Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Blade’s glare landed on Dan Heng and Jingliu with enough intensity to make the atmosphere around them feel several degrees colder than the frozen ocean behind them.

He stood near the broken remnants of the Waterscape with his hand resting loosely around the hilt of his sword, his posture deceptively relaxed despite the murderous intent radiating from him.

Dan Heng had seen that expression before. More than once. It was the sort of look Blade wore immediately before attempting to kill him, and unfortunately, Dan Heng had long since learned that there was usually very little distinction between Blade’s mildly irritated expression and his actively homicidal one.

Jingliu, meanwhile, seemed completely unbothered. She merely stood there with her hands folded behind her back, blindfold facing Blade, as though she had arrived at a pleasant reunion rather than walked directly into the path of a man who had every reason to despise both her and Dan Heng. Dan Heng was preparing himself for the inevitable exchange when something moved behind him.

He didn’t notice it at first. He should have. His senses were usually considerably sharper than this.

Perhaps he was simply too distracted by Blade’s murderous stare.

Then, a familiar voice emerged from directly behind his shoulder, quiet enough that only he could hear it.

"You let him fuck you. Remember that."

Dan Heng’s entire body stiffened. His eyes widened by perhaps half a millimeter. He slowly turned his head, only to find Sunny crouched behind him with an expression of absolute seriousness, as though he had just delivered an important tactical warning.

Dan Heng stared at him in silence.

Sunny stared back.

Somewhere behind them, Sushang had apparently caught up as well, because she suddenly leaned around Dan Heng’s other shoulder and gasped with genuine horror.

"Silent but Deadly, even in the sheets?! Why would you do that?!"

Dan Heng’s soul nearly left his body. His face went completely blank as he looked between the two idiots surrounding him.

Sunny slowly shook his head.

"Didn’t I tell you that he’s gay? Well, actually, it looks like he’s closer to a manwhore."

The brows of both Dan Heng and Blade twitched simultaneously. Blade’s fingers tightened around his sword. Dan Heng wondered, briefly and sincerely, whether throwing Sunny into the ocean would count as murder or a meal for the fishes.

Jingliu, however, appeared to find the entire exchange genuinely amusing. Her lips curved into a small smile beneath the blindfold as she calmly remarked:

"What is a whore if not one who brings pleasure and joy to others?"

Sunny hummed thoughtfully. His expression became almost reverent.

"You hear that, Dan Heng? Your reputation has been saved, O’ Bringer of Pleasure And Joy."

Dan Heng closed his eyes. He had been traveling with Sunny for too long. He could feel his remaining sanity being physically eroded by proximity.

Blade’s glare shifted toward Sunny for a moment, and the murderous atmosphere around him became even stranger because, somehow, the sight of Sunny did not immediately provoke him into violence. Instead, he simply stared at him... then, he went back to glaring murderously at Dan Heng.

A woman with beautiful features and magenta hair tied into a messy ponytail leaned slightly around Blade’s shoulder, sunglasses resting casually on top of her head.

Kafka’s eyes landed on Sunny, and a warm, almost mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"Hey, Kiddo... what are you doing here?"

Sunny’s expression tightened immediately. Dan Heng noticed it. More importantly, he noticed something else. The woman’s tone was strangely affectionate. Not merely friendly. There was a familiarity there that made Dan Heng instinctively glance at Sunny, then at the woman, then back at Sunny.

Sunny crossed his arms.

"Well, Miss Cheap Spider-Man knockoff, I was making sure this guy doesn’t get brutally murdered by this lady. What about you?"

The woman smiled pleasantly, seemingly immune to the insult. Before she could say anything else, Blade unexpectedly interjected, his glare disappearing as he turned toward Sunny.

"Don’t be rude."

Everyone became silent. Sunny blinked. Dan Heng blinked. Even Jingliu’s head tilted slightly.

Blade then sent a meaningful glance toward the magenta-haired woman. She simply looked away with that same pleasant ambivalence on her face, as though absolutely nothing unusual had happened. It was almost... awkward?

Sunny slowly turned his head toward Dan Heng. Dan Heng looked back. Neither of them understood what had just happened.

The moment Blade’s attention returned to Dan Heng and Jingliu, however, his expression immediately became murderous again, making the entire exchange somehow even more bizarre. Kafka finally answered Sunny’s question, though strangely, she didn’t look at him while doing so.

"Had to keep Bladie from murdering anyone, y’know? Gramps gets a bit grumpy about his ex..."

Blade’s brow twitched.

"Kafka."

Her smile widened.

"What? It’s true."

"Don’t."

"Fine."

She looked toward the others, her expression remaining pleasant.

"For now."

There was a brief silence afterward, the sort of silence that only occurred when an absurd number of extremely dangerous people had gathered in one location and everyone was quietly reconsidering their life choices.

Dan Heng found himself looking around. Blade was here. Kafka was here. Jingliu was here. Jing Yuan was here. Luocha was here — Sunny had no clue who that guy was, or what Rank he was, but his mere presence was annoying him. Sunny was here, which arguably made the situation worse. Sushang was here for reasons nobody understood.

And somehow, despite all of that, the person who seemed least concerned was Jingliu herself.

Then, came a cough from the side.

Dan Heng turned his attention toward it and saw the tall blonde man standing a fair distance behind Jing Yuan. Luocha looked remarkably composed considering the circumstances. His elegant clothes remained immaculate, his expression calm, and his posture relaxed enough to suggest that he had somehow wandered into an entirely different conversation and was merely waiting for someone to explain why everyone was staring at one another.

Dan Heng remembered him. He had seen Luocha before, and unfortunately, his mere presence here taught him that appearances weren’t trustworthy whatsoever.

Luocha gave a polite smile.

"It might not be my place to speak, but..."

His eyes shifted slightly.

"Young Miss, is there any reason for you to be here?"

Everyone stared at him. Dan Heng stared at Luocha. Jingliu stared in Luocha’s direction. Kafka raised an eyebrow. Blade looked vaguely confused. Jing Yuan blinked — with only a singular eye. Sunny slowly turned his head.

Then, almost simultaneously, everyone’s attention shifted toward Sushang.

Dan Heng found himself agreeing with Luocha’s question despite everything. Both he and Luocha knew Sushang to some degree, and both knew that she had absolutely nothing to do with whatever disaster was unfolding here.

She was an enthusiastic and unimpressive Cloud Knight, certainly, but she was not part of this group, and she had no reason to be standing among individuals who could casually devastate entire regions. Or whatever Sunny does in his free time.

Sushang seemed to realize the attention was on her and immediately straightened.

"Uh..."

Before she could explain herself, Sunny raised a hand.

"Woah, woah, hold up. Wait a minute. She is right where she’s meant to be. After all, she’s trying to get into Dan Heng’s pants!"

Sushang’s face instantly turned red enough to rival a tomato.

"W-WHAT?!"

She lunged toward Sunny and reached for his mouth, apparently intending to silence him before he could produce another catastrophic sentence. Sunny, however, simply caught her wrist with one hand. His strength was vastly superior to hers, making her attempts to cover his mouth completely ineffective.

He then turned toward Luocha with an accusing glare.

"Who’s pants are you trying to get into, huh, Blondie? Guess what? Nobody’s letting you in! Your face structure pisses me off, and that inherently means that it pisses everyone else off!"

Luocha blinked.

"Sorry?"

Somehow, someway, the entire group looked at Luocha’s face.

There was a moment of silence. Kafka tilted her head. Blade’s eyes narrowed slightly. Jingliu seemed to contemplate the matter. Even Dan Heng gave Luocha a reluctant glance.

Nobody said anything, but the collective expression somehow communicated the same conclusion: there was, indeed, something mildly obnoxious about his face.

Luocha’s smile became noticeably more strained.

"I see."

Sushang frowned as she struggled against Sunny’s grip for another moment before giving up. She quickly turned toward Dan Heng, her brunette twintails swinging with the movement.

"Hey, uh... you don’t believe him, r-right?"

Dan Heng looked at her for several seconds. He knew exactly what she wanted him to say. He also knew that answering honestly would probably make the situation worse. He sighed and looked away.

"Sure."

Sushang stared at him in disbelief.

"What’s that supposed to mean?!"

Sunny released Sushang’s wrist and turned his attention toward Jing Yuan. The General had remained mostly silent throughout the chaos, standing with the same professional composure he usually possessed, except for the rather obvious fact that he was missing his left eye. His body was covered in burns as well, many of which appeared far more severe than ordinary injuries should have remained for someone of his strength — naturally, Sunny knew who the culprit was.

Sunny tilted his head.

"Uh... sorry about the eye?"

Jing Yuan blinked, or rather, his remaining eye did, and his professional smile immediately returned.

"It is no trouble. I would apologize about the hand, but... it seems your methods are greater than mine."

Sunny’s eyes didn’t narrow. He hadn’t missed the suspicion hidden beneath Jing Yuan’s polite tone.

Of course Jing Yuan would be suspicious. Sunny had previously lost a hand and somehow regained it overnight, while Jing Yuan, a Saint and the General of the Xianzhou Alliance’s Cloud Knights, had apparently been forced to rely on natural healing for his missing eye.

The difference was difficult to ignore. How could someone like Sunny, a mere Master with no major affiliation, possess access to restorative methods superior to those available to a General?

The Astral Express did not have those kinds of resources on hand, at least not in the traditional sense, and Sunny certainly wasn’t going to explain the full truth about his means. It would implicate that he was being watched closely by war criminals, after all.

Specifically the ones present at this very moment.

He shrugged enigmatically.

"I know people."

Jing Yuan studied him for a moment longer.

"I see."

Sunny then pointed toward the General’s burns.

"What’s up with the burns?"

He knew who caused them, but pretending to be ignorant was a completely valid way of gaining information. Like figuring out what Jing Yuan did or did not know, rather than the knowledge itself.

Jing Yuan’s expression changed slightly.

"I’m not quite sure. My memory of the time felt as if... it was removed. Moreover, these burns should have healed by now..." He paused, his brow furrowing as he tried to remember something that apparently wasn’t there. Before he could elaborate, Jingliu spoke.

"There’s too many people here."

Her voice was calm, almost casual, but it immediately drew everyone’s attention. Jingliu lifted one hand and pointed toward Kafka.

"You."

Then, toward Sushang.

"You."

Then toward Sunny. She paused. Her head tilted slightly.

"You, Young Man. How old are you?"

Sunny blinked.

For some reason, Jing Yuan visibly paled. Blade’s gaze darkened, and his hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. Dan Heng immediately noticed both reactions and became deeply suspicious.

"Eighteen?"

Jingliu, meanwhile, seemed disappointed.

"Too old."

The silence that followed was extraordinary.

Sunny’s mouth fell open slightly. Dan Heng’s expression became completely blank. Sushang looked horrified. Kafka, however, sent an eerie, calculating glance Jingliu’s way, shifting her weight slightly as if preparing to move.

Luocha’s pleasant expression remained fixed, although Dan Heng suspected there was a great deal of confusion beneath it. Jing Yuan looked as though he desperately wanted to be anywhere else. Blade seemed like he was trying to determine whether this conversation could somehow become worse.

Sunny finally pointed at himself.

"Too old?"

Jingliu nodded.

"Yes."

"I’m eighteen."

"Precisely."

Sunny stared at her.

"That’s not old."

"Compared to what I was looking for, it is."

Dan Heng slowly turned toward Jing Yuan. The General avoided his gaze.

Dan Heng turned toward Blade. Blade also avoided his gaze.

He then looked at Jingliu. She was smiling.

Dan Heng suddenly decided that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with whatever history was being dragged out of the grave today. Jingliu continued pointing toward the others.

"And you."

Her hand shifted toward Luocha.

"All of you must leave. And you should return to prison. This doesn’t involve any of you."

Luocha’s eyebrows rose. He calmly pointed at himself.

"Weren’t you the one who broke me out alongside you without even considering my own Will?"

Jingliu shrugged with complete indifference.

"I was bored."

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