Jing Yuan: Calling the Authorities Won't Help Anymore

"The Luofu, huh."

Bai Tang's expression was complicated, and her feelings were even more so.

She didn't know whether she had come to draw Dan Heng out and punish herself, or... because she wanted to see her old home again.

Although she could lie, and even spout nonsense without the slightest guilt, she hadn't lied about the Xianzhou before. She really had lived on the Luofu; she had just left out a teensy bit.

Wasn't a real lie nine parts truth and one part falsehood, with at least nine-tenths of the truth hidden away?

Both transmigrating while cosplaying and having lived there could be called true. She had just left out a few things in between, making the two sound strange together.

Bai Tang glanced at the familiar road and activated a waypoint to prevent a repeat of the accident on her last Trailblaze journey. Then two swords, Blessing and Peaceful, appeared in her hands. Both had been forged by Yingxing. With one in each hand, she killed one enemy per swing, cutting her way forward.

Before long, she spotted some people. Cloud Knights with ginkgo leaves growing from their bodies were writhing on the ground in pain, while unaffected Cloud Knights fought off enemies beside them.

Since she was already there, Bai Tang took up her swords and cut down all the enemies. Then she conjured Hyacinth to heal the Cloud Knights. The ginkgo leaves all fell off, and they returned to normal.

"Thank you."

This Cloud Knight had been fighting alongside his comrade when his comrade had suddenly been struck by Mara. His comrade had forced himself to fall to the ground, struggling, while an enemy's attack had been inches from the Cloud Knight's face.

The next second, a light had appeared and saved them both. Not only was the enemy dead, but he no longer had to kill his old comrade with his own hands.

When he saw his benefactor, he nearly dropped to his knees before Bai Tang.

Thanks to her appearance, Bai Tang was taken for one of their own. Although she looked very different from an ordinary Foxian, she behaved normally and showed no signs of madness, so she was a local resident.

"The Cloud Knights need to hold their posts. Thank you all for your hard work protecting our home. I dropped my favorite thing somewhere in this area, and I'll come right back once I find it. If I run into any residents along the way, I'll take them somewhere safe. You just saw for yourselves that I'm no slouch in a fight."

Bai Tang also saw several Cloud Knights approaching from nearby and sincerely expressed her thoughts.

With a leader like Jing Yuan, the Luofu's Cloud Knights weren't rigid. They considered it for a moment, and their leader answered gently:

"All right."

What would happen if they said no? She'd sneak out and look for it anyway?

They had seen too many people like her. They might as well let her go, and their own people could keep an eye on her.

"Protecting civilians is our duty. If you run into danger, come straight back here. Be careful."

"Okay."

Bai Tang turned and walked off in another direction. Once she was out of sight, the Cloud Knight said gravely:

"Report this to the general immediately."

A Foxian who could heal the Mara-Struck—never mind whether they had seen anyone with her unusual appearance before or whether she was a civilian. That ability alone had to be reported to General Jing Yuan.

Before long, the matter was compiled into a report and placed on Jing Yuan's desk.

At the Divination Commission, General Jing Yuan got a headache whenever he saw Blade. The Express's arrival seemed promising, but he still had to be wary. After all, the reincarnation of an old friend was aboard the Express.

Then another urgent report was placed before him.

Jing Yuan: When will Master Fu be able to take over as general?

He picked up the report, and his brows furrowed slightly when he read about someone healing the Mara-Struck. It sounded like a joke, but anything placed on his desk had surely been verified—at the very least, someone had witnessed it.

He looked a little drowsy after reading the report, but the moment he turned to the page with the picture, he was wide awake. His head no longer felt dizzy, and his body felt better too. He was just short of going over to investigate in person.

Baiheng?!!!

No, she looks different.

Unlike Dan Heng, and unlike Blade.

Dan Heng didn't remember, so at most he felt a little familiarity toward Bai Tang. Blade's mind was muddled, so he had taken one look at her and thought Baiheng had come back to life.

Jing Yuan knew exactly what Baiheng had really looked like. There were many similarities: the pale purple at the tips, the copy-pasted face, the similar shape of her eyes, and even the details of her ears and tail were a near-perfect match.

But there were many differences too. She looked as though her colors had faded, with only half the purple remaining. Her eyes were the wrong color, and her arm seemed to have suffered a terrible injury. She looked more like Baiheng after something had happened to make her go moon-mad.

Jing Yuan felt helpless.

Calling the authorities wouldn't help anymore.

With only his master missing, the High-Cloud Quintet was almost complete.

He just didn't know whether the ones who had come were the High-Cloud Quintet or some other demons and monsters.

What was the purpose of this person, who looked so much like Baiheng, in coming to the Luofu?

Jing Yuan felt as though he was about to be struck by Mara. Should he grab Fu Xuan and have her take over his work for a while?

Meanwhile, after causing trouble and adding a few problems to Jing Yuan's plate, Bai Tang shook off the Cloud Knights watching her and strolled to Scalegorge Waterscape. The sea had yet to be parted, so she couldn't get inside.

Jing Yuan would probably come looking for her here before long.

Compared with Blade, who had been secretly released only a short while ago, the Astral Express Crew, who were under surveillance, and Dan Heng, who was still looking for his companions, she was probably the top priority: a person of unknown purpose running all over the place.

After all, Jing Yuan didn't yet know that Jingliu was on the Luofu too.

Even if he did, she would still be the most dangerous for the time being.

Baiheng was thoroughly dead, without so much as a hair left behind.

Under those circumstances, if someone showed up with a face that looked a lot like Baiheng's and he wasn't wary, one could only say, "Jing Yuan, it's time for you to retire."

She just didn't know when he would come to question her.

Bai Tang crouched down and dipped her hand into the water. This was the legendary high-calorie, tasteless water.

Just drink this water and you can gain the legendary, extraordinary constitution that lets you gain weight from drinking water! Good news for everyone trying to lose weight: give a bottle to that friend who never gains weight!

Ahem. To put it bluntly, what they really wanted was a great-tasting drink with no calories, okay?

At most, this stuff could be given to soldiers. A little more energy would increase their chances of staying alive. But for people like them... better not.

If someone on a diet took one gulp, months of dieting would go to waste. They really would cry.

She sat down on the base of Yubie's statue, took out the High-Cloud Quintet liquid shaker charm, and held it up to the light to admire it. Afterward, she fell silent.

She put the charm aside and rummaged through her bag. She found quite a few things, some intact and some damaged, all of them extremely familiar to her.

Even if she wanted to use them, she only dared take out things she hadn't seen in the game. Otherwise, if she pulled out a weapon and ran into someone familiar with it, how would she explain?

The most important thing now was how to subtly let Jing Yuan and the others see Bai Tang's memories.

She didn't need to worry about Himeko and the others. When they went to Penacony, she only had to let Stelle obtain a Dream Bubble containing some of Bai Tang's memories. Jing Yuan, on the other hand, was trickier.

Make the Matrix of Prescience so insanely powerful that it can let everyone else see the memories?