What Do You Mean the Swarm Disaster Is My Problem Too?

The sign behind them swayed a second after the sound rang out.

Jingxing suddenly looked up and saw Xuzhao appear before him as if he had just happened to be passing by.

How could you--

"Shh." Xuzhao held up one finger. "You were right just now."

Jingxing's back tensed. She heard his own thoughts? He hadn't uttered a single word. Was it mind reading?

Xuzhao beckoned to him. "Let's go, this isn't a place to talk."

"Wait, Sparkle, she--" Jingxing was about to turn around and greet Sparkle when something flashed before his eyes.

There was no explosion, no white light, no feeling of weightlessness, and no dust rushing towards him. It was as if a painting had been peeled off one wall and pasted onto another. Jingxing blinked, and he was already sitting on the sofa. In front of him was a table piled with sketches, and Xuzhao of someone sitting behind the table.

The lamp cast its light around the two of them, creating a dividing line.

Xuzhao, holding a mug, pouted and said, "Thanks to you, Zhenzhu doubled the number of pages for my next serialization. So, make yourself whatever you want to drink."

Jingxing didn't respond to her words, but instead scanned his surroundings. Everything seemed normal, so normal that it sent a chill down his spine. He had just been at the Tavern entrance a moment ago, and in the blink of an eye, he was sitting here, without any "movement" he could perceive in between.

"Did you bring me here?"

"Hmm." Xuzhao nodded frankly, "For me, those magic tricks are unnecessary."

Having experienced both modes of movement, Jingxing should understand the difference between them better than anyone else. Sparkle doesn't seem to Emanator, so could the Xuzhao before him, capable of going even further, be the Emanator of Elation?

"Does the Emanator of Elation make the company work for them...?" Jingxing thought for a moment. Given these people's love of having fun, who knows what she was planning to do with Zhenzhu by letting her exploit Zhenzhu like this.

"Who are you? What do you want?" His throat was a little dry, but he still tried to appear wary.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I mean you no harm. As for answering your question, answer mine first." Xuzhao put down his cup and looked into his eyes. "Now that you've already walked around the Tavern, have you sensed something's wrong?"

Jingxing opened his mouth. The words of denial rolled on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.

"... Yes." He nodded, his voice hoarse. "The Fools in the Tavern now almost all find pleasure in the suffering of others. If the pinnacle of their Path of Elation hadn't gone wrong, I don't think they would be like this."

"Yes," Xuzhao tapped his head, "the Taverns are getting more and more boring these days, no wonder many familiar faces rarely Tavern anymore. But if you're to say that the Masked Fools have spontaneously strayed from their Path, then I can't escape blame either."

"What's the meaning?"

Xuzhao didn't answer immediately. She leaned forward slightly, a seemingly profound smile on her face, "Because I am Aha."

Jingxing sprang up from the sofa and covered her mouth with his hand. "Shh--!"

Xuzhao's eyes widened as he covered her mouth, and she let out two soft whimpers.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Jingxing lowered his voice, speaking rapidly, "Does the title of Aeon mean you can just impersonate someone? If you were really Lord of Eternal Joy, would you be forced to meet deadlines by Zhenzhu?"

Zhenzhu: Oh yeah, I squeezed a god dry— Jingxing already had this image in his mind.

Xuzhao shoved his hand away. "You're the first mortal in the galaxy to dare cover Aeon's mouth."

She rubbed her cheek. "I wasn't joking with you."

Xuzhao's smile faded. She stood up, walked around the table, and extended her hand to him. "If you don't believe me, shake my hand."

Jingxing hesitated for two seconds, then grasped the hand.

Then, the world beneath his feet collapsed.

When the light returned to his field of vision, Jingxing couldn't feel up, down, left, or right.

All around was a gray-white, infinitely extending void, with countless rivers of light passing by: some blazing white, some pitch black, some blindingly bright, and some so dark they were almost invisible. They converged in the far distance and separated at the very near, like a box of unmixed paint.

But he recognized the place.

"Path Interstice..." Jingxing's eyes widened. Before he could even process the fact that he had been dragged here by Xuzhao, he saw a headless black shadow appear in front of him. In front of this shadow was a series of masks with different expressions, as well as other decorations.

What followed was a tide of laughter made up of countless kinds—the laughter of babies, the laughter of old people, the gambler's triumphant laughter, the laughter of a lie succeeding, and laughter that bursts forth through tears.

Layer upon layer, an endless stream surged toward him.

Jingxing almost forgot to breathe. The last time he came here, Idrila gave him a feeling of closeness, but this time, facing Aha, he felt awe.

The Aeon are beings beyond the mortal realm— Jingxing confirmed this fact once again at this moment.

"I believe you." He heard his own voice, dry and hoarse like sandpaper. "Greetings, Lord of Eternal Joy."

"You should have said so earlier." Xuzhao's voice returned to its lazy tone.

The next second, Aha's figure vanished, and the Path Interstice also dissipated. The Xuzhao returned to its original form, smugly saying, "It saves me the trouble of revealing my true form; it's too tiring."

Jingxing held his forehead, unable to recover for a long time.

Before he could recover, Xuzhao an idea. She wanted to take advantage of his current state and slip a token of Emanator onto him for fun.

But Xuzhao only tried it once and found that he couldn't do it.

Her smile froze for half a second, "... Tsk."

"What's wrong?" Jingxing looked up.

"It's nothing." Xuzhao casually withdrew his hand, muttering to himself, "Idrila, just how much do you favor this guy?"

"Never mind," she shook her head, "Now that you believe in my identity, we can continue our conversation."

Jingxing sat back down on the sofa, but before he could speak, Xuzhao spoke first—

"Do you know? Aha has gone mad."

Jingxing was stunned. "... What did you say? But you seem perfectly normal to me."

"I am Aha. But Aha is not me." Xuzhao sat down, interlacing his fingers. "This is a long story to explain, but it's not important. Anyway, I'm still somewhat rational, but another part of me... well, I guess it's sick."

"Even the Aeon gets sick?" Jingxing frowned. "... How could that be?"

"You know about the Swarm Disaster, right?" Xuzhao didn't answer directly.

Jingxing nodded. Everyone in the galaxy knows that period of history: the Swarm that Aeon of Propagation almost swallowed half of the galaxy, and even the Aeon of Order perished. In the end, it was Amber Lord who stepped in and sealed the Aeon of Propagation, restoring peace to the galaxy.

"You bear responsibility for the Swarm Disaster."

Jingxing:?

No, how did such a huge accusation suddenly get dumped on my head?