Bai Tang: Bai Tang's Story Time Is About to Begin

It was over.

Jing Yuan wanted to slack off and skip class, so even though there was clearly nothing wrong with him, he pretended to faint. Bai Tang was so frightened that she rushed over and infused him with energy, only to discover he was faking it.

Bai Tang: "..."

Forget it. She wouldn't expose him.

Everyone on the Luofu was now talking about the illusory Luofu in the sky, though no one knew which genius had created it. The Cloud Knights who had been fighting the enemy at the time had suddenly become unstoppable. The enemy's attacks didn't seem able to hit them at all, and every one of them had charged recklessly ahead, clearing out huge swathes of enemies until the illusion vanished.

"You think the illusion can only defend? You couldn't be more wrong. If anything happens, we can also move inside it to fight, and I can control everything in there."

To be precise, it was Big Jing Yuan who controlled it. If she didn't put Big Jing Yuan in the team, she couldn't even summon it.

By the bed where Jing Yuan lay pretending to be unconscious, Dan Heng, Stelle, March 7th, and Bai Tang had gathered to chat, paying no attention to the "patient" there.

Or rather, Bai Tang was doing it on purpose.

Hmph. If he dared to feign illness, she would bother him.

Jing Yuan was lying down anyway, so she would go copy a memory now, then look for memories on the Luofu. It seemed Dan Feng had appeared on Amphoreus too, so she would grab that one as well.

"I've known Jing Yuanyuan since he was little. Back then, I was still fairly well-behaved and called him Senior Brother, but later, the illusion was shattered, and he became Jing Yuanyuan."

Bai Tang's smile grew a little warm as she recalled those days.

He really was mischievous. Eventually, he'd been so mischievous that Bai Tang had come to treat him as a playmate and stopped calling him Senior Brother, calling him Jing Yuanyuan instead.

"Bailu will be here to kick everyone out in a bit."

Having collected the memories, Bai Tang figured it was about time for Bailu to arrive and decided to make an early escape. What expression would Jing Yuan make next time, after she revived Baiheng and Dan Feng and sent them back to the Xianzhou?

No, someone higher up would surely bully Jing Yuanyuan.

That wouldn't do!

The higher-ups' old geezers would surely be told about her situation today. From now on, she would stand firmly by Jing Yuan's side. If anyone dared make a move, she would dare beat them up!

Indeed, word had long since spread that a gigantic illusory Luofu had appeared above the Luofu and protected everyone. News of the giant Gundam had also spread like wildfire.

Now they were probing the relationship between Bai Tang and Jing Yuan to determine how they would treat Jing Yuan going forward.

A farewell ceremony for Tingyun should have been arranged, but because of something Bai Tang had said earlier, Jing Yuan had ordered them not to hold one. He had told Yukong about it, and as soon as she learned of it, she had sent people to continue searching for Tingyun's whereabouts.

Stelle and March 7th dragged Dan Heng all over the Luofu.

Bai Tang, meanwhile, had claimed Jing Yuan's sofa for herself and was looking at Yanqing, whom she had successfully checked in with earlier.

[Number: 20

Identity: Cloud Knight Lieutenant

Faction: The Hunt

Main Path: The Hunt

Affection: 100

Contact rate: 92%]

The skill she'd received was his ultimate, and the bond was... huh?

Bai Tang rubbed her eyes and looked again.

Teaming him up with Jing Yuan could activate a master-disciple bond.

But Jing Yuan didn't have a bond with Yanqing on his side.

Unless...

Oh, Yanqing, Yanqing, you really are a top-tier Jing Yuan fan.

Even if he wasn't his own Jing Yuan, Yanqing still wanted to protect him, though he would be happier with his own Yanqing.

Yes, Bai Tang had figured it out: as long as Jing Yuan was there, the bond could be triggered, including with the real-life Jing Yuan, who was currently feigning illness.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

This general is mine, and I want that general too, is that it?

"Jing Yuanyuan, I need to go back to the Express first. Here. You can use this to contact me in an emergency. Just break it. It'll also break on its own if it gets too far away from you."

Bai Tang fashioned a tiny hyacinth with her hands and gave it to Jing Yuan.

"If anyone higher up gives you trouble, I'd be happy to take two swords and have a chat with them. I'll definitely get my way."

If they don't agree, kill them all!

After returning to the Express and letting Himeko know she was safe, Bai Tang would start planning to forcibly make the dragon preceptors undergo molting rebirth. Now probably wasn't the time. The best opportunity would come after what Tao Ran was about to do, when someone took over the Alchemy Commission!

By then, the trip to Penacony would be over. Facing Dominicus, she would probably have to reveal some more of her trump cards, and the strength she had shown by then would probably have reached a point where others couldn't afford to cast her aside.

As long as her biggest trump card remained hidden, she could happily roam the world aboard the Express. As for the others, she would definitely bring them out when it was time to discard them.

"Thank you for looking after me, Bai Tang."

Smiling, Jing Yuan accepted the hyacinth made of liquid and hung it among the little ornaments on his person. A trace of the High Elder's power could be sensed in it.

"Has Dan Heng still not noticed it?"

"It hasn't been exposed. You're more observant."

It was all dormant, buried beneath a mass of energy, so it really was impossible to notice without looking closely. Besides, Dan Heng hardly ever used that power.

Jing Yuan: "..." That's because I only looked after you mentioned resurrection.

"This still isn't foolproof."

Bai Tang wasn't like Yanqing, a truly hopeless general fan. One look at him and others would know that if anyone dared touch the general, Yanqing would surely draw his sword and cut them down. With her, others might not know she protected Jing Yuan too.

"Tell the people higher up that I'm your junior sister. That'll make it foolproof. I'll go spread the word too."

All she had to do was have Yanqing openly call her Martial Aunt and walk around the Luofu some more.

Jingliu's companion mission should be starting soon, right? Bai Tang would stay out of the High-Cloud Quintet's gathering, but Jing Yuanyuan seeing Blade and Jingliu fighting around him, really... sigh.

The relationships between them were all tangled together, impossible to cut apart or sort out. She would wait until she'd revived them before dealing with it, and let them talk to this bunch of lunatics.

Next should be Dan Heng's companion mission. Bai Tang didn't even dare imagine what would happen after showing the dragon preceptors who supported Bailu the attempt on her life.

Once internal strife broke out among the Vidyadhara and Lingsha took over the Alchemy Commission, Bai Tang could have a word with those among the Vidyadhara, and they would surely help her gather those old geezers quickly.

Bailu was the only extra newborn among the Vidyadhara, yet someone had dared try to assassinate the dragon lady. They would have to ask whether the Vidyadhara agreed to that, too. In any case, it was the Vidyadhara's own internal affair, so there was no need to trouble Jing Yuan.

As for her identity, it had already been exposed on Jing Yuan's side, so why the hell keep hiding it? It didn't matter if she revealed it directly to the faction that supported Bailu, either. They wouldn't be able to dig up all the messy business behind her anyway.

If revealing it could make something easy to accomplish, what was the point of hiding it? Was it a decoration?

It was just like Venti telling the priests he was Barbatos. Although they didn't believe him, that was what a reputation got you (not really).

When Bai Tang stepped cheerfully onto the Express, Himeko was already waiting at the door to catch her. The moment she saw her, she held her down and asked about her story with a smile.

"Do you want to hear my story from the Xianzhou Luofu? Let's wait until everyone's back and I'll tell you all together. Otherwise, I'll have to repeat it a few more times later.

"When Bai Tang's story time begins, we should call Jing Yuan and the others over too. They want to know as well."