Jing Yuan: One Blow After Another

"General, where did you find this child? She has wounds from Destruction all over her body, and this hand has been tainted and withered. Paths are constantly fighting inside her, and her body is on the verge of collapse. You could say she's incredibly lucky to have survived this long."

After examining the unconscious Bai Tang, Bailu was so shocked that her tail went stiff. This person had actually survived in such a state. How miraculous.

"Miss Bailu, with all your remarkable abilities, can you treat her?"

Jing Yuan was still smiling as usual, but his heart had already sunk.

Bailu's words might as well have been a death sentence for Bai Tang.

"I can try."

Bailu was somewhat uncertain. It was her first time seeing such a difficult case, and she had no idea how Bai Tang had survived.

"Then thank you in advance, Bailu."

Jing Yuan asked casually, "How old is she?"

"Didn't I say she was a child? She's only seventeen."

As expected, she was still a minor, only a little older than Yanqing. He needed to ask the child's parents about her.

In the end, Bailu went to help, while Jing Yuan watched over Bai Tang.

It wasn't that Jing Yuan didn't want to work, nor was he deliberately leaving it to Fu Xuan. The main reason was that Bai Tang was clutching the hem of his clothes and wouldn't let go, as though she was afraid he would disappear.

He had originally come here just to have Bailu save her life, but after learning about her condition, he realized that this little bit of poison was no trouble for her at all. As soon as it entered her body, the Paths crushed it.

So this time, the poison had knocked her out for one second, and she had taken the opportunity to sleep. Nothing was wrong with her. If she had endured that one second, she wouldn't have felt anything, but instead, she had fallen asleep instantly.

How long had she gone without sleep to develop a skill like that?

Jing Yuan fiddled with the liquid shaker charm. He had already noticed what was unusual about it: he was the only one left of the High-Cloud Quintet.

He had a few suspicions.

If his suspicions were right, this child had suffered far too much.

[Dan Heng: I can't get in touch with Stelle and the others. How are things on your end?]

The phone screen suddenly lit up. Jing Yuan glanced at it, and the name on it caught his attention.

Dan Heng?

He remembered that Dan Heng was a Nameless now.

Then Bai Tang... was a Nameless too.

A Nameless. Baiheng seemed to have longed for the sea of stars too, but unfortunately...

Check-in successful.

"Jing Yuan."

Bai Tang was still unconscious. It seemed that being constantly surrounded by Jing Yuan's presence had gradually made her lower her guard.

"I'm sorry. I didn't protect the Luofu."

That one sentence carried far too much information.

"I didn't protect Yanqing either... I'm sorry... Have you come to take me with you?"

She spoke the last question carefully, as though she longed for it but was afraid of disappointing Jing Yuan.

Jing Yuan composed himself, reflecting on the relationship between himself and Bai Tang while continuing to comfort her:

"You've done very well. I'm here. Don't be afraid."

He didn't know Bai Tang's name, her past, or even her relationship with him, so he could only comfort her as he would a child.

As it happened, Bai Tang was just a child, and the method really did soothe her.

Jing Yuan had received no information about Bai Tang, as though she had appeared out of thin air. He often kept an eye on the Astral Express, and the fact that it now had two more people meant they had only recently joined.

There was even less information about Bai Tang than about Stelle. Among the information he had gathered specifically after seeing Stelle, one detail mentioned a Nameless with powerful healing abilities.

Now he could confirm that it was Bai Tang.

Then the matter of her curing the Mara-Struck should be true.

But there was still too little information, just those two lines. The other said that Bai Tang had joined the Astral Express before Stelle and had helped Herta Space Station fight the Doomsday Beast.

And Bai Tang's affectionate manner didn't seem fake. It was as though they had lived together since childhood. She was young and knew Yanqing, so they should have been of the same generation. Yet no matter how Jing Yuan looked at it, he felt that Bai Tang had already known him back in the days of the High-Cloud Quintet.

Was it possible that all of it was true?

If so, what had happened in the meantime? How could events separated by hundreds of years be connected? That was a major question.

"Brother Feng's method works really well... Bailu and Dan Heng both succeeded... I can't possibly fail. I'll bring all of you back to life..."

Bai Tang's murmured words nearly made Jing Yuan lose his grip on his cup.

What?!

Brother Feng meant Dan Feng, right?! Wasn't Dan Feng's method of resurrection the Dragon Transformation!!! Bailu and Dan Heng were both dragons, and it had succeeded with them. The answer was staring him in the face.

Recalling the abominable dragon that had caused his master to become Mara-Struck all those years ago, his vision went dark.

Jing Yuan checked and, sure enough, sensed the familiar aura of The Permanence inside Bai Tang. She had clearly been resurrected, and more than once at that. He put a hand to his head and rubbed it, feeling as though he was about to become Mara-Struck himself.

He would have to keep an eye on this child personally.

He was afraid that if he looked away for a moment, she would pull off something outrageous.

He would contact the Astral Express Crew now. He urgently needed information on Bai Tang.

He acted quickly, asking Stelle first, but the girl was too hard to fool. She didn't reveal a single thing about Bai Tang, mostly playing dumb.

It wouldn't be easy for him to ask Dan Heng.

He didn't have March 7th's contact information, so he asked Welt, who told him to ask Bai Tang himself.

They were working for him for free, so it wouldn't be right to press them or disturb them. That left only Himeko.

Jing Yuan briefly described Bai Tang's condition. Once Himeko understood how dangerous the situation was, she revealed only a little, mostly talking about how wonderful Bai Tang was and how she was part of the crew.

Finally, she told him that Bai Tang hadn't wanted to leave the train at first, but had changed her mind halfway through and joined the Trailblaze because she was worried about her companions and wanted to help the Luofu.

She had promised that she would return to the train.

That was the important part. If Jing Yuan wanted to detain Bai Tang, the Nameless would come have a chat with him. As for any other questions, he could ask Bai Tang himself.

Jing Yuan: Was he that kind of person?

"Cough, cough."

The person in the hospital bed beside him slowly opened her eyes. Still weak and a little dazed upon waking, she seemed to be floating somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, as though she hadn't been the one who had eaten herself unconscious out of greed earlier.

"You're awake?"

Jing Yuan looked at Bai Tang with a smile.

Bai Tang: "!!!"

What happened?

Why is Jing Yuan here?

I don't have a habit of talking in my sleep, do I? I'm usually on guard even when I'm asleep.

She looked at Jing Yuan. Uh, if Jing Yuan stayed by my side the whole time, I really might have let my guard down...

Just like when Himeko stays by my side while I sleep, I let my guard down too...