Sure About This? You Bet!

The next day, Bai Sheng idly browsed his phone in the inn. Aatrox still had not returned, and he had no idea whether he had managed to find all of his clansmen.

With nothing better to do, Bai Sheng sent a message to his "general":

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: You there? (poking head out.jpg)

Real Name Online: You brat, you're still alive? How have you been lately?

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: Not bad. I came back to Kasantiya.

Real Name Online: Oh! Isn't your coming-of-age ceremony coming up soon? Why did you go back at a time like this?

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: I came back to take that dog emperor's life.

Real Name Online: And then? What will Kasantiya do? Those ministers with no leader aren't people you can handle.

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: It's fine. When the time comes, I'll just package Kasantiya up and hand it over to the Luofu. If that doesn't work, I'll toss it to the company. Either way, I'm definitely killing that dog emperor!

Real Name Online: I wouldn't recommend killing him right now. Who's that guy's heir?

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: My second brother, Bai Zhu.

Real Name Online: He... how does he treat you?

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: Neither good nor bad, I guess. At first, he probably thought I'd compete for the throne and was wary of me. Later, once he saw that old bastard didn't care about me, he got much better. He even looked after me on the battlefield before.

Real Name Online: Say... how about starting with him?

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: I don't think he'd mind taking the throne a little early. (wicked grin.jpg)

Real Name Online: You brat, you're becoming more and more like a villain. Go on. Some things have to be done while you're young. Once you grow up, you can't do them anymore. But be careful.

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: Got it. When have I ever done anything without preparation?

Real Name Online: Aren't you doing that right now?

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: Scram Scram Scram (snow leopard shut up.jpg)

Real Name Online: How about we make a bet?

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: Sure. What are we betting on?

Real Name Online: If you make it back safely, how about becoming my disciple?

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: Hey! Trying to take advantage of me, huh?

Real Name Online: Hahaha, how could I? Plenty of people want to be my disciple.

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: Fine, deal. If I make it back safely in the end, I'll become your disciple.

Real Name Online: It's a deal. (cats fist bump.jpg)

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: It's a deal. (cats fist bump.jpg)

Luofu Star Rail...

"Fu Qing, I'll leave the Luofu's affairs to you for a while."

The white-haired general, his eyes closed, spoke to the pink-haired young girl before him.

"Hmph, are you going off to slack around again? I'm not saying this to criticize you, Jing Yuan, but when are you handing the general's position over to me? Then I won't have to care whether you're slacking off or not. We both win."

Fu Xuan crossed her arms and stared at Jing Yuan.

"Hahaha, you can't put it that way. Isn't this so Fu Qing can take over the general's position more smoothly in the future? Get some practice first, and when you become general later, won't you be much more capable?"

Jing Yuan earnestly tried to hoodwink—ah, no, persuade her.

Fu Xuan stroked her chin and thought for a while.

"That does seem... kind of reasonable..."

Before long, Fu Xuan swept up the documents on Jing Yuan's desk and said:

"Fine, then. You said it—the general's position will be mine someday. You're not allowed to give it to anyone else."

Jing Yuan decided to tease her.

"That's hard to say..."

Fu Xuan glared at Jing Yuan, momentarily at a loss for words. After holding it in for quite a while, she finally blurted out:

"Jing Yuan! You jerk!"

Seeing Fu Xuan's hackles rise, Jing Yuan quickly got to the point.

"Alright, alright. It's not as if I said the general's position wouldn't be yours. I'm going to save my disciple. You know, I'm getting old. I want to leave behind someone to inherit my legacy. No problem with that, right?"

"Fine. Go and come back quickly. The Xianzhou cannot go a day without its general, even if I'm acting in your place."

"Alright, alright, I'll remember. I'm leaving. At most, I'll be back in seven days; at least, three. As for those documents, I'll leave them to Fu Qing. Just tell the public I've caught a slight chill and won't be receiving visitors."

"You really are..."

Fu Xuan sighed, while quietly grumbling to herself about why Jing Yuan still would not hand the general's position over to her.

Meanwhile, Jing Yuan secretly laughed to himself.

Hehe, kid, let's see how you win this time!

A certain black-hearted general secretly piloted a star skiff, following the navigation toward Kasantiya...

(Divider: This small-fry author got a fever just from playing in the water. What a small fry~

Title Girl: Alright, little sister, go play. The author isn't having it easy either.

Divider: Fine, I'm off to play. Bye-bye, Title Sister.

Author: Why am I always the one getting hurt?! [Crying in a storm.jpg]

Divider: There, there, stop being emo. Come here, let me hug you~

Author: Sob sob. (ToT))

Meanwhile, Bai Sheng took advantage of the cover of night to enter the imperial palace.

After much difficulty, he found the Second Prince's residence amid the palace complex, which looked as though it had been copied and pasted.

Crouching on the roof, Bai Sheng listened to the sounds within and confirmed that the Second Prince was alone.

"Seriously! I'm the Crown Prince! Why does he keep complaining that I can't do anything right?! The Scorched Earth Campaign ended long ago, yet he's still bringing it up to criticize me!"

Inside the room, the Second Prince smashed a vase worth thirty billion credit points from atop a cabinet, grumbling about the Old Emperor.

Looking closely, he really did resemble Bai Sheng. He had white hair and a tall, sturdy build. The only difference was that his eyes were blue, while Bai Sheng's were gold.

Just as he was complaining, Bai Sheng smashed through the window, startling the Second Prince, Bai Zhu.

"Who's there?"

Bai Sheng lifted his headscarf, revealing his face.

"It's me, Second Brother."

Bai Zhu stared at the person before him in disbelief.

"Th-Third Brother? You... you're alive?"

Bai Sheng rolled his eyes.

"How could I possibly die before that old bastard? Though you—did you have a falling-out with that old bastard?"

Bai Zhu did not answer. Instead, he raised his sword and pointed it at Bai Sheng.

"Don't move! Let me examine you!"

He pinched Bai Sheng's face, checked his fingerprints, and eventually even tried to draw his blood.

Only then did he finally confirm that the person before him was the real Bai Sheng.

"So you really distrust me that much?"

Bai Sheng shot Bai Zhu a glare as the needle mark on his hand healed at a visible rate.

"It's not that. It's been so many years, and plenty of people have tried to impersonate you. I had to make sure you really were my Third Brother."

Bai Sheng took out Pandora and slammed it heavily against the floor, unfolding a circular zone.

"Fine, fine. I won't hold it against you. Let's get straight to the point—do you want to ascend the throne sooner?"

Hearing Bai Sheng's words, Bai Zhu asked in disbelief, "What did you say?"

"Do you want to ascend the throne sooner? Did you hear me clearly?"

Bai Zhu stared at Bai Sheng in shock.

"You..."

"Cut the nonsense. You're already over seventy years old. Have you forgotten how your mother died?"

At the mention of this, Bai Zhu's gaze instantly turned cold. Looking at Bai Sheng, he said icily, "When?"

Bai Sheng smiled.

"Watch for my signal."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely!"

That was what Bai Sheng said...