Bai Tang: This choice is way too easy

Jing Yuan's move depended a lot on good looks, and it only worked on people who cared about you. Everyone, don't go trying it at random, or you might get on people's nerves.

[Aventurine: I bought everything you wanted. I'll give it to you when you get to Penacony.]

[Aventurine: I've signed you up. Just let the front desk know when you get to Penacony.]

[Bai Tang: OK.]

[Bai Tang: See you in Penacony.]

Bai Tang drank the freshly purchased Hot Floating Mutton Milk with Jing Yuan, holding her milk in one hand and her phone in the other as she replied to Aventurine.

"Jing Yuan, remember, keep an eye on Jingliu."

In the end, Bai Tang decided to tell Jing Yuan the story of the "IF" timeline.

She liked Jingliu, but no matter how much she liked her master, she had to calm down. She couldn't trust her unconditionally just because she liked her.

Jing Yuan finished the last of his Hot Floating Mutton Milk, secretly took a cup from Bai Tang's bag, and opened it to drink. Mm, it was still warm, so it wouldn't taste bitter. "Hmm?"

Bai Tang took a deep breath and led Jing Yuan somewhere deserted. She pulled out two chairs, set them on the ground, and sat down first. Clearly, she was about to tell a story.

Jing Yuan slowly drank his Hot Floating Mutton Milk and gestured for her to continue.

"There really is a corpse in Luocha's coffin. It's a Remnant of 'Propagation.' They want to use 'Propagation' against 'Abundance,' but everyone knows what 'Propagation' is like."

Something seemed to come to Bai Tang's mind. There was no killing intent in her lifeless eyes, only emptiness, as if she could see a blood-red future.

Jing Yuan stopped drinking his milk. After all, one of the people at the center of this was Jingliu, his master.

"I saw the soldiers who fought alongside us turn into insects. They all turned into insects. I saw Jingliu with your Lightning-Lord, and Insect Wings grew from it. She became a Lord Ravager targeting 'Abundance.'

"There were insects everywhere on the Yaoqing. Feixiao... she sacrificed herself early on. I was the only one left. 'Harmony' swallowed everything. I only had to make a sound, and as long as I trusted in Them, I would be happy... Was I really happy..."

As Jing Yuan listened, his expression grew serious. He hadn't expected Jingliu, afflicted by the Mara-Struck, to become like that. Soon, he noticed something was wrong with Bai Tang.

"Bai Tang, wake up. Junior sister, don't get lost in it."

Bai Tang's story was very, very long. The part about people turning into insects had probably happened on the Yaoqing. Bai Tang was presumably close to Feixiao, and something terrible had happened later.

So just how many times had Bai Tang crawled out of hell?!

Twice on the Luofu, once on the Yaoqing, and probably once more on the train. He'd have to set aside the fact that she was close to Aventurine; he couldn't be sure about that one.

The more he dug, the more tragic the girl's life seemed. If he had to take all these emotional blows, he'd rather take them all at once. There was no need to stab him in the heart little by little.

Jing Yuan rubbed his head. Once he got back, he'd put Preservation-Destruction in the Matrix of Prescience and take a look. He'd also put in the High-Cloud Quintet liquid glitter charm he'd received and see if anything showed up.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Bai Tang. As Jing Yuan, he believed her words, but as the Divine General, he couldn't report something unconfirmed directly or simply choose to believe it.

He didn't know how many memories he could squeeze out of Preservation-Destruction's head. He didn't want to look without Bai Tang's permission, but he had no choice.

Jing Yuan took a sip of milk. It had gone completely cold and tasted bitter. It was time to throw it away.

"Bai Tang, it's time to wake up."

Jing Yuan pinched Bai Tang's cheek. It felt quite nice. He noticed a slight change in her eyes, and then she closed them and fainted.

Jing Yuan caught her in time, scooped her up in his arms, and carried her home helplessly. He laid her on the bed and tucked her in.

He'd originally planned to rest, but a few words from Bai Tang had dragged him into a whirlpool of overtime. Sigh.

Jing Yuan moved quickly, going straight to Huohuo to borrow Preservation-Destruction. Once Stelle learned that it contained Bai Tang's memories, she notified Dan Heng and March 7th in a second.

March 7th: "Looking at Bai Tang's memories without her permission isn't very nice, but I'm really curious."

When Jing Yuan arranged for Fu Xuan to activate the Matrix of Prescience, he hesitated for a moment, then decided to notify Feixiao first and bring her into the live feed.

The Jing Yuan from Bai Tang's world had told him that Aventurine and several others were involved too. Aside from one person who absolutely couldn't be told, the others should all be notified.

Should he notify them?

March 7th: "Tell them! The other me told me about it too!"

Dan Heng: "Yes. If she didn't want you to, she wouldn't have told you about it."

Stelle: "I'm filing a complaint!"

When Bai Tang told Jing Yuan, hadn't she known her memories would be viewed?

Of course she had, but she did it anyway. Between her memories and saving people, she chose the latter. To her, nothing else mattered. All she had to do was reveal the memories she didn't want to face, and she could protect everything she cared about. That was the most insignificant price to pay.

Given Bai Tang's strength, why had she let Preservation-Destruction see her memories? Wasn't it so Jing Yuan could use it? She wasn't willing to stand in the Matrix of Prescience herself anyway, so of course she had to find a substitute.

Though what it showed were memories she was willing to let them see, and the later parts would probably be rather blurry, at least there was a substitute.

Bai Tang: This choice is way too easy. The answer's right in front of me. I could pick it with my eyes closed. Give me another choice like this next time.

"Divine General, what has you in such a hurry?"

Feixiao's electronic projection appeared first, with Jiaoqiu and Moze behind her. Clearly, they were all still on the Yaoqing and had merely joined the remote conversation at Jing Yuan's call.

"General Jing Yuan of the Luofu, what sort of urgent matter required you to contact me personally?"

Aventurine appeared shortly afterward. He had been quite surprised when Jing Yuan messaged his personal phone. Although the company and the Xianzhou traded with each other, that was no reason to send a private message to someone in the Strategic Investment Department, was it?

Compared with those two, the lost Acheron was probably unreachable, while Robin was presumably finding somewhere safe away from Penacony to connect.

After Robin arrived, Jing Yuan briefly explained the reason before having Fu Xuan activate the Matrix of Prescience.

Preservation-Destruction was still cursing and saying something about protecting the Xianzhou, but images from its memories had already appeared above its head. The first showed two Foxians who looked very much alike. The older one had her arm around the younger one as they laughed and headed toward Aurum Alley.

"Wow, that's Bai Tang's sister Baiheng, right? They look so alike."

March 7th compared Bai Tang and Baiheng. They really did look incredibly alike. Aside from one being older and the other younger, only their personalities were different.