Empyrean Rebirth |Jing Yuan & Dan Heng|

☾-His Arrival-☽

Jing Yuan's head rested in the palm of his hand as he dozed off... yet again while seated at his desk. As his eyes shut and his head lolled from side to side, his thoughts wandered to (Y/n). Recently, after he had returned from his yearly checkup with the Vidyadhara healer known as Bailu, he had begun to realise that the feeling of tightness in his chest was starting to let up. When he was asked to recall when this started to happen... well, he could only come up with one answer: the days following (Y/n's) arrival. Though Jing Yuan still experienced drowsiness and had trouble keeping his eyes open due to tiredness, he found that whenever he was with the young lady, he was more awake and livelier than ever.

Bailu's constant teasing laughter throughout his checkup did not help him understand what was happening to him even after the small Vidyadhara constantly reassured him that everything was fine. After the general had left and made his way back to his office, he began thinking back on Bailu's words.

"Wait wait... repeat that again?"

"Er... I believe this began after the arrival of Lady (Y/n)."

"Ohhhh," Bailu held back a full blown laugh as she wheezed in between breaths.

"Bailu...? Is everything alright?"

"Y-yup!" Clearly a lie but Jing Yuan decided not to question the little healer. "Ahem! So... the tightness in your chest has been remedied by that pretty lady you're always with which is great news! And since you haven't been as tired as of late, I'll cut down on your prescription. But, you still need to get out more, so..."

Now that he was thinking about it, he had been spending a lot of his time with (Y/n). Actually, he was constantly by her side unless he absolutely could not, such as this moment in which he had very pressing matters to attend to as general of the Cloud Knights. How did he feel about not being with her right now? Answering honestly with himself, Jing Yuan missed her. Hearing her voice, asking for stories even though at this point he'd heard it all, and just being able to see her. He felt much happier with her around and maybe it really was (Y/n) that helped ease the tightness in his chest.

His golden eyes slowly opened as he was interrupted from his thoughts by Master Diviner Fu Xuan's hologram flickering in front of him. Her face displayed an expression of annoyance while her aurelian irises held anger as her arms were also crossed.

"General Jing Yuan," she spoke irritably. "There is a criminal—a traitor loose on the Luofu! Still running free. What say you about this matter?"

Chuckling, the white haired general gave the pink haired diviner a smile.

"Don't worry, Lady Fu. I have everything under control."

"Under control?!"

"The Cloud Knights and I have been working to capture this criminal. It is no laughing matter that someone has engaged with the Abundance and given immortality to someone," Jing Yuan's voice became serious as he addressed the situation. Fu Xuan's hologram sighed as she uncrossed her arms and shook her head.

"I expected you to have sorted this out quicker, General Jing Yuan. After all, wasn't it you who told me that you didn't want Lady (Y/n) to be caught up in the affairs of the Luofu? A criminal on the loose could spell out trouble for her safety." A grim look crossed the general's face upon hearing Fu Xuan's words. "Furthermore, regarding Lady (Y/n), a few Cloud Knights reported sightings of more suspicious people who were seeking information about 'the missing Yaoqing Princess.' Under your orders Cloud Knights are ready to escort her to safety, but they are also awaiting your command concerning the criminal, which if I must spell it out, takes priority for the safety of the Xianzhou."