"The Diviner is here!"
In an instant, Qingque sprang to her feet like a startled little bird and looked behind her.
But when she failed to see the expected pink figure, she immediately glared at the person who had spoken in dissatisfaction.
"Hm? Liuge!"
"Yo!"
"Yo my ass! You scared me half to death, you know that?!"
Qingque said irritably.
"I know!"
"You know, and you still... Ah, you did that on purpose!"
Realizing what had happened, Qingque grabbed the Diyuan Qiongyu in her hand and prepared to throw it at Liuge.
The sight scared Liuge into abruptly retreating several meters.
Sis, you really shouldn't be throwing those tiles around!
As everyone knew, Qingque's combat strength was an unknown quantity.
If judged according to in-game star ratings, Qingque was the sort who could not be assessed, constantly bouncing between four-star and six-star levels.
"Why are you running?!"
Seeing Liuge's exaggerated reaction, Qingque immediately laughed and put down the Diyuan Qiongyu in her hand.
"N-Nothing."
Liuge wiped away nonexistent cold sweat.
At that moment, he seemed to see a red Stat-Stick Light Orb drop from Qingque as well.
"You really are something..."
"So, you're slacking off at work again!"
Liuge leaned closer and casually collected the red Stat-Stick Light Orb that had just dropped.
"Who... who's slacking off at work?! I'm just... just... work has been too exhausting, that's all. Work's too exhausting, so I came out to take a break!"
"I understand, I understand!"
Liuge nodded solemnly, indicating that he understood.
Seeing Liuge act like that, Qingque was instantly at a loss for words.
After all, she really had been slacking off. She had only slipped out while the Diviner was away.
But she absolutely could not admit that, could she?!
She glared at Liuge irritably and was about to say something.
A fair hand had already landed on her shoulder.
In that instant, Qingque looked like Castoria right after using her skill and getting caught red-handed by Chen Gong, her expression turning into one of imported terror.
"Qing~que~"
The voice she least wanted to hear came from behind her.
At that moment, even Qingque's gaze toward Liuge seemed to speak.
It was as if she were saying—
—Save me, save me!
Liuge's answering gaze was speaking too.
—Can't save you. Just wait for death!
With a desperate, ingratiating smile, Qingque turned her head around.
Standing behind her was Type-C... ahem, it was the esteemed Diviner Fu!
"D-Diviner Fu!"
That awkward smile made Qingque look rather embarrassed.
"Taking advantage of my absence to skip work again, Qingque! Half of this month's wages will be deducted!"
Hearing that punishment, Qingque froze for a moment, but she was not particularly afraid.
Seeing Qingque's expression, Liuge seemed to guess something.
He gave a light cough. Once Fu Xuan turned her gaze toward him, he spoke.
"Diviner Fu, is there a possibility that Qingque's wages for this month have already been completely deducted?"
The moment he finished speaking, Qingque's gaze toward Liuge became extremely dangerous.
—Wow, there's a real snake among us!
Fu Xuan was also stunned by Liuge's words. But after noticing the killing intent in Qingque's gaze toward Liuge, she felt that Liuge might actually be right.
"Then deduct next month's wages instead!"
"No, Diviner Fu! I already have no wages left this month. If I don't have any next month either, how am I supposed to live?!"
"Then why don't you go back and behave yourself!"
Fu Xuan snorted and answered irritably.
Hearing Fu Xuan's words, Qingque felt as though she had been pardoned. After fiercely glaring at Liuge, she headed toward the Divination Commission.
Watching Qingque's retreating figure, Fu Xuan shook her head helplessly.
"This child clearly has great talent. Why is she so lazy?"
"Maybe her attitude is something like, 'go with the flow and slack off whenever she can.'"
Liuge smiled and answered Fu Xuan.
"Perhaps it is as thou sayest."
Fu Xuan glanced at Liuge and nodded.
"Young friend, bring thy companions to the Divination Commission later."
"Hm?"
"I intend to interrogate that Stellaron Hunter."
"Understood!"
Liuge nodded, showing that he understood.
Though he could no longer clearly recall the general plot of the Xianzhou storyline, he still vaguely remembered that it was after Fu Xuan viewed Kafka's memories.
The Ambrosial Arbor was reborn at that time, and A Blade appeared and took Kafka away.
As for everything in between, he could no longer remember much of it. Too much time had passed; even his brain had gotten rusty.
Seeing how readily Liuge agreed, Fu Xuan did not linger and turned to leave.
Only then did Liuge have time to take out the red Stat-Stick that had dropped from Qingque and examine it.
Slacking Off
Quality: Red
Description: A slacker's heart, a slacker's soul—slackers are all above ordinary people! Nothing can stop me from slacking off, I mean... nothing!!! (How nice. I want to slack off too!)
Looking at the Stat-Stick's description, Liuge felt somewhat dumbfounded.
Why was a Stat-Stick like this red quality?
Liuge truly could not make heads or tails of it.
Taking the crimson Stat-Stick One Awesome Attack as an example, red-quality Stat-Sticks should have been superior to gold-quality ones and more useful as well.
But what the hell was this Slacking Off Stat-Stick???
Old Antique
Liuge was now thoroughly confused by the description of this Slacking Off Stat-Stick.
However, he vaguely felt that this Stat-Stick would become important in the future. It was an extremely special Stat-Stick.
At that moment, the Express Crew, who had finished looking around, also came over to Liuge.
Looking at everyone, Liuge could only put aside figuring out how to use this Stat-Stick and turn to Welt.
"Uncle Yang, the Diviner of the Divination Commission just told me to bring us over there."
"The Diviner... that Diviner Fu?"
Welt paused slightly and immediately thought of the pink-haired girl they had met earlier.
"That's right!"
Liuge nodded.
"In that case, let's go!"
Welt nodded, then looked at Liuge.
Liuge looked back at him.
"W-What is it?"
"We don't know the way."
"Got it!"
Liuge froze, then immediately took on the role of navigator.
After winding around for roughly ten minutes, Liuge, Welt, and the others arrived at the Divination Commission.
As soon as he got there, Liuge spotted a small figure standing outside the entrance, looking as though she were dozing off.
He looked at the others, made a shushing gesture, then quietly crept forward.
"Ah, Diviner Fu!"
The sudden shout startled the drowsy girl awake. She immediately began apologizing in a flustered rush.
"D-Diviner Fu, I was just too sleepy. I definitely wasn't slacking off!"
"..."
But after a moment passed without the stern voice she expected, the girl cautiously raised her head.
Standing before her was that hateful guy.
"Wah! You bastard, you tricked me again!"
Qingque jumped up in anger and slapped Liuge on the head.
—I've endured enough. No need to endure anymore!!!
At that very moment, Liuge saw another gold Character Stat-Stick drop from Qingque.
His eyes immediately lit up. Using the opening created by getting smacked on the head, Liuge bent down and picked up the Stat-Stick.
Character Stat-Stick: Gatekeeper (also known as Door Guard)
Quality: Gold
Description: Who said a gatekeeper had to be the leader of a sect? It could also mean someone who controls a gate! Couldn't it?
The corner of Liuge's eye twitched. It looked like, because he had not helped Qingque today, Fu Xuan had sent Qingque here to control the gate instead.
"Liuge, who is this?"
At this point, Welt arrived with March 7th and the others.
"This is my closest friend on the Xianzhou, Qingque the tile addict!"
"Who are you calling a tile addict, hey?! Though that's not wrong, we're childhood sweethearts, not just close friends!"
Qingque retorted indignantly.
Before you continue