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ArabicHonkai Star Rail: My Chat Group is Full of Broken Timelines — Chapter 37
Chapter 37: The Art of the Truth
“Kazuki, you can go now.”
The Cloud Knight guard heaved the cell door open, the groan of stressed metal echoing unnaturally loud in the silent detention center.
Kazuki, who had been squatting on the cold floor for nearly three hours, pushed himself to his feet. Pins and needles shot through his legs, and he stomped them against the metal plating to chase the numbness away. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his stiff neck, a series of small pops cracking from his vertebrae as he finally walked out of the room with its four bare, unforgiving walls.
He had ended up here because Jingliu, after their brief and violent encounter, had simply vanished, leaving him to clean up the mess. Faced with a squad of surging Cloud Knights and a street blanketed in frost, he had little choice but to raise his hands in surrender.
The interrogation room had been just as unpleasant. A single, harsh light beat down from the ceiling, illuminating the flickering green screen of a polygraph machine in front of him. He’d been forced to spin a tale woven from carefully selected, trivial truths.
“Why were you in that remote alley?”
“I was just taking a walk and wandered off the main path. Curiosity got the better of me, so I went in for a look.” Kazuki’s voice had been a model of calm, but his mind was racing. ‘I can’t exactly tell them I was chasing a ghost—a legendary Sword Champion from eight hundred years ago.’
“There were obvious signs of a fight at the scene. Who were you fighting with?”
“I was attacked,” Kazuki had answered, his tone unwavering. This, at least, was the absolute truth. Jingliu’s opening strike had been the very definition of a sneak attack. “I was forced to defend myself.”
“And your attacker? Where did they go?”
“I’ve never seen them before in my life. I have no idea where they went.”
Throughout the questioning, the polygraph device—a model remarkably similar to those used by the Ten-Lords Commission—never once flashed yellow. While the Cloud Knights interrogating him were certain he wasn’t telling the whole story, their hands were tied.
In the end, their decision to release him came down to three simple facts. First, no actual laws had been broken. The Cloud Knights were only stationed here to maintain a semblance of order, not to enforce a rigid legal code that didn’t exist.
Second, based on Kazuki’s own testimony—which was corroborated by the pattern of destruction at the scene—he was the victim of an unprovoked assault, acting only in self-defense.
And finally, the unspoken rule: Kazuki was a Xianzhou native. So far from home, a certain solidarity existed between them. The Cloud Knights were reluctant to make things difficult for a fellow countryman.
“Go on, then,” the guard said, waving a hand in dismissal. His voice held a note of weary resignation. “And try not to go poking around in strange alleys next time.”
Kazuki felt as if he’d been granted a presidential pardon. He quickly patted the dust from his pants and strode out of the detention center’s main entrance.
The light outside was blinding. He squinted against the sudden brightness and immediately spotted Tingyun standing a short distance away. She was still dressed in her moon-white casual attire, her fluffy fox tail swishing gently behind her. Flanked by two guards from the “Winged Flame” merchant group, she had clearly rushed over the moment she’d finished her business.
Upon seeing him emerge, Tingyun hurried to meet him, her warm eyes filled with genuine concern. “Little Tian, I heard you were attacked! Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
She must have seen the incident report when arranging his release. The worry in her voice was unmistakable.
Kazuki flexed his arms. The wrist that had gone numb from the chilling impact of Jingliu’s sword qi had already recovered. Parrying even a few of her strikes had been no small feat. Her Mara-Struck state had pushed her physical parameters to monstrous levels, far beyond what any normal Xianzhou native could handle, even with his own strength augmented by the power of a Chrysos Heir. And that was before considering that Jingliu, prior to her fall, had been the Sword Champion of the Luofu.
‘To wield a blade that felt even heavier than the Stone Fire Dream Body with the fluid grace of a swimming dragon… Master Jingliu, you are terrifying.’
“I was ambushed, yes,” he said, forcing a light, reassuring smile. “But I’m fine. Not a scratch on me.”
He continued, “My attacker didn’t get any advantage and ran off after a few exchanges.”
This wasn’t entirely a lie. While Jingliu had only been testing him, the power behind her sword qi had been terrifyingly real. To have survived a few moves against the legendary Sword Champion and escaped unscathed was, in itself, a monumental stroke of luck. He could still feel a phantom chill tracing its way down his spine as he recalled the clash. Jingliu’s strength was simply unfathomable; even a casual swing of her sword carried a power that could freeze the very marrow in one’s bones. If not for the latent power Jing Yuan had sealed within the Stone Fire Dream Body, he knew, with chilling certainty, that he would have been cleaved in two.
“Thank goodness you’re okay.” Tingyun let out a visible sigh of relief. She stepped closer and reached out to straighten his slightly rumpled collar. As she did, her tail inadvertently brushed against the back of his hand. The fur was impossibly soft, a fleeting, warm touch that grounded him in the present.
“If you had gotten injured before our journey even officially began,” she murmured, her brow furrowed with lingering worry, “how could I possibly explain it to Sister Yukong and General Jing Yuan?”
Hearing that he was unharmed, Tingyun seemed to relax completely. She didn’t press for the specific details of the incident, instead just giving his shoulder a gentle pat.
“My business here is concluded. The fleet will be departing after a brief rest. Why don’t you tell me what happened once we’re safely aboard the starship?”
“Mm,” Kazuki nodded, his mind already turning. He briefly considered telling her about Jingliu. But on second thought, he dismissed the idea. As much as he trusted Tingyun, and as kind as she had been to him, some secrets were too dangerous to share. Some burdens were better carried alone.
Besides, video records of the former Sword Champion were practically nonexistent on the Xianzhou. How could he possibly explain how he, of all people, recognized her? General Jing Yuan had told him precious little about Jingliu; he rarely even spoke of the High-Cloud Quintet.
No, this was a secret he would have to keep. He would hold it close, and perhaps, once they were back on the Xianzhou, he would decide if it was appropriate to broach the subject with his great-uncle.
Codex Entry: The Longevity Strangers
(Primary Path: Abundance, Secondary Path: The Hunt)
Have you ever heard the name of the Longevity Strangers?
By the grace of Yaoshi, they sought eternal life amidst miracles. What was bestowed upon them alongside longevity was a sacred mission: Deliverance.
Where tyrants murder infants to extend their reign, and the powerful treat the masses as mere puppets; in the bitter sea of mortal existence, all life is adrift.
Following the Path of Yaoshi, they begin a journey to relieve suffering and hardship.
They cross the interstellar void to stifle the deeds of the unjust and the wicked.
Even if armed with but a single skiff, they must cast their long-lived forms into the boundless currents of redemption. Only thus can they fulfill the duty of a long-life species.
System Evaluation: The Abundance-followers who most resemble the people of the Xianzhou. As expected of those with The Hunt as a secondary Path—anything touched by The Hunt tends to possess a certain moral clarity. It is, after all, the Path with the most uncompromising principles.