Bai Sheng looked at the green-haired Little Fox Person and thought hard, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her.
"Eh?"
The Fox Person raised her head and looked at Bai Sheng. Then, as if she had thought of something, her eyes seemed to light up like stars.
After that, Bai Sheng heard her call out in a sweet voice:
"Benefactor, what are you doing here?"
The question left Bai Sheng at a loss. He ran a hand through his hair. At that moment, he was wondering whether he should respond. He really couldn't remember where he had met this Little Fox Person.
"I... But, little girl, why are you calling me your benefactor?"
Bai Sheng chose to ask directly. Although he knew that Fox People called someone their benefactor because that person had saved their life, it was also a tradition of the Fox People: repay grudges and repay kindness.
"Eh? Benefactor, you forgot? In Kasantiya, I was kidnapped by a group of human traffickers. You were the one who saved me and paid for all my expenses in Kasantiya. Look, you even gave me this Yin-Yang Fish. I've kept it safe all this time."
After saying that, the Little Fox Person seemed afraid Bai Sheng wouldn't believe her. She removed the Yin-Yang Fish hair ornament that she almost never went without and held it out to him with both hands, as if presenting a treasured possession.
Bai Sheng took a look. The Yin-Yang Fish hair ornament was indeed his. Back then, he had carved it from jade himself when he had nothing better to do.
He remembered now. It had happened a very, very long time ago, when he had rescued this little girl from a group of human traffickers. Too much time had passed, so it was no wonder Bai Sheng hadn't remembered at once.
Still, Bai Sheng was quite surprised that this Little Fox Person had recognized him at first glance. He couldn't help praising her excellent memory.
"Benefactor, are you going to take this back?"
Bai Sheng saw how reluctant she looked, even as she held the hair ornament out to him. He burst out laughing and said:
"Come on, that was all ancient history. Just keep wearing the hair ornament. It looks good on you. By the way, I still don't know your name, do I?"
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I... My name is Huohuo. I'm a hundred years old, currently live in Xianzhou Luofu, single, and work as a Trainee Judge in the Ten Lords Bureau. My Xianzhou ID number is..."
"Stop, stop, stop."
Bai Sheng hurriedly cut her off. If he didn't, this little girl was going to reveal all her personal information.
"You don't have to be so detailed. Would you like to come to my shop and chat, if it won't delay you?"
"Okay, okay, of course. No problem. My benefactor wouldn't do anything to me anyway. Tail, you behave!"
Huohuo agreed and slapped her large green tail again. She said the latter part in a small voice.
Bai Sheng had naturally noticed long ago that her tail was unusual. Compared to a tail of flesh and blood, Huohuo's looked more like a mass of energy. If he had to compare it to something, it resembled that Lord of Annihilation from before—Phantylia.
If he hadn't activated his spirit puppet's full detection capabilities, Bai Sheng probably would have taken out Pandora and chopped her down the moment he first saw Huohuo.
As for Phantylia, Bai Sheng would kill her sooner or later! Beleria couldn't have died for nothing.
After pushing open the barbecue shop's door, Bai Sheng found Huohuo a table. Then he casually took a bottle of Sushang from the refrigerator and handed it to her.
"Ah, thank you."
Although he didn't quite understand why a single drink could make this Little Fox Person so happy, Bai Sheng felt that having her around would bring him a rare sense of peace. He also kept wondering whether he could trick this little thing into leaving with nothing more than a stick of candy.
"You mentioned the Ten Lords Bureau just now, right?"
Bai Sheng asked in a casual tone. He wanted to learn more about it. The information online was too vague. All he knew was that the Ten Lords Bureau handled prisoners, and he didn't want to trouble Jing Yuan with everything.
Besides, Jing Yuan had given him plenty of time. He hadn't finished exploring Xianzhou Luofu yet. Everyone knew that the most interesting places in any region were never the famous tourist attractions.
"The Ten Lords Bureau? Does my benefactor want to work there?"
Huohuo asked as she used one slender hand to hold down her restless tail.
At the same time, she pressed the talisman on her tail more firmly into place.
"Not really. I just wanted to ask what kind of place the Ten Lords Bureau is. I was curious. I've been in Xianzhou Luofu for so long, but that's the only place I haven't visited."
"The Ten Lords Bureau oversees all matters concerning the life and death, crimes, and Mara-struck states of the Eternals. It is not subject to the authority of the Six Charioteers. It is the institution of the Xianzhou Alliance responsible for supervising the Eternals' lifespans and laws, receiving Xianzhou People who are about to succumb to mara, and detaining criminals who have committed the ten unforgivable sins. As for the rest, sorry, my benefactor, but I can't say."
"I understand, I understand. And you don't have to keep calling me your benefactor. Just call me by my name. Bai Sheng is fine."
"Is that really okay?"
"It's fine. I'm not used to being called that all the time. We're friends now, after all. I'm more used to people speaking to each other as equals."
Bai Sheng spoke as he took some snacks and handed them to Huohuo.
"Friends? Sure! Hehe, can I call you Asheng?"
Looking at Huohuo's sparkling eyes, Bai Sheng was dazed for a moment. He vaguely remembered that the last person to call him that had been his mother. For some reason, Bai Sheng agreed without thinking.
"Hehe, Asheng."
Huohuo was delighted. She had made a friend—a friend who owed her his life. By accident, the hand covering her tail loosened slightly, and a voice uncannily similar to that of Lyosli from another world came from Huohuo's tail:
"What? You little brat, you trust anyone! You do whatever people tell you and even press that lousy talisman down so I can't speak. Without me, do you think you could've become a judge in just a few decades, a position that others might not reach in several centuries? If he's a bad person, wouldn't my emergency rations be gone?"
A blue-green spectral wolf-shaped flame crawled out of Huohuo's tail. The moment it emerged, it began berating Huohuo from head to toe.
"Tail! Hurry and go back! Go back! Please!"
Huohuo was clearly flustered. She didn't want to lose this meaningful new friend because of the strangeness of her tail.
She looked so anxious that she was practically on the verge of tears.
"Hey! You little crybaby, are you done yet? Hey, you there! I'm warning you, kid. This is my emergency ration. If you have any funny ideas, don't blame me for being rude!"
Tail spoke up. In truth, he had sensed the goodwill Bai Sheng was releasing, but that wasn't a reason for Huohuo to trust other people so easily.
"Emergency ration? What are you planning to do to my friend?"
Bai Sheng grew serious. Ever since what happened to Beleria, he had cherished the friends around him more and more—even if this was the first friend he had made in Xianzhou Luofu.
His spirit puppet's full power activated, and terrifying cold glinted from Pandora.
"Fine, put away that look like you want to kill me. The heliobi can't die. Besides, if you really killed me, the Ten Lords Bureau would come looking for you every day. Nothing else to do here, so I'll head back first."
The spirit puppet restrained all souls, and creatures made of energy were no exception.
Tail was also extremely quick to retreat, returning to Huohuo's tail. In any case, Grandpa Tail could see straight through the emotions in that boy's heart whenever he wanted. He wasn't worried that Bai Sheng would do anything to Huohuo.
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