Seeing the shriveled little green frog Bai Jun had taken out, Qing Que froze for a moment, then tilted her head and chuckled. "Oh my, I thought it was something serious. Is something this minor even a problem?"
"A penny can stump a hero. How is this not a problem?" Bai Jun curled his lip. Human joys and sorrows were not shared; he only felt that the sun was hanging a little too high today.
The well-off little Qing Que proudly patted her chest and put on an indulgent, accommodating look. "Come on, come on. For Imperial Jade Card Game, you only need to show up. Consider the money prize stakes. And I'll cover all your meal expenses for the next few days!"
Hearing such a lavish declaration, Bai Jun's expression turned solemn with respect. He suddenly bent down, clasped Qing Que's little hand, and said emotionally, "Jun has drifted through half his life, regretting only that he never found a worthy lord. If you do not reject me, I wish to become sworn—"
"Y-you, what are you trying to do?! Don't say nonsense, don't say nonsense!" Qing Que's little face reddened. Clearly guessing what Bai Jun was about to say, she hurriedly stood on tiptoe and covered his lips with her small hand.
Qing Que's hand was soft, and Bai Jun did not struggle. He obediently nodded, indicating that he would follow his boss's every order.
Perhaps because there were too many pedestrians passing along the street, quite a few noticed Qing Que standing on tiptoe at the roadside as if she were being intimate with Bai Jun. They began whispering among themselves:
"Kids these days are really bold, hugging and cuddling in broad daylight."
"What kind of vibe is this? Young people really know how to have fun."
"Ah, such a nice young man. How did he get ruined?"
"Youth is wonderful..."
Noticing the ambiguous looks from the surrounding passersby, Qing Que's ears were dyed with a shy pink. She hurriedly removed her hand from Bai Jun's lips and put some distance between them, complaining sweetly, "It's all your fault!"
"Relax. Have a fruit candy to calm down." Although Bai Jun had heard every whisper from the passersby, he had no mood to care. His hands were itching unbearably now; all he wanted was to play cards.
Before Qing Que could mutter a few more embarrassed complaints, something hard suddenly pressed against her lips. Out of trust in Bai Jun, she instinctively opened her mouth and took it in.
So sweet...
Only after the candy's flavor fully bloomed in her mouth did Qing Que realize what Bai Jun had fed her. Her shyness immediately melted into an even sweeter happiness.
"Tasty, right?" Seeing little Qing Que immersed in the honeyed sweetness as well, Bai Jun smiled and ruffled her little head, acting as though nothing had happened earlier.
"It's tasty. What shop is this candy from? I want to buy some later too." Qing Que nodded, curious which shop had made it. It somehow tasted even better than the sweets sold by old-established pastry shops like Daoxiang Tower and Qiyuan Pavilion.
"Shence Mansion brand," Bai Jun said calmly.
A huge question mark suddenly appeared above Qing Que's little head. She only knew that Shence Mansion was where the generals of every generation worked. She had never heard it was a candy factory.
She decided to treat it as one of Bai Jun's unique jokes. In any case, she had long grown used to his sudden deadpan humor. Who knew whom he had learned it from?
Bai Jun now liked little rich girl Qing Que more and more. He wanted nothing more than to enshrine her in his family incense altar like the Reignbow Arbiter. Seeing that she liked Shence Mansion's candy, he decisively stuffed another large handful into Qing Que's hands and added, "There's no label or expiration date, but the quality is absolutely guaranteed. Brand-new and unopened. It's fine if you don't want to eat them now; just suck on one whenever you're in a bad mood."
Rarely receiving such enthusiasm from Bai Jun, Qing Que was momentarily stunned. Clutching the candy, she did not know what to say, and her heartbeat suddenly sped up. "Thank you..."
"Hm? Why thank me? I should be the one thanking you, shouldn't I?" Bai Jun tilted his head in confusion, thinking Qing Que was being strange.
"N-nothing! Hurry up, or there won't be any tables left for Imperial Jade Card Game!"
Watching Qing Que's flustered retreating figure, Bai Jun raised an eyebrow and gradually sensed that something was wrong—he had accidentally given Qing Que all the candy in his pocket. Now he had none left to eat!
Maybe... he could ask Qing Que for some back?
The moment that evil thought surfaced in his mind, Bai Jun immediately cut it off and began fiercely interrogating his conscience.
Bai Jun, Bai Jun, how could you be so petty? They were just a few pieces of candy. At worst, he could raid Shence Mansion again after work. So long as it made Boss Qing Que happy, even if he had to tear out his own heart, he should comply willingly!
"Qing Yan, why are you still spacing out? Hurry up!"
Qing Que's puzzled voice came from the distance. Only then did Bai Jun realize that the two of them had somehow gotten so far apart.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Bai Jun patted his cheeks and quickened his pace to catch up.
Imperial Jade Card Game was said to date back to the era of the ancient empire, a tabletop game as renowned as Star Array Chess. Yet it had drifted into obscurity over the Xianzhou Alliance's long history. Fortunately, an unnamed junior diviner from the Divination Bureau collected and organized its rules, bringing it back to the modern Xianzhou. Only then were people fortunate enough to play this brain-burning card game tied to the stars and celestial phenomena.
And speaking of Imperial Jade Card Game, there was an amusing tale to tell. Bai Jun truly counted as a self-taught genius. He had learned the basics after only a few glances, leaving the other card players in the parlor deeply envious. Everyone thought they had witnessed the birth of an Imperial Jade Card Game prodigy. Yet although Bai Jun learned so quickly, his skill did not seem particularly high. On the contrary, every time he played against them, the matches were evenly contested. There was no sign at all of a genius.
That left everyone puzzled. Could it be that Bai Jun disdained playing Imperial Jade Card Game with them and was deliberately concealing his true ability?
The reason was actually quite simple. It was not that Bai Jun was hiding his skill; Imperial Jade Card Game simply resembled mahjong too much. His so-called natural talent was only because Bai Jun happened to know a little mahjong in his previous life, so he picked it up quickly. Though he repeatedly emphasized that he was no genius, nobody except Qing Que believed him at all.
If they did not believe him, then so be it. Bai Jun could not be bothered to argue further. He only hoped they would stop signing him up for random competitions next time.
"Eh? Why isn't this thing moving?"
An unnamed junior diviner vigorously smacked the Imperial Jade card table and its game board in front of her, wondering whether the thing had malfunctioned.
The Imperial Jade card table and game board was basically a mahjong table combining automatic shuffling, tile arranging, dealing, and other functions. Produced by the Artisanship Commission, it used magnetic levitation, was compact, lightweight, and easy to carry. Its only flaws were its steep price and tendency to malfunction, so one had to think carefully before buying one. But that was not a concern in a card parlor. If one malfunctioned, they could simply switch tables.
"You forgot to turn on the power."
Bai Jun quietly complained as he turned on the power. The slowly rising game board promptly stopped Qing Que from deciding to change tables.
With the game board issue solved, the next problem was finding four players. It seemed somewhat difficult to call one or two friends on an ordinary workday, but fortunately, the card parlor's crowd of idle people perfectly avoided that problem.
"Standard Imperial Jade Card Game table, two players needed!"
The moment those words fell, two card players soon came over, drawn by the allure of Imperial Jade Card Game. However, when they saw that Bai Jun and Qing Que were the ones who had called out, they hesitated to join. After a long pause, they cautiously asked, "It's you two... Are you sure it's okay to sneak out and play cards with us on a workday?"
"It's not like this is the first or second time. Why are you so nervous?"
Bai Jun tilted his head in confusion, wondering what the two meant, only to see them complain helplessly:
"That's easy for you to say, but hasn't that lady from the Divination Bureau been coming to drag Miss Qing Que away way too often lately? You two might not care, but at least spare a thought for us!"
What could they do? Whenever that short pink-haired big shot took Qing Que away, she always liked to intimidate the other card players along the way. One game of Imperial Jade Card Game being broken up was bad enough, but it also killed everyone else's desire to keep playing. One person had ruined the whole pot of soup. Most importantly, they could not resist. They could only tremble beneath the threats of the Divination Bureau's pink-haired big shot.
Since they could not deal with the pink-haired big shot from the Divination Bureau, they could only settle for dealing with Qing Que. As long as they did not play cards with her, every problem would vanish on the wind.
Bai Jun's mouth twitched as he turned helplessly toward the culprit beside him.
"Hehe?" The brown-haired girl stuck out her tongue slightly and gave a mischievous smile.
"Hehe my ass!"
With a dark expression, Bai Jun gave her little head a chop. Seeing the card players preparing to leave, he hurriedly called after them, "Wait! Please hear me out, you two!"
"No can do, Brother Bai Jun. You're very handsome, but that isn't a reason for us to stay, you know?" The two card players seemed to have made up their minds. Like cowboys from an old disc, they slowly walked toward an imagined sunset, letting their elongated shadows display their loneliness and solitude.
"All right, then. I was going to share the secret to Imperial Jade Card Game, but I suppose I'll have to find someone else..."
Before Bai Jun's slightly regretful voice had even faded into the wind, the two card players stopped like wolves catching the scent of meat. They turned around and looked at Bai Jun expectantly.
They had heard of Bai Jun's reputation as an Imperial Jade Card Game genius. Like everyone else, they had always been curious why he hid his skill, and even more curious whether he truly was the supposed genius. Now that he said he would share Imperial Jade Card Game secrets, the chance to verify it was right before them. Whether it was true or false, they had to hear him out for the sake of that title alone.
"Is that true?"
"Absolutely!"
Seeing the fish take the bait, a foxlike cunning appeared on Bai Jun's face. He immediately offered the two men several more reassuring promises. "You two need not worry. If the Lady Diviner truly comes to hold someone accountable, just follow the principle of sacrificing fellow cultivators before sacrificing yourselves and flee. Qing Que will bear all of Lady Diviner's anger."
Hiss, that did seem right. If someone came to assign blame, it really had nothing to do with the two of them.
The two card players exchanged glances. In the end, the temptation of Imperial Jade Card Game defeated their reason.
"Fuck it, we're in!"
Subordinates Are Not Allowed to Kiss Their Bosses!
Normally, a round of Imperial Jade Card Game took three to ten minutes. If the tiles were unkind, even twenty minutes for one round was common. Yet today, one full round had taken only seventeen minutes. The game beside them had not even finished one round, while this table was already preparing to start the second.
The situation on the table had already shifted with startling speed. The two card players' hearts instantly plunged into an icy abyss and shattered to pieces, leaving none of their earlier confidence behind. For these two battle-hardened players to reveal such defeat, the game board's contest had clearly reached an almost crushing level.
For some reason, they vaguely felt that this Imperial Jade Card Game round was not complicated at all. There was only one reason...
The loneliness born from absolute strength.
The record of the strongest was engraved upon the game board. The one who stood at the end of the battlefield was—
Another One Bamboo tile slammed heavily down from Qing Que's hand. The crisp sound that sealed the result unmistakably declared the winner of the round. "I won again!"
Bai Jun: o_0?
Come on, just admit you're cheating. How many rounds have you won already?
It seemed Qing Que had not lost a single game since the beginning, did she? The two guys beside them were nearly scared stupid.
Still, Bai Jun could understand them. In a situation like this, forget about saying victory and defeat were common in battle. No one could endure losing this badly in one go.
"Hmph, impressive, Qing Yan. Perhaps I'll never forget you for the rest of my life." Little Qing Que smugly brushed aside the loose hair over her forehead, then lifted her head with pride and pity to look at the defeated-looking Bai Jun. This was already the third time she had given him a victory speech.
"Yes, yes, Lady Qing Que is the strongest." Resigned to his fate, Bai Jun pushed down his still-unarranged Imperial Jade Card Game tiles and went along with Qing Que's wishes to please her.
After winning, the next step was naturally to collect the loser's stakes. It was both recognition for the victor and punishment for the defeated.
The stakes were not Xianzhou Xun Di, but lower-value interstellar Credits. Qing Que played cards only to find some leisure. The stakes merely had to add a little excitement; any higher and it would be little different from gambling, which was precisely what Qing Que disliked.
Even a small amount of Credits was still money, and losing too much would definitely hurt. But Bai Jun, who had nothing in his sleeves but fresh air, did not seem worried about that at all. Qing Que had already told Bai Jun when she arrived that he did not need to pay if he lost. He only had to keep her company while she played.
That said, though he might be spared capital punishment, he could not escape lesser punishment. As the price, whenever Bai Jun lost, he could only obediently let Qing Que stick paper slips on his face as a penalty.
It was a child's game, but Qing Que seemed to enjoy it. Bai Jun simply went along with her.
"Hehe, if you know you were wrong, then accept your punishment obediently." Qing Que happily placed her hands on her hips and curled a little finger at Bai Jun, signaling him to bend down quickly since she could not reach otherwise.
"You lucky bastard."
Bai Jun gave a bitter smile and bent down, allowing her to stick a paper slip onto his face, which was already covered with them.
"That's called the wheel of fortune turning." Qing Que licked her fingertip to dampen the slip, then stood on tiptoe and lightly pressed it onto Bai Jun's cheek.
She liked this form of punishment. It felt as though she were gradually turning Bai Jun into a treasure that belonged solely to her, something untouched by anyone else, discovered and possessed by her alone.
Though it was quite despicable, Qing Que's feminine instinct for possessiveness and her pride made her secretly delighted whenever she saw the handiwork on Bai Jun's face.
After sticking on the paper slip and pinching Bai Jun's cheek along the way, Qing Que finally withdrew her hand in satisfaction. Then her sweet, flirtatious smile vanished instantly as she coldly looked at the two card players. "As for you two, the dealer owes 2,400, and the other player owes 1,200. No credit, okay?"
The two card players' faces turned ashen, and even their foreheads seemed darkened. First, they had lost terribly. Second, they had suddenly realized that Bai Jun did not seem to be hiding his skill at all. He was genuinely terrible!
Oh, heavens! Did Jun truly understand cards? Did Jun truly not understand cards?
If anyone ever claimed Bai Jun was hiding his skill again, the two of them would absolutely drive an elbow into that person and let the gossiping bastard experience the true teachings of Mamba.
Qing Que's card luck was absurd enough, but even more fatal was that, from what they had observed, Bai Jun and Qing Que seemed to be on the same side when playing cards. This was really over. They were riding a tiger and could not get off; it would be a blessing if they did not lose everything.
"All right, all right, let's get ready for the next round. I think my luck can last for quite a while longer."
Another batch of Credits entered her account, and the feeling of a fuller wallet improved Qing Que's mood a little more. Just as she eagerly prepared to challenge her record for the longest winning streak, a pink figure flashing in the distance shattered that thought.
That figure was like a resentful spirit that refused to leave, flickering in and out of Qing Que's vision. It was also like a life-reaping ghost, suddenly vanishing without a trace. There were not many pink-haired people on the Luofu, and Qing Que had seen only a handful. Unfortunately, her boss was one of them.
At that thought, Qing Que's little face immediately turned pale. Her hands froze in the middle of arranging the tiles, and she did not dare move for a long time.
That shouldn't be possible, shouldn't be possible, shouldn't be possible! Wasn't Lady Fu Xuan supposed to be exchanging insights with the Divination Bureau on the Yaoqing today? How could she possibly come all this way specifically to catch a minor diviner like her?!
She was not entirely certain. Better take another look.
Qing Que gathered her courage and quietly opened her eyes, wanting to confirm whether her guess was correct.
This time, she saw clearly. Dreamlike pink hair was loosely gathered against a smooth back, and a mysterious, profound purple mystic eye was set between the woman's brows. No emotion could be read from her delicate, adorable face.
The loose sleeve and ribbons on the left completely covered her left arm. On the right, a half-transparent veil draped over her upper arm, while a white sleeve tightly wrapped her forearm. The mismatched decorations on either side meant that the small section of abdomen exposed on her left could not be covered by the coat's one-sided opening. This asymmetrical design, half-hidden and half-revealed, emphasized the girl's unique allure. Her long, straight legs formed smooth curves beneath tightly fitted white pantyhose.
Ah, she was so beautiful. The only imperfection was that her lovely pale-gold eyes looked rather frighteningly gloomy at the moment.
Qing Que dearly wanted to shout for mercy, then turn and flee with Bai Jun. Sadly, how could a little sparrow understand that "human plans are no match for the heavens"? Even her tiny thoughts were entirely within Fu Xuan's mystic eye.
Before Qing Que's red lips could form a single word, a purple phantom streaked past. Wispy particles quickly gathered into the shape of a formation around her, then transformed into a stream of light and faded away, as though none of it had happened.
"Mm—!"
Yet the next second, when Qing Que tried to say something, she discovered that her tongue seemed tightly restrained by some force. No matter how hard she tried, she could not make a sound.
After dealing with Qing Que, Fu Xuan's expression did not improve in the slightest. Looking at Bai Jun, whose face was covered in paper slips and who seemed utterly unaware of her arrival, her expression grew even darker.
Upon seeing Fu Xuan arrive, the two card players abandoned their usual mouse-seeing-a-cat terror. They were immediately so moved that they nearly burst into tears, happier than if they had seen the Reignbow Arbiter himself.
"Thank you, Ancestor Fu Xuan, for lending us a hand!"
The two card players flattered her with cupped hands and bows. Following the principle of sacrificing fellow cultivators before sacrificing themselves, they immediately slipped away into the void and fled in panic.
Fu Xuan slightly raised an eyebrow, somewhat displeased by that form of address. However, she had more important matters at hand and could not be bothered with them.
"Fu Xuan?" Only then did Bai Jun finally belatedly notice something strange. His expression shifted as he anxiously looked around, yet he was still not certain whether Fu Xuan had actually come.
There was nothing to be done about it. First, the paper slips plastered across Bai Jun's face blocked most of his vision. Second, Fu Xuan was not particularly tall, so she unfortunately fell into his blind spot. If anyone had to be blamed, it could only be the difference in elevation.
Fu Xuan's expression was dark enough to drip water, yet she still chose restraint. Seemingly wanting to coax a little more information out of Bai Jun, she silently made a gesture at Qing Que.
"...N-no, she didn't come, guh—!" Qing Que suddenly widened her eyes and covered her mouth in disbelief. She instantly understood what the formation Fu Xuan had placed on her earlier was for.
Sorry. She swore those words just now had not come from her heart; her tongue had simply stopped obeying her!
Tears of regret streamed down Qing Que's face. She could only silently hope Bai Jun would notice that something was wrong soon.
"That's good, then. Don't make jokes like that next time. It's a little scary."
Before you continue