Jing Yuan: Was that on purpose or an accident?

With that, Teng Xiao stood up and swiftly vanished from their sight.

At that speed, you would have thought some vicious villain boss capable of killing him in an instant was hot on his heels.

Xianyu had wanted to ask Teng Xiao a few more questions, but now that he had bolted...

Startled for a moment, he remarked to Jing Yuan, "He looks pretty bulky. Didn't expect him to be that nimble."

Jing Yuan didn't take the bait.

Something was fishy here. Xianyu was definitely plotting something.

He narrowed his eyes, his tone unfriendly. "Was that on purpose or an accident?"

Xianyu shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth. "What was on purpose? What accident?"

Having spent so much time with him, Jing Yuan knew all about his tricks for playing dumb. There was no need to beat around the bush when talking to Xianyu. He could just ask outright.

"Quit pretending. I knew you'd figured it out," Jing Yuan said irritably. "Why did you say that in front of-"

Jing Yuan cut himself off and cautiously glanced around, vaguely referring to Teng Xiao as "him."

"Why did you say something like that in front of him?"

Xianyu kept eating. "Like what?"

Jing Yuan was seething, but he still retained enough sense to lower his voice as he snapped, "Do you not care about your future anymore? You just filled out the test however you felt like, huh? And all that talk about a personality disorder... Watch out, or the Cloud Knights will arrest you and haul you off to the Alchemy Commission!"

"The thing is, I didn't just fill it out however I felt like," Xianyu said.

He felt utterly wronged.

It was like being in a study period. You knew you hadn't been slacking off; you had even taken the initiative to study the coming chapters ahead of time.

You studied for thirty-nine minutes, only for your homeroom teacher to catch you goofing off in the final minute...

Who were you supposed to plead your case to?

Even if he said he had answered the questions seriously, Jing Yuan probably wouldn't believe him.

After hearing that, Jing Yuan scrutinized Xianyu's expression, trying to tell whether he was lying, but...

He hadn't been able to see through Xianyu's lies as a child. Wouldn't exposing them be even harder now that they were grown?

Jing Yuan stopped dwelling on it and shook his head.

"Even if you really do have it, how could you say that in front of him? Be honest. What are you plotting this time?"

Xianyu fell silent for a moment, then asked Jing Yuan, "Just what kind of person do you think I am?"

A weirdo with no faith, Jing Yuan thought.

It seemed that, in Xianyu's eyes, anything that happened was perfectly reasonable. Apart from being publicly humiliated, very little ever angered him.

Even when he had been bullied at school, he had never taken those spoiled rich kids seriously.

Despite possessing abilities far beyond those of other Xianzhou natives, he remained fixated on being an ordinary person.

The moment anything threatened to knock him off his chosen path, he would pull some outrageous stunt. Like when he became the center of attention at the Academy and promptly fleeced a whole group of wealthy merchants...

Could it be that Xianyu no longer wanted to be ordinary? Did he want to leave the Divination Commission and stir up more trouble?

Jing Yuan didn't voice his thoughts. Instead, he said coldly, "A Dragon King living as a live-in son-in-law who's obsessed with being ordinary."

"What have you been reading all day?!" Jing Yuan's description made Xianyu cringe so hard his scalp prickled. Unable to stand it, he snapped, "Hurry up and throw those storybooks you bought away!"

Seeing that his description had nearly made Xianyu lose his composure, Jing Yuan was delighted. He immediately decided to subject his friend to a little more storybook shock.

He suddenly raised his voice.

"The three years are up! We welcome the Dragon King's return-"

It was mealtime, and the restaurant staff were run off their feet. The customers were all waiting for their food with nothing else to do. The instant they heard Jing Yuan, they looked up toward the source of the voice.

Xianyu: "..."

The gazes coming from every direction felt like slicing knives, almost more than he could bear.

How was this any different from having his browsing history made public after his death...?

Xianyu squirmed in his seat and glared at Jing Yuan.

If people hadn't been watching, he would have gone over and beaten him up already!

Jing Yuan was doing this on purpose! As if he didn't know Xianyu's personality!

Xianyu suppressed the urge to flee and forced himself to endure everyone's inscrutable stares.

Suddenly, Jing Yuan stood up and walked over to Xianyu, positioning himself right in the path he would have to take to leave the restaurant.

In an awkward imitation of a knight's salute, Jing Yuan raised a hand to his chest and bowed forty-five degrees toward Xianyu, declaring with theatrical emphasis:

"Young master, your father has summoned you home to inherit the family business-"

Xianyu: "..."

What? The Dragon King son-in-law routine isn't enough to satisfy your twisted sense of humor anymore?

The people in the restaurant began talking over one another.

"Has he been reading too many storybooks?"

"Surely not. Judging by that young man's looks, he doesn't seem like he's lying..."

"Isn't the Luofu's High Elder Imbibitor Lunae? He doesn't look like a Vidyadhara, either."

"So the plots in those storybooks are real! When will I get to live like that?"

The more Xianyu heard, the angrier he became, until the veins at his temples throbbed.

Jing Yuan, you really deserve to die!

I ought to report you to the Cloud Knights and have you arrested!

Xianyu sprang to his feet, clenched a fist, and slammed it into Jing Yuan's chest.

The force drove Jing Yuan back several steps. In that brief lapse, Xianyu ran straight to the restaurant's entrance.

Holding back his laughter, Jing Yuan ran after him and shouted:

"Young master, don't run! The three years are up-"

"Stop sulking! You're your father's only son!"

"If you won't inherit his hundred billion Strale, what will become of the family business?!"

The two raced down the street, one after the other, under the startled gazes of passersby.

After weaving around several turns, Xianyu stopped in a secluded alley. His face cold, he demanded of Jing Yuan, "Was that fun?"

Jing Yuan pretended to ponder, then nodded. "Absolutely. That was so much fun! It's rare for it to work. I feel very accomplished!"

Xianyu was utterly exasperated. So he wasn't the only victim.

"Don't tell me you tried it on the actual Dragon King, too?"

"Good guess. I really did shout that at Dan Feng. But the Vidyadhara's own etiquette and rules are even more over the top. He took it completely in stride and didn't feel embarrassed at all..."

Jing Yuan looked surprised at first, then continued wistfully.

"Pranking Yingxing is even less satisfying. He doesn't understand any of this, so he believes whatever you tell him. He even believes that Xianzhou natives have to give seven-figure cash gifts at weddings!"

"Well, damn. If I ever get married, I'm definitely inviting him." Thoroughly stunned by Jing Yuan's penchant for mischief, Xianyu said irritably, "...What a shame you aren't an Emanator of Elation."

He immediately thought of Aha, that amusement-loving god. After this whole ordeal, any desire to trade blows with Jing Yuan vanished.

He still remembered that Jing Yuan wanted to spar with him. He couldn't let him have his way.

Jing Yuan, who had been chattering nonstop, paused, then gave a sigh of feigned regret. "Why didn't you take the bait...? I was hoping to use this chance to spar with you."

Xianyu couldn't be bothered to argue with Jing Yuan anymore. He asked bluntly, "Anything else? If not, I'm going home."

Jing Yuan's expression turned cold, and his tone abruptly became serious. Fixing his gaze on Xianyu, he said, "Yes. There's a question I need to ask you."

At that moment, Jing Yuan seemed utterly transformed. The close friend had become a Cloud Knight with his edge laid bare, ready to face battle.

Seeing this, Xianyu grew serious as well. "What question?"

Jing Yuan's gaze was piercing. Lowering his voice, he enunciated every word. "Are you about to commit a crime?"