This continued the extras from chapters 290 and 330.
This was an alternate direction for chapter 274, an IF Timeline where Aha hadn't blown up the Astral Express, Xianyu hadn't deleted his account, and he had lived all the way into the High-Cloud Quintet era.
I suddenly realized this IF Timeline also counted as: meeting a top-tier succubus right after leaving the starter village. (What even is this?)
Xianyu inwardly cursed.
One slip of the tongue had nearly laid everything bare.
Fortunately, it wasn't too serious.
There was still room to salvage things.
Xianyu steadied himself and asked gently:
"Are you unhappy on the Luofu?"
"Has someone wronged you?"
With a single remark, he framed their conversation as one between a subordinate and her superior.
Jingliu knew she wouldn't get the response she wanted.
The sun hanging high in the heavens would not linger for anyone.
And so, she hid away every feeling she could not voice.
Jingliu rarely met the Marshal's gaze.
She would look at the dishes he reached for most often.
She would look at the sliver of his face turned slightly toward someone he was chatting with.
Jingliu would look wherever the Marshal was looking.
But never at the Marshal himself.
When the Marshal looked at her, Jingliu would avert her eyes first and lower her head.
Only when the Marshal addressed everyone would Jingliu, like her colleagues, meet those eyes that seemed capable of embracing all the ugliness and malice in the world.
Jingliu carefully recalled their conversation just now, unable to make sense of what she felt.
Learning of Jingliu's feelings had troubled the Marshal, yet he had left her room to maneuver throughout their conversation.
He was gentle and hadn't laid her feelings bare.
When he saw the application she had submitted