To a chorus of reluctant goodbyes from Elysia and the others, Xiyue closed the stream and rolled her neck.
Three hours of streaming—even done lying flat on her bed—still left her stiff and sore.
Streaming really was a delight.
But the moment she remembered she had to tutor Kiana that afternoon, all the joy evaporated.
Coaching the bug through her academic subjects was, frankly, less appealing than lecturing on three hundred methods of sow husbandry.
Thank goodness she’d roped Fu Hua in to help.
The thought that she’d soon get a close-up look at the Immortal lifted Xiyue’s mood right back up.
She got up and glanced at her backend: 2,600 Crystals harvested.
Not too much, not too little.
The shock-value payout wasn’t huge—but that was to be expected.
Before the Queen’s chapter, the story didn’t generate much shock.
Once the plot really unfolded and more viewers filed in, things would be different.
As for raw power, Xiyue had no real ambitions there.
Self-preservation was enough.
After all, the ones who got advance knowledge of the plot would surely turn out very differently.
And her?
She just wanted to draw three paychecks, tag along with the main cast, get to know all those charming Valkyries and cuddle up to them, and slack her way to a ripe old age!
She might even grow stronger without noticing and dazzle everyone in the process.
The thought spread a brilliant grin across Xiyue’s face.
She drew back the curtains, and gentle sunlight flooded the whole room.
She stretched lazily, baring her slender frame to the light, then opened the gacha screen, ready for a delightful little pull session.
She was quite confident in her own luck.
In her past life, no matter the game, the instant a banner’s draw event started, the first thing the group owner and the mods did was mute her—so she couldn’t flex her pulls.
Remembering all those game groups muting her, Xiyue let out a soft sigh.
“As a Lucky Emperor in a sea of African brothers, loneliness is simply fate.”
Mid-lament, Xiyue tapped the draw screen.
Watching the familiar golden light, her heart didn’t so much as ripple.
The joy of pulling gold was a feeling she was destined never to know.
She skipped the ten-pull animation.
The gold light slowly dispersed to reveal an ornate ancient costume—red base, gold trim, crowned with a golden phoenix coronet set with gemstones.
The instant she saw it, Xiyue’s ebony eyes went wide and she blurted out without thinking.
“Dang—five-star, Xuanyuan Festive Garb [TERM?]!”
“This gacha’s no joke—it can even pull Guns GirlZ gear.”
But the sight of the outfit made two people leap into the mind of a seventeen-year veteran Captain—Ji Xuanyuan and Shennong.
When it came to Honkai’s heterosexual couples, most people only knew Kevin and MEI, and Otto and Kallen—even if Otto’s was one-sided, and Kallen had fallen for a certain pink-haired fox, Yae Sakura—plus Ana and Chen Tianwu, and finally Siegfried and Cecilia.
There was one more pair, of course: Tesla and Welt Yang.
Beyond all those, the newer Captains might not know, but in the earlier days there was another star-crossed CP—the Yan Emperor and the Yellow Empress.
Simply put: before the New Century began, the Yan Emperor and the Yellow Empress were the progenitors of Shenzhou.
Honkai existed even then—take the Judgment-Class Honkai Beast Chiyou.
To protect the people of Shenzhou, Ji Xuanyuan, who bore a natural Stigma, slipped alone into the Nine Realms and perished together with Chiyou, while her companion Shennong died after years of longing.
The two never met again.
Their story first appeared in the manga and the novels, and was later placed in the Honkai Chronicles—but that arc was deleted outright, and Nuwa and Fuxi were renamed Danzhu and Cangxuan.
Anyone who reads the Chronicles plot carefully would notice that the storyline is incomplete.
Can’t be helped—miHoYo retcons its own lore hard, and on top of that, for reasons that can’t be spoken aloud, this arc got cut and the names of certain Stigmata were heavily changed.
Thinking of that ill-fated pair, a wave of sorrow welled up in Xiyue, and even the joy of pulling gold dimmed a little.
But the thought of Fu Hua’s major arc coming later lit her eyes back up.
She decided that when the time came, she really ought to let everyone learn the story of Fu Hua and the progenitors of Shenzhou.
She wasn’t about to let Fu Hua get knifed all by herself!
Just as Xiyue was lost in thought, a knock came at the door.
Hearing it, a flicker of confusion crossed her mind.
Who’d be coming by now?
She checked the time—nowhere near Kiana’s tutoring slot yet.
Puzzled, she opened the door.
The door was only a third open when a great force shoved it the rest of the way, and a little white fluffball came bouncing in front of her like a rabbit, accompanied by a voice brimming with energy.
“Ta-da!
Xiyue-nee, we came to hang out!”
“Did I scare you?
Hehe.”
There in front of Xiyue stood Tuna, flashing her trademark goofy grin.
Out of teacherly reflex, Xiyue nearly brought a hand down on Kiana’s head—but mercifully held back.
Looking at the Kiana before her, she asked, puzzled.
“Kiana, you’re here this early?”
Seeing Xiyue’s puzzled look, Kiana grinned even more brazenly, grabbing both of Xiyue’s hands and shaking them.
“Hehe, I just wanted to see you, Xiyue-nee~”
“Also, I didn’t come alone—Mei and Bronya are here too.”
With that, the bug stepped aside, and there stood Mei and Bronya behind her.
Catching Xiyue’s gaze, Mei gave a gentle smile.
“Sorry to intrude, Xiyue-nee.
Kiana absolutely insisted on dragging us over—she wants you to tutor all of us together.”
At that, Mei wore a helpless expression.
Meanwhile the Duck floated in midair, a game console in both hands, and said to Xiyue.
“Xiyue-nee, we came to supervise dummy Kiana.
Dummy Kiana’s very dumb, after all—we were worried she’d make you mad.”
Bronya had barely finished when—before Xiyue could even reply—Kiana whirled around and glared daggers at her.
This young lady is the smartest in the whole academy!”
In the face of Kiana’s words, Bronya spared her a glance, then turned her eyes to Xiyue and said flatly.
“Bronya scored 97 on this culture exam.
Dummy Kiana scored a goose egg.”
Hearing that, Kiana was momentarily at a loss for a comeback.
When it came to trading insults, Kiana could never beat the Duck.
Off to the side, Mei watched the two of them, helpless.
Watching the pair squabble, Mei sometimes really felt like she was playing mom.
Xiyue watched the scene, the corner of her mouth curving up slightly.
Just then, Fu Hua came toward her bedroom too, books in her arms.
Seeing the four already gathered, a flicker of surprise crossed her mind—but given her temperament, she wouldn’t ask about it.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Xiyue spoke up.
“All right, all right, stop bickering.
Now that everyone’s here, let’s get the study session started.”
Then she looked at Kiana, eyes crinkling into a smile.
“Kiana, I called you here to study—not to play, okay~”
“If your scores don’t make the grade today, hmph hmph.”
Kiana, faced with a smiling but terror-radiating Xiyue, snapped to attention and nodded like a chick pecking rice.
Satisfied, Xiyue let the four of them in, set Mei and Bronya to study on their own, and took charge of coaching Kiana—with Fu Hua’s help.
“Kiana, tell me: in the last paragraph of this passage, what feeling does the fish’s tears express on the author’s part?
Use the context, and grasp the thoughts and emotions the passage conveys.”
Kiana sat pressed up against Xiyue, who pointed at a reading-comprehension piece and quizzed her.
Kiana chewed on her pen cap, wobbling her little head, staring at the passage’s last line, blue eyes brimming with confusion.
What on earth is this?!
How could a fish cry?
This author clearly has no common sense!
Kiana was unbearably irritated.
She was about to answer “I don’t know” when she caught sight of Xiyue’s narrowed eyes.
She quickly lowered her head, then her eyes darted—something clicked—and she beamed at Xiyue.
“This young lady’s got it!”
At her words, the other three turned to look at her in unison.
“This fish shed pleading tears so the author wouldn’t eat it!
Or the author made it cry on purpose, because that way it’d be extra delicious stir-fried!”
“Hehe, this young lady really is the smartest in the world!”
Kiana patted her own little head, delighted.
Sure enough, the bug never disappointed.
Xiyue brought a hand down hard on her head, then helped her work on her reading comprehension.
When it was good enough, she handed off to Fu Hua.
She could tell that the Kiana of this period was still a little scared of Fu Hua.
Sitting there, watching the main trio and Fu Hua, a sudden sense of unreality washed over her.
Who could’ve imagined she’d transmigrate into the Honkai world and even become the main cast’s teacher~
A breeze stirred the curtains.
In the modest living room rose Kiana’s wails, Fu Hua’s teaching voice, and Mei and the Duck’s chatter, while Xiyue propped her chin in one hand, a faint smile on her lips, quietly watching and listening.