Xu Yuan's voice echoed through the Bar.
No one spoke.
Everyone held their breath and waited.
Qianqian was nervous, of course.
Jiang Xueyao and the others knew nothing of Xu Yuan's bargain with the emperor, so they grew nervous too.
Would a request like that get an answer?
Silence.
In the silence,
a burst of static came from the radio.
Several breaths passed.
Then a voice spoke through it:
"Understood, Officer Xu. We'll send someone over at once."
At the same moment,
a voice sounded beside Xu Yuan's ear:
"The second time."
The emperor's second favor.
For fuck's sake.
I'm doing this for all humanity, and you're counting how many favors I've used?
What a stingy emperor!
Petty to the bone!
Xu Yuan grumbled inwardly.
That left him five chances to ask for help!
He would have to save every one for when it truly counted!
Behind the Bar Counter, Qianqian's eyes widened in disbelief.
The airplane seats could not be delivered yet, but the Dao Canon would arrive soon.
All she had to do was wait, and she would know—
whether this man was a fraud or someone with astonishing reach!
Time passed slowly.
Xu Yuan showed no impatience. He sat on a stool at the Bar Counter, turning a glass in his hands.
Before long,
a figure appeared at the Bar's entrance and pushed the door open.
It was a refined young man.
Lu Qingxuan!
The Crown Prince had come to deliver the Dao Canon himself!
Xu Yuan went to meet him and cupped his hands.
"Sorry to make you come all this way yourself. That's a bit much."
"It's fine. A Dao Canon cannot be passed on lightly, so I was sent to find out what Spiritual Roots she has before we decide which Dao Canon to