Chapter Text
“Mooncakes in the morning? Really?”
Jing Yuan smiled while chewing another package of sweet dough. “What about it?”
“It’s too much for the morning!” the boy scoffed, begrudgingly picking the first one for the day between his fingers while scrunching his nose, and bringing it to his mouth.
“…And?” Jing Yuan raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you like mooncakes?”
“Not in the morning!” Yanqing protested louder than before, throwing his hands at the dark brown table that was sustaining their breakfast. When Yanqing committed the gesture, Jing Yuan couldn’t abstain himself but seize the food on the table with gluttonous eyes. The mooncakes were sitting prettily on three porcelain plates, kept guard on both sides by smaller cups, containing their crimson tea. The seasoned liquid was catching the morning light of the Xianzhou with crystallised sparks. “It’s too much sugar! I’m gonna get sick untill noon!”
But against Yanqing’s serious edge about his choice of breakfast today, Jing Yuan didn’t take his eyes off from the display on the table.
“General! Do you even care?”
The older man finally looked up at his child. “Care about what?”
“That today’s breakfast is terrible!”
Jing Yuan’s corners of mouth slightly dropped to align themselves into a normal expression, more contemplative. He took his time to reply, letting silence set over their table through what the man thought was a too beautiful morning.
“I care about the fact you overwhelm yourself too much with too small things, Yanqing”
Yanqing frowned.
“Why don’t you relax, Yanqing? There is no rush to anything. It’s a peaceful period. You won’t need to fight any serious battles anytime soon”
But those words were an obvious mistake for Yanqing. He immediately countered, by sitting straighter on his chair, both hands propped on the edge of the table, and saying:
“It’s not appropriate for a soldier of any kind to let their guard down like that. Anyone could attack us if we’re weak and distracted enough”
“I’m not saying you should give up on being vigilant completely, Yanqing. I’m talking about your awareness in general.” Jing Yuan clarified. He tilted his head on the side a bit, hoping that if he played it gentler this time, more caringly and sentimental, he would finally be able to reach Yanqing.
“You don’t have to be perfect all the time, Yanqing. You are already enough…Please, enjoy yourself for a while, at least this morning”
The blonde boy fell quiet. His head bowed down a small angle, towards the table, like he always did when the general told him he was doing something wrong. “As hard as it is for you to keep trying to prove, and improve yourself in front of others, as hard it is for me to convince you that you are enough”
This time, Yanqing was quieter than the other times this matter was brought up to him. Usually, he would defend his struggle. But today, the general’s gentle approach seemed to affect Yanqing. But it was temporary. Jing Yuan was aware that the boy needed to reach that conclusion himself, somehow.
Maybe a reality check would do the thing.
“You know –“his deep voice pierced the tasty steam of the mooncakes again “This month, we have the first recruits of your age joining the Cloud Knights”
Yanqing’s back straightened again, which encouraged Jing Yuan to continue.
Jing Yuan’s gaze wasn’t gentle anymore. It was curious to see the lieutenant’s reaction.
“You knew the new personnel was coming, right? I told you last week, if you remember.” He was trying to ground the boy by reminding him of details he already knew.
“I’m going to assign you to teach them how things go for the Cloud Knights”
Yanqing’s light brown eyes looked at the general, then nodded, before biting another mooncake.
“I’m surprised you’re taking it so well” the general observed.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Yanqing asked with his mouth full.
The general sighed, and signalling that he has finished his meal, he dropped his back against the backrest of the chair, now looking at Yanqing’s bowl, waiting for the boy to finish eating.
“It will be like a reality check for you”
***
Yanqing kept in mind the subject of the reality check for the entire length of the time it took to reach Warehouse 2. He led troops before, in drills, and even some local operations against the Denizens of Abundance. It was weird at first when he was younger, because he was several younger than the rest of the staff, but in time, he got used to it. Now, it was the first time he received orders to instruct people on the same level as him.
Because he overstressed that thought in his mind, when he finally stood tall in front of the new platoon of teenagers, he felt a kind of anxiousness he was not familiar with. He was used to the tingling under his skin when he was looking forward to the result of a battle, to drops of sweat coming from exhaustion and body heat – not fear of public-speaking.
“My name is Yanqing… I mean, I am lieutenant Yanqing” he said in front of the other kids. “And I was assigned to your platoon for the time being” he told them, with an undetectable shiver in his throat
A girl in the front row frowned a bit. Noticing the gesture, Yanqing took his gaze away from her to face another soldier’s eyes, which were as confused and awkward as the girl’s. Yanqing felt his limbs going cold, and his cheeks hot. He turned his head to another boy in the first row, and he was relieved to see that this person, at least, wasn’t frowning.
Feeling like he no longer belonged there, Yanqing pressed further. He took his general’s advice this time, to think before he opened his mouth, proof of the long seconds of silence that anticipated his first orders to these soldiers.
“Today, you were assigned to clean the warehouse in the Artisanship Commission. You will be expected to clean the swords, spears, guns, ammunition, shields, devices, and as well as the floors and furniture” Yanqing felt the sweat evaporate his body. He was far more comfortable with listing what he knew - what was professionally expected of him.
To his surprise, someone from the middle rows of the soldiers standing straight rose their hand.
“I have a question”
It was the voice of a boy. Yanqing felt weird that he didn’t mention his name or rank. But he leaned his weight on his right foot and peeked through the organised crowd to face the questioning soldier.
“Yes?”
“When are we going on a mission?”
“When the General says so” the young lieutenant replies. “But this is also a mission. An order…A daily mission”
“But aren’t fresh recruits supposed to be in charge of cleaning?”
Yanqing blinked. “…yes?”
“Then why are we supposed to be the ones who clean?”
The frowning girl from the front row also feels the need to add: “Yeah, it’s gross”
“But you are fresh recruits!”
The fresh enrolled Cloud Knights started whispering through themselves, cracking the silence Yanqing got used to when he greeted them one minute ago. He felt once again like he was fallen from the sky in the middle of the training grounds, because he realised rather quickly he forgot every cloud knight soldier undergoes three years of special training before officially joining the army. The platoon considered itself already old.
“Those are the orders-“
“I have another question!”
Another boy from the middle of the first row, suddenly shouts. Yanqing wonders for a little time why suddenly everyone stopped whispering.
“Are you, like, genuinely General Jing Yuan’s son?”
Yanqing’s eyes widen. He was once again surprised by this sudden, unrelated, but so personal question. No one asked this about him before, but he thought he was simply not aware that he was just Jing Yuan’s retainer.
“I’m his apprentice” he said before he was interrupted by the frowning girl.
“Of course he would never admit to it, Yuxuan. Why ask him like that, dummy!”
And the platoon started whispering between themselves again, which only let Yanqing catching some words from the air, like ‘General’s lovechild’, or even ‘Jingliu’s baby’.
Yanqing’s breath started shaking, along with his fingers. His sweat got cold, and his blood went up to his face. His eyes could not face with the conspiracy air that veiled the other teenagers, and in shame, he abandoned his eyes on the pavement at the level with their boots, and his thoughts started running faster than his feet ever could. If they thought these facts were true, about his origin, did this mean that objectively he was not in his rank because of his own merits? Did this mean that he wasn’t capable enough to hold the title of lieutenant? Of the general’s apprentice? He felt his own heart starting to press differently blood in his brain, like it was not fresh with oxygen, but rotten by every flaw Yanqing could think of.
“That’s enough. You’re ordered to go and clean the warehouse. Now”
Yanqing didn’t even realise Madam Yukong made herself an appearance. The unexpected voice made the whispering youngsters suddenly two times more wary about the two high ranking officials now in front of them. They said in unison an “Yes, Helm Master!” and they marched into the warehouse. But to Yanqing, Yukong’s voice was nothing different to his thoughts than talking over a functioning hairdryer. The foxian turned her head then to Yanqing, the latter not yet taking control of his eyes from the ground.
“Yanqing”
“I’m sorry” the boy replied, quite sheepishly.
“I think it’s better if you report back to the Seat of Divine Foresight”
“Y-yes, Helm Master” and he turned around, with heavy feet, walking to Exalting Sanctum.
***
Jing Yuan felt his head being dragged by the current of sleep while staring at the piece of paper in front of him. He felt like he was going crazy. It was the 20th report that he had to read today, and he didn’t know if he should be glad or pissed off because his subordinates were so detailed about their affairs on the Xianzhou. And these were only the eventful ones. Normally, he had to read all the reports, but for efficiency, and in order to conserve time in order to take action in problems that truly mattered, he asked Qingzu to briefly scan the reports before him and search for triggering words. It was pointless to fill his time reading about what the IPC merchant said at the dock, or what the old lady fought about with her daughter-in-law on the streets. And of course, these files going on about the chase of the Cloud Knights after criminals was always the same. They followed the protocol, and whether they caught the criminal or not, it was written at the end anyway.
Unfortunately, he had to do it. He was forcing himself to stay in touch to what real Luofu looked like.
And he was at the 10th page of this report about spying on some low-rank Disciple going all on about things he already read about thousands of times over the course of his long life in office.
He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed a break.
He indulged himself in closing his eyes and allowing the void of sleep capture his brain. And the quiet, oblivious darkness felt like a cold mint-flavoured balm for his brain.
The Seat of Divine Foresight was quiet today. His guards, supervised by Yutie, stood half vigilant near the entrance in the room. There was no one else in there. The room was veiled in a soothing environmental silence, its surface scratched only by the soft whispers of wind on the other side of the window. The light outside, a huge mass of blue void, entered the Seat of Divine Foresight, spreading white soft rays over the general’s desk, illuminating the papers waiting to be read, and the pens chaotically scattered here and there on the surface of wood. And if Jing Yuan wouldn’t have been so over the top tired of everything, he could’ve once more enjoyed his habit of capturing a scene as calm and as beautiful as this and store it at the back of his mind. But for now, this break from the usual busy atmosphere of his office served as a perfect place for nap-time.
That’s, of course, until his jade abacus starts vibrating and singing that atrocious sound signalling a call from the Skyfaring Comision.
With a grunt, Jing Yuan reluctantly opens his eyes a little and squints at the title of the caller.
‘Helm-master’
The official name appeared on the screen, and after he straightened up and dusted off his uniform and brushed his bangs with his fingers two times, he stood up, and picked up the call. In less than a second, in front of him, a semi-transparent blue Madam Yukong appeared.
“General” she greeted.
The general in question crossed his arms, sitting straighter in front of her. He pushed his shoulders back, not only because he was trying to mask any clue of his short indulgence earlier on, but also because unannounced, unexpected calls in the middle of day meant something out of the ordinary happened.
“Helm-master. What can I help you with? Did something happen?” he asked, in his deep, calm, and warm tone he often used with other Xianzhou officials. It opens their minds to him, and it prevents grudges and conflict. From his experience, a lot of important people had a fragile ego, and a lot of disputes usually start within the ship for the sole reason too many people were holding their noses up. It was not the case with Yukong here, but it became a reflex with time.
“Has Yanqing returned to you yet?”
“Yanqing? Why would he return to The Seat?” he asked, his voice altering into a stiffer tone. He felt his heartbeat going faster.
“The fresh platoon’s questions got out of control.” She paused, and Jing Yuan saw how the gears in Yukong’s mind twirled in search for an appropriate way to tell him what happened. “They started asking scandalous questions to Lieutenant Yanqing. I had to intervene. I was just passing by there.”
Jing Yuan’s expression didn’t change.
“I think it’s better if he reported what happened to you. I just wanted to tell you he left the platoon. I have other matters to attend to.” The general sensed the foxian was uncomfortable narrating the incident.
The general nodded, and the call finished just as quickly as it began. He pondered for a few moments, staring at the wall, and then took some steps forward towards Yutie and his squad.
“Yutie. Please, go to the Artisanship Comision Warehouse 2 and look out for the new platoon”
“Yes, general!” The captain replied immediately and eagerly, and then hurried himself out of The Seat. Just when Yutie reached for the door, he bumped into Yanqing who wanted to get in. Yanqing went all in into Yutie’s chest, so hard the impact pushed him two steps back. The blonde’s hand reached to cover his own nose. Yutie caught the boy by his shoulders.
“Sorry, Captain” Yanqing apologised, nasally.
“Be careful, Yanqing” the older man said gently, and stepped aside, letting go of the boy, to follow Jing Yuan’s orders.
Even the wind outside seemed to feel bad for Yanqing, for it fell silent.
When Yanqing finally noticed the General, the man was leaning his whole weight on one foot, trying to peek at the now embarrassed Yanqing with a curious expression. When Yutie no longer blocked his vision, he straightened again.
He scanned him quickly from head to feet, not being able to resist the instinct. Except for his nose, he seemed fine.
Jing Yuan said nothing at first, and he wanted to turn and offer his apprentice a glass of water, but the boy spoke first.
“They asked me why did they have to clean the warehouse…” he could sense the feel of debt Yanqing felt towards him, and the need to offer an explanation for the predicament. His tone was frail, vulnerable, too easy to be attacked. Jing Yuan was convinced the boy attacked himself enough over it on the way here, even though he wasn’t planning on scolding him over this. “And then whether I was your son or not.”
Jing Yuan clicked his tongue, then he sighed. He usually didn’t care about what other people thought, but it bothered him that Yanqing was suffering because he wasn’t like him.
“And what did you do?” he regretted his tone. It sounded accusatory. And Yanqing’s shoulders sank even further.
“I…” his voice faded in the silence of the room. “Madam Yukong stepped in before I could do anything”
Jing Yuan held his gaze, golden eyes meeting golden eyes, and he tried to calm the little boy by appearing understanding. But Yanqing tore the eye contact in half, and the general’s eyes squinted with new feelings. The tiredness from earlier was catching up with him, it’s pressing veil, stressing him without purpose as he started assessing the situation from all angles. Yanqing was still a child. It was foolish thinking that other children will see him as an authoritative figure.
Yanqing seemed to catch the general’s eyes with his peripheral vision, and his head dropped an inch lower.
Jing Yuan shook his head, nagging his decision from a few days ago. He felt a migraine starting to bloom. When he started thinking about the platoon, one thought led to another, and it struck with him how much paperwork he had to today, already falling behind with the schedule because of his nap.
Maybe a fresh breath of air will calm Yanqing.
“Take it easy. Go patrol the Alchemy Commission with whatever shift is now on duty.”
“Y-yes, General” Yanqing nodded, and he turned on his heel, and left the Seat of Divine Foresight.
Jing Yuan then returned to his desk, his steps rare, and quiet. The whole purpose of this mission was for Yanqing to get in contact with his own generation. For his future in the army, the relations he will have with other cloud knights were very important. Sure, he was in the best terms with the existing administration, but he needed to secure friends for the future, too.
He resumed his seat on the chair, and scanned the reports thoroughly.
***
He joined another two Cloud Knights, just a few years older than him, in their patrol on the shores of the Alchemy Commission. It was the part that made contact with Scalegorge Waterscape, the place most of the criminals choose to run off to because of its ruins and lack of interest of the commissions to restore it. The only people that still gave those ruins some importance were the Vidyadhara, but with the new internal disputes they had, no one bothered to restore that place.
The beach where the ruins began could be seen with the naked eye from the Alchemy Commission’s docks, if the air was not misty. But today, that was not the case, and with that in mind, Yanqing chose the hardest area of the Commission to guard. On the left, the buildings would go on uphill, the density of them offering a variety of choices for anyone willing to hide, even without the mist. If something happened anywhere in the vicinity, chances were of 80 percent that the chase would end up here one way or another. It was one more chance for him to prove himself to the General, to everyone on the Luofu, including these two guards, named Haoyu and Yuze from what he just learned, that he was deserving of his position as a Lieutenant in the Cloud Knights and as the general’s apprentice.
He agreed with the two older men that they would patrol forward, and he will stay a bit behind, to keep an eye on anyone that would wait for them to pass in order to sneak on the other side, towards the water. Yanqing was proud of the idea. He thought two steps ahead, just like the General did. But he didn’t like that the wood tiles would creak at any step. It gave their position away, and it made him feel like he just stepped in into the girls’ bathroom.
However, Haoyu was laid-back about this whole shift, and to fill in the misty silence that set over the turquoise waters, he told his companion about what he thought about the last year’s Wardance matches. Yanqing would normally listen to whatever anyone thought about it, but today, he didn’t feel like his attention should be invested in these kinds of conversations. Not here, not now, when he already messed up in the morning. But the sound of the topic lifted his mood, made him more alert, determined and motivated.
“The breeze seems stronger today…or am I crazy?” Yuze suddenly interrupting Haoyu’s analysis of Zhuming style of defence.
The other one took a slight offense in the interruption. “Tsk. I was talking”
Yanqing felt slightly annoyed the conversation about his interests was interrupted with such trivial observations.
“No, really, it wasn’t strong enough to make your eyes tear up before”
Yanqing didn’t take his eyes from his right side, where the buildings left gaps for alleys and roads. He took note of a suspicious pile of yellow leaves, too organised to have been formed naturally. If it had been gathered by the locals when cleaning the road, then someone abandoned it there, without disposing of it.
An even stronger wave of wind hit them right in the face. Yanqing’s hair got in his eyes, and he swatted his head to the side, and then shook it harder to take the blonde strands out of his eyelashes. He then turned his head to search his pocket for another hair tie to pin his bangs into place.
A ruffle from an alley they just passed.
Yanqing immediately, without warning anyone, turned swiftly and ran back towards the alley.
It was unchanged from a few seconds ago: just white rubble leaning uphill towards the rest of the Alchemy Commission, except that the golden pile of leaves on the ground was scattered across the tiles more chaotically than before. Yanqing didn’t stop his chase, and ran uphill, back towards the main plaza of the Alchemy Commission.
The mist was too thick to see as further ahead as Yanqing would’ve liked, and he almost hit two red walls in his turns. Just when he started panting, he’s right in the centre of the Plaza. A few healers turn their head in his direction, as well as their patients, but others look unbothered, trusting him completely to solve whatever problems he was facing.
No one was particularly panicked, and only then he remembered the pile of leaves, and the strong gush of wind that must’ve hit that pile. The locals were too calm if someone really passed by running just now, and he started suspecting he got distracted by the leaves. He scanned the plaza, and just for good measure, he decided to ask a Vidyadhara, a woman that wasn’t busy with any patients, but rather with cleaning her pharmacy window with a rag, the nearest healer from the opening of the alley, if anything happened.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Did… anyone ran past here just now?”
She turned her head to him, and stopped sweeping the window, though her body was still facing her shop.
“No” The woman measured him from head to toe. “Aren’t you supposed to be on duty?”
The boy felt his blood pounding in his head even harder at first, but he quickly realised the chances of his alarm to be false were very high. “Yes, I am… I thought someone ran here…”
“Mmm”
She resumed cleaning her window, by spraying it with more white foam and caressing it with the grey rag.
Yanqing started walking back towards where he remembered he left his other two soldiers on patrol, taking a relaxed pace on the dark alley back towards the docks. Only the clash of his heels against the rocks and the clash of the waves against the shore could be heard.
At least to be cautious rather than careless.
He took again the two red turns, and when he reached back the docks, Yuze and Haoyu were gone without a trace. Yanqing panicked at first, remembering he didn’t warn them of his departure, but they shouldn’t have gone far, regardless. He jerked his head left and right, but the mist didn’t help him. He saw only white for everything at a distance bigger than 5 meters of him.
He sprinted towards the direction in which he thought Yuze and Haoyu should have gone. He ran for a while, and he still couldn’t find any trace of the two soldiers. Time was ticking, and Yanqing was getting more and more sweaty. He stopped putting effort, letting his inertia spend while throwing his feet forward until stopping. He allowed himself a moment of respite, before deciding to head back inland.
He sprinted again, choosing a wider alley, and this time, he briefly turned his head past every splitting of the road, scanning every dark corner that appeared on his path. His hair was already damp with sweat, Yanqing not knowing if it was like that because of effort, or anxiety.
His eyes hooked on two shadows moving on a white wall that cornered another dark alley, and he took a tight turn, going for the two dark spots. And just after a few seconds, he reunited with the other two men.
They were both panting heavily, bent forward, holding themselves steady by propping on their knees with their palms, with skin and uniform damp all over. Yanqing, despite the fact he ran on a length equivalent to almost the whole commission’s diameter, had a steadier breath than Haoyu and Yuze.
“Where the hell did you gone off to?!” Yuze asked between breaths. His chest visibly swollen and deflated with generous amounts of air. “Do women scare you that much?”
“…eh?” Yanqing was too confused. He frowned, and involuntarily, tilted his head on his left. “Women?”
“Yes! Women!” Haoyu panted out, with less frustration than he probably wanted to.
“What happened?” Yanqing straightened his head as he asked the question in a high voice. Yuze seemed to catch the hint of uncertainty and concern in the boy’s question, and his gaze softened a bit. He was innocent.
“We had to run after two Disciples of Sanctus Medicus” Yuze clarified, less offended. “What happened to you?”
Haoyu turned towards Yuze, outraged for his consideration, but Yuze was too quick to let his colleague say anything, throwing him a warning glance.
“I thought I heard something…And ran towards the Plaza.”
“Really? You think we’re stupid?” Haoyu asked, his face darkening even more, akin to the shadows lurking into these parts of the Luofu. Yanqing flinched, like he was poked right into his chest, and he felt his eyes sting.
“Haoyu” Yuze scolded him. “He’s still young”
“And a lieutenant! The general placed him into his position for a reason, no?”
And Yuze fell silent, looking at Yanqing with a tired glance like he was either done with Haoyu’s ramblings, or done with Yanqing.
Yanqing bit his lip, and swallowed his tears. “I’ll go report to the higher-ups.” It was a good excuse to make himself a dignifying exit, at least.
“Yes. Run to your daddy General to protect you” Haoyu mumbled again, which only resulted in Yuze screaming louder his name again. Yanqing heard his shout from two buildings away. Once he got out of their sight, he started running for as long as he didn’t see anybody, and then slowed down into a quick pace when the road started getting populated. He was crying. Sobbing, even. But he kept a low profile, dreading the thought of facing anyone, of people seeing him this vulnerable, and starting to ask him questions. He set his hair a bit loose, dragging some strands out of his ponytail in order to cover his face. The tears wouldn’t stop, and whipping his cheeks proved futile time and time again, because they always came back, as stubborn as someone that held a grudge to him, ambitious to prove how unworthy of his position Yanqing really was.
***
Yanqing returned at 6 pm at home. His shift ended at 2pm.
Jing Yuan received at 2 pm the report from the patrols of the Alchemy Commission. Two members of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus underwent an operation to transport what seemed like illegal cargo to Scalegorge Waterscape, according to the declarations of two soldiers on-duty. The main reason the Cloud Knights failed in their duty to capture the suspicious individuals was because their superior, lieutenant Yanqing, vanished at the sight of the two tall foxian figures, that were armed to the teeth with two meter glaives, according to the report.
The descriptions seemed oddly specific to imply Yanqing ran from opponents similar to his master.
The report, at first sight, might seem outrageous. A high-ranked officer, to run from duty because of such familiar threats? Of course, Jing Yuan learned to take every report with a grain of salt. He didn’t know personally the witnesses, and in the past, it happened upon him to fall victim of exaggerations made just for the sake of spectacle, or out of spite.
But he knew his lieutenant. And he was sure Yanqing had a bad day.
Usually, he stayed at the Seat of Divine Foresight overtime with a lot of hours extra. But because of the report he received concerning Yanqing, he decided to leave earlier from work, even though that meant leaving some planning for the next day. When he returned at home, Yanqing was nowhere to be seen. He had called him on his jade abacus, and Yanqing, upon responding, reassured him he went training on the training grounds. Jing Yuan left it be. The boy needed to discard his frustrations.
Around 6pm, Jing Yuan finally saw Yanqing entering his house, and at first glance, he read his apprentice’s distress. His first reflex was to reassure him that everyone had a bad day sometimes, and it was okay to feel down, and shouldn’t take it upon himself. But he realised most of these preaches ended in a more stubborn Yanqing wanting to push himself even further, so Jing Yuan said nothing of the matter until after they had dinner.
After Yanqing ate mooncakes again, in the General’s attempts to make him sweeten up, despite the argument they had in the morning, (because Yanqing loved mooncakes, though not as much as he liked keeping a healthy diet, his sweet boy) the young blonde retreated to his room without another word. Then, after washing the dishes, Jing Yuan finally decided to approach Yanqing and ask him about what happened today.
He walked up to Yanqing’s room. The white door was slightly open, revealing a slim part of the lighted room, but Jing Yuan knocked gently on the door anyway.
“May I come in?”
“Yeah…” the voice from withing confirmed, lacking any enthusiasm.
The man’s nose, when entering, was hit with a familiar organic smell of oil. The child was sitting on the chair assigned for his desk, facing in the opposite direction, whipping his sword with one of his older tunics. Despite his lack of energy this afternoon, Yanqing’s eyes were fully focused on the blade he was holding. Jing Yuan took a seat on the unmade bed.
He took his time to tune his voice properly. “What happened exactly at the Alchemy Commission?”
The boy stopped whipping for a fraction of a second, and he leaned closer to the blade, resuming his hand movement. “Didn’t you read the report?”
“Then how do you feel about it?” Despite the boy not looking at him, the General was studying his face carefully, and Yanqing felt he was being haunted.
“Bad. Terribly. I failed, General. I don’t…” He stammered, making a lot of pauses, starting and not finishing sentences. His lip trembled.
“Yanqing”
The boy stopped. His fist just tightened on the hilt, and he gulped.
“I doubt the report was 100 percent accurate. I want to know your perspective”
Yanqing took a deep breath, and then he said:
“I thought someone ran from behind us-“ Yanqing finally started. “I ran to the Plaza, and asked around, but the people there told me they saw no one…I returned to the beach, the other two left…And ran back and I found them there.”
Jing Yuan nodded along. “That seems more plausible”
“What did the report say?” Yanqing asked, curiously.
“I think it’s better if I don’t tell you”
Yanqing finally raised his head straight. “Tell me, General”
“No”
Yanqing scoffed. “General-“
“You’re starting to sound whiny.”
Yanqing blushed. And frowned. “General!”
Jing Yuan chuckled. “I love teasing you”
The boy pouted.
After he was done laughing at his apprentice, he sighed. “One misfortune doesn’t define you, Yanqing. Neither does a bad day. It was my mistake. I sent you this morning to take care of the new platoon. You’re still too young”
The apprentice bit his lip. He didn’t like when it was reminded to him of his age, especially when it was used as an excuse for his mistakes. But he saw the point his master was making. And if it meant that he was spared from other days in the company of that platoon- he had no complaints.
“Do you forgive me, Yanqing?” and he tilted his head on his left.
“There’s nothing to forgive” the boy replied, shaking his head. “You told me to do what you thought best.”
“And I was wrong. I made a mistake. And I need to apologise.”
“Then…apology accepted…Even though I wasn’t even mad at you in the first place.”
“Of course you weren’t” Jing Yuan pushed himself to his feet, and touched the boy’s shoulders. “You were mat at yourself”
He massaged the boy with his thumb gently, and Yanqing looked up back at him. He returned the boy’s stare stare with a warm smile.
“What you need in order to improve is just time. You’re already practicing enough. Okay? Promise you’ll be easier on yourself.”
He received a quiet nod.
Yawning, he fixed his apprentice’s hair with his fingers, and patted his shoulder.
“You’re going tomorrow to ‘Waterscape again to investigate what happened. And please, Yanqing, take it easy”
With that, the man left the room, making sure he left the door just slightly open.