Jingzhe, I Want You to Help Me Cultivate

"This is a little strange..."

Ch'en didn't need to say more. Anyone who witnessed the two of them would instinctively feel that something was off.

Jingzhe knew that too.

She was a Dali Temple official well versed in the law, but she was not inflexible. She knew how to assess the situation.

The fact that the shrine maiden knew her identity was already established. To minimize her losses, Jingzhe had to respond to her invitation as soon as possible.

The shrine maiden wanted Jingzhe to cooperate with her.

Jingzhe said nothing, merely watching her performance in silence.

The officers on the rooftop had not relaxed their guard at all. Instead, they were more alert than ever. Jingzhe was alarmed. This identity the shrine maiden had forcibly given her, supposedly to give her an excuse to back down, did not seem much safer than being a religious leader.

Pretty strange.

Hoshino turned back to look at her. Jingzhe touched her nose, yellow lightning flickering around her body, eager to see how the shrine maiden would handle this.

"Who knows how this rabble came to see her as their backbone." Hoshino looked up and complained, "My friend here is a little withdrawn, a little shy, and a little bad at talking. Maybe she was just too embarrassed to refuse."

Jingzhe: So I'm a socially withdrawn child now.

She was a qilin, a mystical beast—not some impostor giraffe, but a genuine qilin.

Withdrawn?

Jingzhe had a headache. This excuse was obviously far too childish. They would not believe it. She had to do something.

She raised her hand.

"White Lightning..."

Though she had only just started, Jingzhe stopped herself in time, but she still nearly bit her tongue.

Why did she always instinctively call out the name of her moves?

Fortunately, after their earlier whispered exchange, Jingzhe had kept her voice low. The people on the rooftop only saw an inexplicable scene: the cloaked figure suddenly staggered, and snow-white lightning raced down the street, shooting into the brick wall sealing off the bar.

Boom!

The brick wall shattered.

A brief scream rang out at the same time, coming from a certain penguin. But the blast was so loud that nobody heard it.

Jingzhe lowered her hand and resumed her cold, silent demeanor.

Seeing this, Hoshino nodded.

"See? She's expressing her goodwill toward you in her own clumsy way. Do you understand now?"

That was what she said.

As she spoke, everyone from Penguin Logistics ran toward the rubble of the brick wall and, in a frantic scramble, dug out a blackened, smoking penguin from beneath the broken stones.

"Who... who did that?"

Emperor was not in mortal danger, but he no longer sounded as vigorous as usual.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Hoshino awkwardly explained, "It was an accident. Who knew Emperor would be standing so close to the bar's main entrance?"

"Of course I was close to the entrance. I was trying to escape. Was I supposed to stay far away from the door?"

"Please cooperate."

Hoshino seemed to be the first person who dared speak to Emperor like that. Emperor opened his beak and spat out a cloud of black smoke, then suddenly began coughing violently. White Lightning had apparently done no small amount of damage; it had nearly taken half his life.

But as he had said, at least twenty-one people tried to take his life every week.

And he had become friends with half of them.

"This little... cough cough... girl... Next time, you have to let me see your face... cough cough..."

Emperor said intermittently.

"I have a feeling... you'd be perfect for electronic music."

"?"

Jingzhe panicked a little. Were Lungmen people really like this? He did not even care about his life and was still thinking about making music?

Terrifying.

The atmosphere became rather comical. The Lungmen Guard Department had been on high alert, only to end up waiting for nothing. The entire incident had neither beginning nor end, and it simply ended for no apparent reason.

Over at Penguin Logistics, Exusiai was carrying the soot-covered Emperor into the vehicle.

Croissant smiled as she apologized to Hoshino.

"Our boss is unwell, so we need to take him to the hospital. As for the commission we agreed on, let's discuss it after he recovers."

Hoshino nodded.

It was a perfectly normal thing to do, but Croissant and Exusiai were both smiling. Even Texas's cold face showed a trace of warmth. Hoshino suddenly felt somewhat dazed, as though there was something strange about Penguin Logistics.

So this was Penguin Logistics, where employees and boss were as close as family? How hilarious.

Texas was talking to Sora on the phone.

The idol performance had just ended. Sora was physically tired, but her mind was still immersed in the excitement of lights and cheers, and her voice was filled with energy.

"Uh... Texas??"

"The boss was hurt and hospitalized, so there might not be anyone at the base tonight. Come to Lungmen Hospital."

"The boss was hurt? What happened?"

Texas turned to look at the penguin, black as charcoal, and answered.

"He was struck by lightning."

"That's so pitiful."

There was not the slightest hint of pity in Sora's reply. It even carried a touch of mockery. Even Hoshino, who was eavesdropping, could not bear to listen. Her raised ears drooped, and she lost interest in overhearing the rest of the conversation.

What had she been expecting?

Hoshino herself was not sure.

She had merely become interested all of a sudden after watching Texas interact with the other girls of Penguin Logistics.

Alien: Bow of Hel was temporarily out of reach, and there was still no news concerning the Sky Ranger armor. But Hoshino was not discouraged. She pulled Jingzhe all the way back to the shrine, her eyes full of anticipation.

"What is your purpose?"

Jingzhe finally spoke her first words. For a Dali Temple official, this made her seem somewhat passive.

"And why are you helping me?"

"Where are you taking me?"

Three questions. Hoshino shook her head and answered, "I'm taking you to the shrine. I'm helping you because I was guided by divine revelation. As for my purpose, it's probably... to collect payment."

"Payment?"

She became wary, especially when Hoshino pulled her up the mountain.

"Don't be nervous. Think about it carefully. The people who lend a hand without asking for anything in return are the truly terrifying ones. You have no way of guessing what they want. Asking for payment is to stop you from being so suspicious. You get what I mean, right?"

Jingzhe shook her head.

She still did not know what payment the shrine maiden intended to demand. Nothing had been decided yet, and she could not make rash judgments without enough information.

The moment she stepped onto the grounds of Yae Shrine and passed through the vermilion torii gate, Jingzhe could no longer hold herself back.

She could not help asking, "What exactly is the payment you want?"

"It's very simple."

Without hesitation, Hoshino gave her answer. "Jingzhe, I want you... to help me cultivate!"

"Gasp—"

Jingzhe pressed down her hood. Yellow lightning flickered across her body as the Dali Temple official suddenly displayed a level of panic she had never shown before.

Question: Was it still too late to run?