Guardian 镇魂 Fic - Future Forged

Chapter 3

"Sorry, I stepped outside to cook breakfast," says the man who must be Peng Junjie. Now that the Qiongqi isn't a threat, Zhao Yunlan gets a better look at him - the missing soldier who he's heard so much about from Shen Wei and He Anying.

Peng Junjie is a young man in his mid-twenties with light brown skin, clad in black robes that cover his wiry frame - but there seems to be more muscle on him than meets the eye, since he cradles the Qiongqi as if it weighs nothing. He bears the slash of a scar on half his face, with a rip of red across his left eye, glassy and unseeing.

And, Zhao Yunlan notes, his hair is pulled into a topknot - he would bet good money (if he had any; and he does not, not in this time period, although he wasn't exactly rolling in it during the present) that Peng Junjie had worn it loose before he had to handle the Qiongqi. In retrospect, he now understands why Ren Boyang bundles up his hair underneath his cap.

That aura of peace, calm emanates from Peng Junjie like a persistent aircon. Then, as if it had never been, it's gone, reigned inward. Like a humid room suddenly shifting desert dry.

Mimi the Qiongqi shifts a bit in Peng Junjie's arms. He says, "Sit," and the restless creature stills.

"Brother," Zhao Yunlan says mildly, "you seem remarkably healthy for someone rumored to be dead."

"Ah," Peng Junjie says, abashed. He casts an anxious one-eyed glance toward Shen Wei, then smooths his expression over to determined resignation. "It's a--long story. Sister Anying is outside, isn't she? I'll tell you all during breakfast. Master Ren went to perform a ritual to pinpoint the exact destination of the Hallows, and he'll be joining us soon."

He Anying nearly knocks over Peng Junjie when she sees him, and she checks to see if it's really him in the flesh. Betrayal and anger and joy war over her face before the last wins out, and she touches his scar with her sword hand and says, "Junjie, you idiot."

Peng Junjie has meandering storytelling skills. He relates the tale to them in a frank, self-deprecating manner, and his scar suits his features unexpectedly well when his face crinkles into a smile. He Anying interjects with questions and rebukes, warrior scholar decorum forgotten, and Peng Junjie isn't bothered at all and gently parries her. They're like two siblings, Zhao Yunlan reflects, or perhaps like himself and Da Qing.

Peng Junjie confesses that, as a curious student by nature, he snuck around the allied forces' headquarters to look at the Hallows. By chance, he picked up the Merit Brush, which he brought outside to the surrounding woods to study by torchlight, without intending to use it ("I swear by the Four Hundred Odes of Songzi, I'm not a thief!" he protests in response Shen Wei's sharp gaze).

Somehow, the Merit Brush activated, and killed Peng Junjie's loyal dog (He Anying: "And your next pet is a winged tiger of legend that consumes human beings?" "--Yes, and?") as well as withering nearby grasses and trees. It's a miracle that no one died.

The Merit Brush awakened the ability of empathy within him. Heightened awareness of others' emotions in a time of war - that was a problem. Peng Junjie tries to downplay it, but it's evident that it affected him: the grief and trauma of the soldiers around him.

So he had taken off at the first opportunity he got, and went to the first person who had come to mind: the former general Ren Boyang, the third Hallows inventor. Peng Junjie felt too guilt-ridden to approach Ma Gui, Fu You, or Shen Wei.

Under Ren Boyang's instruction, Peng Junjie was learning to control his empathy, which he found could also be used to subtly influence emotions.

"And here I am," Peng Junjie concludes. "Ren Boyang found this Qiongqi after one of his portal-hopping ventures, and he's had me handling Mimi, who you've already met. Speaking of introductions, what was your name again?" He looks up at Zhao Yunlan politely.