the newest flight component. It can be connected with the wielder's consciousness and sent flying across the battlefield!”

“Young one, you have a good eye!” The vendor praised Yanqing before the Lieutenant's attention was caught by another to another blade located near the bottom of the rack. 

“Ooooh!” Yanqing breathed as the vendor picked up the jade shaded blade and placed the pale green sword along the counter, “This one is of Vidyadhara make, forged with the exotic corallium metal of Scalegorge Waterscape and tempered with thaumaspring water. Such a blade can be easily wielded even in extreme conditions.”

Dan Heng checked the prices...

...He was going to end up breaking bank.

"Which one do you think I should get?" Yanqing suddenly asked Dan Heng, looking up at him, golden eyes now genuinely earnest.

 
Dan Heng glanced at the two swords that looked nothing alike, the extent of his knowledge in weapons outside of spears was limited to what he had read in books. But he knew which one ‘he’ would choose. And comparing them to what Dan Heng himself knew…

He chose the corallium blade.

For once, Dan Feng and I can actually come to a consensus…  

 "And I'll take this one!" Yanqing handed the vendor a handful of strale in exchange for the Furnace Master's Shadelink Sword and picked up both swords in his arms. When the Lieutenant caught Dan Heng staring, he huffed, "I do get paid you know! It's just that I run out of strale from time to time and I've gotta live frugally until next month's pay... or ask General Jing Yuan for help."

Dan Heng rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop the ghost of a smile from forming. The only other person Dan Heng knew of who spoke of swords with such enthusiastic fervor was… Jingliu.

Dan Heng’s phone buzzed, notifying him of a new message—

General Jing Yuan: The three things that’ll land you in Yanqing’s good graces are swords, sparing, and cats. 

“Um…” Dan Heng glanced at the Lieutenant, “Would you… like to spar?”

Yanqing spun around, bouncing on the balls of his heels, eye now radiant, “Can the Artisanship Commission’s Blueprint turn anything into a scroll?”

“…Yes?”

“Yes! They do!

Dan Heng’s phone buzzed again—

General Jing Yuan: Good Luck.

Rather than use one of his swords, Yanking drew a large circle in the sands of Scalegourge Waterscape, “Whoever steps out of the ring first loses!”

Yanqing summoned the swords he received from Dan Heng and twelve other swords connected to him and waited patiently even after Dan Heng summoned Cloud Piercer, “Arn’t you gonna turn into your super self?”

Dan Heng struck with Cloud Piercer.

“No.” 

Before he reached Yanqing, ice coated Cloud Piercer, off balancing the spear’s weight, giving the Cloud Knight leeway to nimbly dodge the strike, and persistently asked, “Why not?”

“I only use that form if I’m absolutely required to. In the event of life and death circumstances, for example.” Dan Heng infused his spear with cloud hymn, melting away the ice and redoubled his efforts to knock Yanqing out of their sparring ring.

“And what happens if I accidents kill you because you’re holding out?” Yanqing sent six of his twelve flying swords to attack Dan Heng in a forward assault while the remaining half attempted to cut off any openings to dodge.

“You won’t.” Dan Heng leaped a second before the swords collided and pushed his feet against the interlocked swords before he lunged towards Yanqing who blocked his spear strike.

“You really sure about that?”

“Why don’t you prove it?”

Another flying sword reinforced with ice shot towards his neck. Caught off by the surprise attack, Dan Heng felt himself shedding the layers of his illusion and undid the seas around the dragon heart pearl within Cloud Piercer unleashing transcendence from dracore libre.

Dan Heng’s eyes widened when he sensed traces of cloud hymn magic from that attack. Knowing that his people had a habit of stalking him and Bailu, Dan Heng drew on his own cloud hymn magic and sent out his power to  he didn’t detect anyone else in the area.

It must be from that Vidyadhara sword… Dan Heng surmised as he charged fulgurant leap from the tides…

The Loufu’s artificial sun began to set, turning the grey clouds that blanketed Scalegourge Waterscape from a dull  grey to pale pink and the flame coloured waves flickered like the fires that burned within the Creation Furnace by the time their dual concluded.

Outside of the boundary line, Yanqing flopped onto the sand covered shore, chest heaving, “…You know that feeling where you realize that the ocean’s just a small pond and the real ocean’s gotta lot of bigger fish in it?”

“For what it’s worth, you’ve managed to traverse the open waters without being eaten yet.” Dan Heng offered his hand to the Lieutenant as he wove Cloud Hymn magic to shift back into his disguised form, “But, you were able to force me to use my full power. With enough time, I’m certain you’ll eventually reach your goals. You even managed to survive a bout with Jingliu after all. Not even Blade can claim that.”

“Not really…” Yanqing admitted as he accepted Dan Heng's hand to pull himself upright. He gestured towards the lock charm that he kept pinned on his Cloud Knight fatigues, “When the old lady attacked, I happened to get really, really lucky and blocked her strike. And then she was gone.”

“In another lifetime, someone once said she didn’t believe in luck and martial prowess is based off of skill alone. It’s…” Dan Heng searched for the right words, if he left the Loufu today would he feel any different than how he felt this morning?”It’s reassuring to see that Jing Yuan has someone as loyal and stalwart as you as his retainer.”

“Don’t patronize me…”

“You look like you needed a confidence boost.”

They stood amidst the sand, watching the waves roll over the calming sky. The sights and scents of a long forgotten homeland did much to ease the tension that had been gnawing away at Dan Heng’s mind.

 “…A long time ago, the general was kind to me as well.” Dan Heng told Yanqing quietly, “Perhaps it’s because of that, that I owe it to him to lay the past he shared with ‘him’ to rest properly.”

Yanqing hummed thoughtfully as he took out another charm, “I think there’s more you’re looking for than closure, but I’m sure you’ll find whatever it is eventually.”

A familiar translucent flash from the arcanum in the Lieutenant’s hand caught Dan Heng’s eye, I-Is that? Is that what I think it is!?

Faced with two choices, to pursue this thread of fate that would lead him to uncovering more and more of a past Jing Yuan himself may have buried, or to sit and watch the sunset over the sea…

And Dan Heng made his own choice.

“Next time I have a free day, we should spar at Fyxestroll Garden next!” Yanqing exclaimed as the began the trek back to Jing Yuan's house.

Dan Heng rolled his eyes, “Of course your go-to sparing location is a pavilion infested with hilliobi…”

"That's cause life would be boring if you did the same thing over and over again!"

Dan Heng hummed thoughtfully and wondered if Long thought the same thing before they passed on...