Ming felt unusually confident in his Knighthood. He was going to get a good grade in being a Page, which was normal to want and possible to achieve! Sure, he'd been feeling insecure a lot lately about it all, but he had a really good feeling about this now. After all, Princess Ida herself had enjoyed his company and seeing his Wonder. What else did he really need? He felt... really excited, even. But it was still serious Knight Business, so he tried to keep himself relaxed and serious at the same time, without going too far either way—too relaxed, and he might not pay enough attention. Too serious, and he might get far too stressed about it and end up purging.

He didn't want to think about that today. He wanted to stay confident, and unworried, and like he could do this. Because he could. There was no reason for him not to do it, or for him to fail. Qi Yaolan had already trusted him with so much—burying his and his child's skeletons, bringing Ida to the Wonder despite it still being quite dead... Things were going well for him. He was a good Knight and he wouldn't let his insecurities get the best of him tonight.

With all that in mind, he checked for anyone in the immediate area, and powered up, becoming Selenga in a flash. The rush of power always left him a little breathless, and, just for fun, just for himself, he sprang up to a roof in a single leap, giddy with the feeling of it. Of becoming just like a character in some wuxia or xianxia donghua, or an anime, or American superhero movie. The ability to just... do things like that gave him such a fantastic rush.

Riding the high of it, he took himself to his Wonder, smiling at the homestead that was quickly becoming quite familiar. At the Wide mouth of the river that was his to care for, the stagnant water he hoped to get moving and flowing again someday. Perhaps something good would happen once he fixed whatever was wrong with his Code Piece, stabilized it. Wouldn't that be something? He wanted so badly to do a good job, to fix up the place that belonged to him, to bring life back to it the way he'd heard about with other Knights, seen with Kaifeng.

Actually... He looked closer at the water. It looked much cleaner than it had the first time he'd visited. He wondered if simply visiting and... talking with his Ancestor was enough? Maybe at least a little bit, he mused to himself. After all, he had buried his ancestor. Maybe there was something tied into that. He rubbed the signet ring on his finger and sighed a little. Kaifeng had so much going on in his cool tower full of traps and stuff like that—he wasn't sure what could be here, on a river.

But he'd probably find out.

"Ah! Ming," Qi Yaolan greeted Selenga personally, bowing his head slightly. "I assume you know the Code PIece is... ah..."

"Sick?" Selenga suggested, suppressing a small giggle. "Yes, the Code called to us. Most of us Knights, far as I could tell, showed up to a meeting on the Moon about it. Something or other about a Chaos power surge in deep space? It didn't give very many details, saying we'd hardly be able to understand it."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "But, I get to come here and resonate with the Code Piece and fix it. Sorry I left it so long—how have you been feeling? Is it affecting you at all?" he asked, stepping forward and looking over his Ancestor for any obvious signs of something going horribly wrong.

Qi Yaolan waved the concern away. "No, no. Just feel a little... odd. But I'm sure you'll fix whatever is wrong, and quickly. You're a dedicated Knight, that much is obvious."

Selenga blushed at the mild praise, smiling awkwardly. Well... That was nice. "Thank you. Now... Are there any traps or things of the like I should be on the lookout for, when trying to get to the Code Piece? Surely it's not in the home—or even on the Knight business side?"

Qi Yaolan raised his eyebrows slightly. "Do you believe the Code Piece to be inside the river?" he asked disbelievingly.

"I... Had, until you asked that in that way." Selenga rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, feeling silly.

"And what would you have done? Dove into the water, looking for some kind of hidden cave?"

Selenga stayed silent.

"Oh my stars, you're serious. No. For the love of Cosmos—yes, it's in this building." Qi Yaolan dragged a hand down his face. "All the way upstairs, you'll know it when you see it. It's not near the overpass."

Selenga nodded, heading up the stairs, all the way to the top floor—and instead of turning right, to the overpass, he turned left. The short hallway led him to a door with rusted locks that opened up into a large room with a glass roof, something Selenga hadn't noticed from the ground level outdoors. Inside the room was an entirely dead indoor garden.

Selenga's heart sank as he looked around all the growers and pots and everything that contained something that no longer lived. By the ancestors... His lip trembled a little, but he forced the emotions away. He couldn't afford to start crying over the unfairness of it all, all over again. He needed to get this taken care of.

In the very center of the room, vaguely protected by some guardrails that Selenga suddenly felt quite sure protected the Code Piece more than he could see on the surface. He sat in front of it and stared at the malfunctioning piece for a long moment, before his eyes finally slipped shut and he breathed out long and slow.

His head pounded with the effort, legs stiff, as he stood and made his way out of the room about an hour later. He'd seen a few memories of Qi Yaolan's—one that involved him yelling at Kaifeng for something or other, a date night with his beautiful wife that left Selenga a little starstruck himself, and one... of being sick, despite his best efforts, tending to his equally sick child.

"I felt the change. Are you well, Ming?" Qi Yaolan asked, looking at Selenga with concern.

"I'm... fine. Or I will be. I'd just like to get home and sleep," he explained, not feeling like he should ask about what he saw. He did need to sleep, at least.

Qi Yaolan nodded. "Stay safe. And thank you."

Selenga smiled. "Of course."