Honkai Star Rail: Destiny Card System of the Multiverse — Chapter 78

Chapter 78: A Tea Party of Foxes

Jing Yuan listened in silence, the rhythmic throbbing at his temples betraying the gravity of the revelation. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his usually placid expression hardening into something deeply solemn. A Lord Ravager of the Antimatter Legion was a threat that permitted zero hesitation. He brought his palm down against the tabletop with a sharp, decisive thud.

“Very well. Within a day, I shall personally deliver the Ember of the Light Arrow into your hands.”

Kazuki nodded, satisfied with the General’s swift pragmatism. He leaned forward, detailing Phantylia’s true nature—exposing her not as a being of flesh, but as a Heliobus of immense power, and carefully outlining the insidious scope of her abilities.

“Oh, right,” Kazuki murmured, his tone shifting as he tapped a rhythmic, calculating beat against the lacquered wood. A sly smile curved his lips. “If I were to sweeten the deal with an Emanator’s direct assistance, could the Luofu see fit to toss in a little extra? Say… some Cold-Marrow Jade or Dragon-Sinew Wood? Those famous Xianzhou specialties.”

Pragmatism ruled his thoughts. He needed to liquidate the favor owed for an Emanator’s intervention as quickly as possible. The universe was inevitably hurtling toward Finality; compared to that looming cosmic deadline, the abstract friendship of the Xianzhou Alliance held less tangible value than a bottle of cheap soy milk from a roadside vending machine. He wasn’t some starry-eyed Trailblazer from the Astral Express, bound by a noble code of selfless heroism. If there were priceless, market-restricted materials on the table, he was going to sweep them into his pockets.

Jing Yuan considered the demand for scarcely two seconds before a faint smile returned to his face. “Of course.”

For the Luofu, a flagship built upon the very foundation of galactic commerce, trading raw materials for the martial backing of an Emanator was an impossibly lucrative bargain.

The trio exchanged a few more pleasantries, the tension in the air easing slightly, until a sharp buzz vibrated against Kazuki’s thigh. He pulled his phone from his pocket, the screen illuminating his face. A frantic message from Stelle flashed across the display.

Stelle: “Kazuki, Kazuki! Do you know who on the Luofu is the absolute fastest and most accurate at tracking people down?”

Kazuki arched an eyebrow, his thumbs flying across the glass.

Kazuki: “What’s wrong? Who wandered off?”

Stelle: “Dan Heng! He disembarked from the Express a day ago, and we haven’t heard a single peep since! We didn’t want to alert the Luofu authorities yet, fearing we’d cause a diplomatic incident.”

Kazuki stared at the screen. Dan Heng was missing? A sudden spike of alarm pierced his chest.

‘Damn it. Don’t tell me Luocha snatched him up?’

If that stoic archivist ended up brainwashed or tangled in Dan Shu’s Sanctus Medicus fanaticism, it would be an absolute disaster. He snapped his gaze upward, locking onto Fu Xuan. He had to marvel at Stelle’s sheer protagonist luck. She needed the best tracker on the ship, and Kazuki just happened to be sharing a pot of tea with the Master Diviner herself.

“Master Diviner,” Kazuki said, sliding his phone across the polished table and tapping the screen. “We have a slight situation regarding the Astral Express. One of their companions has gone missing. Could I trouble you to divine his current coordinates?”

Fu Xuan barely blinked, her posture radiating absolute confidence. “A trivial matter. Consider it done.”

After extracting a few basic details about Dan Heng’s appearance and temporal signature from Kazuki, she gracefully set aside her porcelain teacup. Without another word, she closed her eyes and called upon the Omniscia embedded in her forehead.

A complex, luminous matrix of shifting star-tracks projected silently from the gem between her brows. The holographic astrolabe hovered in the air above the table, bathing the room in a cold, ethereal starlight as the gears of fate turned within it.

Moments later, Fu Xuan’s voice broke the silence. It carried the detached, echoing cadence unique to the Master Diviner channeling the cosmos.

“Hexagram Eighteen: Gu. Mountain over Wind. The top line is ominous. ‘Working on the decay of the father, one uses praise; in the end, it is ominous.’ Xun is the wind, representing binding threads; Gen is the mountain, representing absolute stillness. The threads of Spirit-Speech have thoroughly entangled his life palace, locking his three souls and trapping his seven spirits. At this very moment, Dan Heng is not the master of his own flesh.”

Kazuki and Jing Yuan slowly turned their heads to exchange a long, utterly blank look. Despite their vastly different backgrounds, a single, unified thought echoed loudly in both their minds: ‘Can you please speak normally?’

Sensing their silence, Fu Xuan sighed softly, the mystical echo fading from her voice. She flicked a slender finger across the holographic matrix, arresting the spinning stars to pinpoint a single glowing coordinate. “In layman’s terms: He is currently located in Cloudford. However, he has been abducted by the Stellaron Hunter known as Kafka.”

Kazuki quickly relayed the coordinates to Stelle. Then, he and Jing Yuan shared another look, this one accompanied by a simultaneous, quiet exhale of relief.

‘Oh. It’s just Kafka.’

Fu Xuan blinked, her gaze darting between the two men. She had expected alarm, perhaps a call to arms. Instead, their previously tense features had melted into an inexplicable, almost leisurely ease.

Kazuki casually lifted his teacup, taking a slow, appreciative sip. He let out a contented sigh. “My word. This tea truly is exceptional.”

Jing Yuan smiled, his eyes curving into relaxed crescents as he picked up the jade teapot to refill Kazuki’s cup. “The water is equally exceptional, my friend.”

Kazuki set down his empty cup, smacking his lips in exaggerated satisfaction.

As the fresh tea poured, the amber liquid rippled with a fine, golden luminescence.

“It is not the tea leaves that have changed, but the water that has finally come alive,” Jing Yuan mused, his tone dripping with philosophical weight. “Dead water cannot brew living tea, just as a turbid world cannot nurture true peace.”

It was supposed to be a gathering of three, yet the strange, synchronized wavelength between the General and the outworlder completely alienated the third party at the table.

Fu Xuan stared at them, utterly baffled by the sudden shift in atmosphere. Her patience snapped. “General!” she scolded, her voice rising in disbelief. “An honored guest of the Astral Express has just been kidnapped by a notorious Stellaron Hunter! How can you possibly sit there exchanging tea poetry?”

Jing Yuan’s hand paused mid-pour. He shook his head, offering her a look of mild, practiced reprimand. “Master Diviner, why the sudden haste? I am merely contemplating the board, trying to fathom the true motives behind the Stellaron Hunters’ actions. The Luofu is currently like a patient suffering from severe internal injuries; one cannot recklessly pull a single thread without unraveling the entire body. We must not act rashly.”

Fu Xuan’s delicate brows knitted together in a fierce frown, her tone sharpening with defiant ambition. “General, could it be that your age is finally catching up to you? Is your wisdom failing to the point where you can no longer distinguish between a critical emergency and a trivial delay? If that is the case, why not step down early and pass the mantle of General to me?”

Seeing her act so impetuously in front of a foreign guest, Jing Yuan let out a soft, long-suffering sigh. “Hardly. But since the Master Diviner is so overflowing with anxious energy, why not go and apprehend Kafka yourself? If you succeed, it will be yet another shining achievement to present before the Marshal.”

Fu Xuan’s eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. “Fine! Then I shall handle this alone!” She turned to Kazuki, offering a curt, flawless bow. “Lord Kazuki, please excuse my sudden departure.”

With a sharp pivot of her heel, she swept out of the room, her silken robes trailing behind her like an angry storm cloud.

Watching her retreating figure, Jing Yuan offered Kazuki an apologetic smile. “Forgive the spectacle. It is getting late, and I must also excuse myself. There are many attendants stationed outside; should you require anything further, simply give them the word.”

With a polite nod, the General turned and strode out of the pavilion, his pace steady and unhurried.

Kazuki watched the man go, his eyes gleaming with perfect understanding. ‘That old fox.’ Jing Yuan was undoubtedly heading straight for the Shackling Prison to orchestrate Blade’s release, and he hadn’t even bothered to invent a convincing lie to cover his tracks.

Left alone in the opulent room, Kazuki stood up and stretched. With a swift, practiced wave of his hand, he swept the entirely untouched, exotic fruit platter—along with the sealed, ornate jar of the General’s top-tier private reserve tea leaves—directly into his system storage.

Waste not, want not. These were premium Xianzhou goods. Rather than leaving them for the attendants to clear away, he was doing them a favor by taking them off their hands.

He adjusted his collar, a faint smirk playing on his lips. Jingliu was still waiting for him back at the Yichen Inn. It was time to go.