A Chance Upon The Stars

Ganyu was a special individual here within Liyue Harbor, to say the least.

While mostly unknown to those of Liyue Harbor, Ganyu was in fact one of their local adepti, half and adeptus that is. For within her veins exist both mortal and adeptal blood, which in itself had caused her a number of complications in her life.

Despite this, Ganyu was rather well-known for beiong the general secretary serving under the Liyue Qixing. Naturally, with her adeptal blood came a long life span. After all, you had to have an abdnormal life span if you were to serve as the secretary for thousands of years.

All of that aside, Ganyu herself could currently be seen sitting inside the Astral Cafe on the saet opposite of the two-person table that Keqing was seated at. While Ganyu didn't have the cakes nor the coffee Keqing had, she did have the same letter in front of her that Keqing did along with a glass of iced fruit juice.

"So, you also received this strange letter?" Keqing muttered while holding her chin in thought. "Ganyu, you're an adeptus that has been around since the Archon War. Do you perhaps recognise Xingfu as a possible adeptus?"

"I have no impression of the sorts. Not only do I not recognise his name, but he also does not possess any form of adeptal energy." Ganyu responded after hearing Keqing's inquiry. "Whatever means he used is unknown to me, but I can say they aren't related to the adeptal arts."

"Then how did he do it..."

Keqing and Ganyu were intelligent individuals, so it was natural for them to be able to conclude that the letters they received were related to Xingfu in one way or another. In fact, it wouldn't take a genius to come to this conclusion.

First of all, the map inside the letter lead straight to this cafe that recently opened, and only after its opening did these letters appear. Secondly, Xingfu obviously knew about these letters considering his reaction to the 'password' they gave.

Now, this begged the question as to just what the purpose of these letters really were. Hopefully, they'll be able to get an answer soon enough. With Keqing being one of the Seven Stars, and Ganyu be an adeptus, it was naturally their responsability to ensure the safety of Liyue Harbor.

And an unknown factor like Xingfu was something they needed to address to avoid a potential enemy for Liyue. Xingfu wasn't normal, that much they could say from the small bits of details they've observed.

"I could ask the other adepti if they know anything." Ganyu suggested after a bit. "Although, I cannot be certain as to whether or not they'll know any more than I do unfortunately."

"Then I guess we'll just have to gather as much information as we can for now." Keqing sighed a bit as she soon raised her hand to get the attention of one of the waiters nearby. "Excuse, we're both finished, could you bring your boss here."

"Of course, Lady Keqing. It won't take long!"

With that, the waiter quickly walked off after collecting their plates and empty glasses, leaving Ganyu and Keqing alone to continue discussing everything. Just as the waiter had said, it didn't take any more than a minute before they saw Xingfu approaching with a smile on his face.

"I hope you both enjoyed the items my cafe has to offer." Xingfu commented casually before giving a slight apologetic look to Ganyu. "I apologise for not beng able to provide you with any delicacies suitable for your diet at the present time, Miss Ganyu."

"There is no need to apologise, I understand."

"It was quite delightful." Keqing gave a small compliment before adding. "Let us not delay though, what exactly are these letters for?"

"That wil be explained shortly. For now, please follow me."

Without waiting for a response, Xingfu calmly turned around before walking off. Ganyu and Keqing blinked before giving each other a glance before nodding to each other, to which they soon began walking after Xingfu. 

●●●●●●●●●●●

At this time, both Keqing and Ganyu were following Xingfu as he seemed to be leading them down a flight of stairs that were built leading down to an underground area beneath the cafe. The staircase was well illuminated and was mainly white with the stairs having a long blue carpet running down.

Although neither or them felt any malicious intent from Xingfu, they still kept their guards up in case anything happens that may prove harmful to them. Xingfu had long since noticed this, and he could understand considering their perspective of the situation.

They really didn't know anything about him, they had literally just met not even an hour ago after all. It'd be more surprising if they didn't remain on guard against him, especially considering their status within Liyue.

"We're almost there, it won't take long now. Before we arrive though, I'd like to ask you both a question." Xingfu spoke up without looking back, earning confused looks from the two females. "Have you ever wondered how big the world really is? That there are many mysteries that you couldn't ever hope to fathom?"

As soon as this question arose, Ganyu and Keqing glanced at each other in confusion, not giving an immediate answer to Xingfu's question. It was a rather unexpected question after all, so they weren't entirely sure how to answer.

"Personally, I've never really thought about such things." Keqing was the first to respond as she answered in a serious yet calm tone. "My focus has always been on Liyue."

"I too have always focused on Liyue..." Ganyu responded directly afterward, though she soon added. "Though, I suppose I may have had some thoughts at some points in time of a similar nature to which you describe."

That actually surprised Xingfu somewhat, Ganyu didn't seem like the type to concern herself over anything that wasn't related to Liyue or Rex Lapis. Perhaps the local Cocogoat was a more curious individual than he initially thought.

For someone who was over three thousand or so years old, he honestly thought Ganyu would've thought that she'd experienced most of what the world had to offer. Then again, perhaps that curiosity stemmed from the fact that she yearned for something new.

"Well, what if I were to tell you this?" Xingfu gave a small chuckle before saying this. He paused intentionally as both Ganyu and Keqing blinked behind him. "What if I told you that Teyvat was nothing more than a speck of dust, a single dust particle in an endless desert."

Hearing this, neither or them knew what to say.

What Xingfu had just said was ridiculous in their ears, Teyvat was after all all they ever knew since birth. Teyvat was their home, Teyvat was their whole world. For it to be referred to as a speck of dust in a desert was... ludicrous.

Don't get them wrong, the idea of other worlds wasn't actually too surprising. There have been a number of records about people who have potentially come from outside of Teyvat. Though, from the way Xingfu was speaking.

Teyvat couldn't be THAT small...right?

However, they didn't really get to ask him to elaborate any further as they soon arrived in front of what looked to be a pair of tightly shut white iron doors at the bottom of the staircase. With a smile, Xingfu seemed to scan his open hand on a small panel next to the doors.

They watched curiously as the panel blinked green before the two doors suddenly smoothly and quickly slid open horizontally. Xingfu didn't hesitate to walk inside, the other two only following after him after a few quick seconds of contemplation.

Upon entering the room, they looked around to find themselves in a large spatious room that had pure white walls along with a black carpeted floor. As for the ceiling, it was white like the walls but had glowing blue cybernetic lines running along its surface.

As for what furnished the room, they noticed a large bar-like area in one of the corners of the room with a number of black cushioned stools and a few tables as well. In another corner looked to be the resting area, with a rather large number of couches set up with glass coffee tables.

The most eyecatching section was definitely the area where strange advanced looking chairs were lined up next to each other. Each of the chairs were atop short elevated circular bases, and all had an arch-shaped appendage lifted up above each of them.

From estimation, there were easily over forty or so compactly yet neatly arranged together. In regard to the last section of the room, there wasn't much aside from a large hovering holographic screen that seemed to be directly angled toward the resting area.

"This place..." Keqing muttered as both she and Ganyu looked around with clear curiosity in their eyes. "What is this...?"

"Welcome to the Astral Lounge, the area where the 'important' business is taken care of." Xingfu responded casually with a small chuckle. "Before I explain anything, are either of you parched at all? Need something to drink?"

"No, we're fine." Ganyu quickly responded as Keqing nodded beside her. "How were you capable of building something like this under Liyue Harbor without anyone noticing? Surely a good deal of noise would have caught someone's attention..."

"Let's just say I have my methods." Xingfu gave a very mysterious response that only seemed to magnify their curiousness. He didn't elaborate on it though, instead bring forth another topic. "Now, I'm sure you have many questions. They will be answered soon. For now, I'd like you to watch something."

"Watch something?" Ganyu and Keqing blinked in confusion. "What do you mean exactly?"

"Well, there was a reason why I asked you that question back on the staircase. It all relates to what I'm about to show the both of you. It's about time that Teyvat learns of the wider world... the world beyond the false sky."

Before either of them could even process his words properly, Xingfu snapped his right fingers as the large holographic screen inside the room suddenly switched on. Their attention was immediately drawn towards it.

Nothing crazy was shown at first, but they noticed a line of large bold letters that appeared at the centre of the screen, easily capturing their attention as their eyes scanned along each and every letter the line had.

『Honkai Star Rail - Interstellar Journey』