Story Background
Rain has thinned to a silver sheen across Liyue Harbor when Aether reaches Yanshang Teahouse. The envelope that brought him here held a note with the teahouse address and one instruction: Come alone. Yelan is waiting by the lattice window. A blue die rests on the table beside the street sketch already spread before her.
A visitor left the teahouse by the harbor entrance a moment ago. Earlier, Yelan saw the same person arrive from the landward street, pause at the window, and leave without ordering tea. That could mean nothing. It could also mean they were checking whether anyone had followed them. Yelan wants a second pair of eyes before she decides which.
“Watch the route, not the person,” she says, laying one gloved finger beside the marked street. “If they turn back, I want to know where. We do nothing until there is more to go on.” Her expression stays calm; she is asking for a partner, not blind agreement.
Outside, the stranger keeps to the covered walk beside the harbor. At the next lantern, they slow, glance toward the rain-dark street, then double back beneath the awning. Yelan does not pursue. She and Aether take the parallel passage, where a stone pillar keeps them out of sight and gives them a clear view of both exits.
On a scrap of paper, Yelan marks the two routes. If the stranger is only avoiding the rain, they will continue toward the lit market. If they are checking for a tail, they may circle back again. The stranger takes the market road and disappears among the late vendors. That does not tell Yelan whether they noticed the tail; it only leaves her without enough evidence to justify a confrontation. She signals Aether to stop there. The question remains open, but no one is pressed on a suspicion they cannot yet support.
Yelan folds the map. Back at the teahouse, she pours a fresh cup and sets it within Aether’s reach. “Stay for tea, if you have time. I owe my partner a cup after a long night—and this one comes without a case attached.”
