Hua: Stay Away from Him

In his message, Teng Xiao brought up the Vidyadhara Chief Alchemist he had met at the Alchemy Commission, praising him for handling the Psychological Test so smoothly and sparing him any worry, unlike everyone else who always came to report on their work.

Dan Feng's reply was brief and blunt: his subordinate had not handled the matter properly.

Having lived for centuries, the High Elder naturally saw that Teng Xiao's apparent praise was actually criticism.

What Teng Xiao really meant was that the Chief Alchemist did not know how to handle things and had failed to report to the general while carrying out the task.

Before long, that Chief Alchemist contacted Teng Xiao. His message was a whole song and dance delivered in an earnest tone, before he abruptly shifted to explaining that they had been unable to reach Imbibitor Lunae at the time-the High Elder had not answered calls to his Jade Abacus or replied to messages, blah, blah, blah.

Clearly, he was shifting the blame onto their Vidyadhara High Elder, trying to lower Teng Xiao's opinion of Dan Feng.

Even if Imbibitor Lunae was unavailable, surely that was no reason to set over six hundred questions? Hadn't he just been trying to impress Teng Xiao, only to crash and burn instead of scoring points?

If that man had a worse temper, the whole Luofu would have been turned upside down!

Teng Xiao did not reply.

The current High Elder ruled with a firm hand, keeping the Dragon Preceptors thoroughly in line. Often, all he had to do was open his mouth to leave a whole group of Vidyadhara speechless.

Some Vidyadhara who refused to accept the High Elder could do little more than resort to petty tricks.

Their little squabbles... Teng Xiao could not be bothered to get involved. Once he did, that bunch would never leave him in peace.

Besides, it was an internal affair of their people. What business did an outsider have meddling?

To use a somewhat inappropriate example, it was like trying to save a friend who was being abused or treated as an ATM. You talked yourself hoarse persuading them to break up, only for the couple to get back together a moment later, all lovey-dovey, and turn your well-meaning advice into a topic for their private conversations.

You ended up looking bad to everyone, like a member of the circus.

In the end, your friend would even maliciously suspect that you were jealous of their wonderful boyfriend or girlfriend.

Just thinking about it made you want to run that damned couple over, then run over the entire world...

However viciously the Vidyadhara fought among themselves, it had nothing whatsoever to do with Teng Xiao. The reliable Imbibitor Lunae would handle it.

Teng Xiao set down his Jade Abacus and pieced together the information he had.

A bold suspicion suddenly occurred to him: perhaps Xianyu had not recovered all his memories.

He wanted to use the Dossier in the archives to learn about his past self.

Teng Xiao recalled the accounts of the Former Marshal in the archives' sealed Dossier.

To sum them up in one sentence, he had maxed out every major faction's hatred of him.

Teng Xiao: "..."

His heart sank. No matter how much Xianyu still remembered, if he saw that Dossier... how could that possibly end well?

He opened his Jade Abacus and hurriedly called Diviner Xiao Lin.

Xiao Lin, who had been lost in a pleasant dream, said, "...Huh? Who is it?"

Teng Xiao asked, "Are you asleep?"

Xiao Lin glanced at the time and said irritably, "...It's one in the morning, General."

It's one in the morning! What do you think?

Teng Xiao selectively ignored his words. "Good, you're still awake. Come over to the General's Residence."

With that, he hung up, his expression solemn.

He needed to think carefully about how to put a positive spin on the Former Marshal's actions.

When Diviner Xiao Lin rushed to the General's Residence, Teng Xiao deployed his usual, unfailingly effective art of bamboozling.

"Well, this matter is what it is. Those who understand naturally understand, and the situation is what it is..."

Still bleary-eyed, Xiao Lin struggled to extract the point from Teng Xiao's nonsense. "General, are you saying we need to put a positive spin on everything the Former Marshal did?"

Teng Xiao shook his head. "How could you call it putting a spin on things? We're simply restoring the truth. Everything the Former Marshal did was for the Xianzhou! Here, take a look. We'll do this together."

Xiao Lin opened the Dossier withheld from the public and nearly blacked out.

"General, this planet that was blown up..."

Teng Xiao glanced at the Dossier Xiao Lin handed him, his eyelid twitching. "Just write that he saved a planet mired in the Swarm Disaster."

Xiao Lin said woodenly, "General, he wiped out Intellitrons and defied the Omniscient Heavenly Lord..."

Teng Xiao lied without so much as blushing. "Say the Former Marshal was all-knowing and all-powerful. He foresaw that Intellitron life would spark conflict just like the Golems, so he decided to strike first. Even when faced with the Aeon of Erudition, he refused to back down."

Listening to Teng Xiao invent lies out of thin air, Xiao Lin was instantly filled with admiration.

No wonder he's the general! Now that's emotional intelligence!

The two of them slogged through until dawn. Teng Xiao said cheerfully, "I didn't expect us to finish the first draft so quickly. Keep up the good work after your shift tonight, my dear Xiao Qing—"

Xiao Lin, who had thought the matter was finally over, said, "...F-first draft?"

The Diviner was dumbfounded. His hand ached from writing all night! And now the general was saying this was only the first draft?

"This matter is of the utmost importance. We absolutely cannot let anyone else hear a word of it. You were the very first person I thought of, my dear Xiao Qing—"

Once again, Teng Xiao deployed his emotionally intelligent rhetoric, showering Xiao Lin with praise until his subordinate's head spun, then thrusting a pile of psychology books into his arms.

Still dazed, Xiao Lin carried the books to the Divination Commission, arriving right on time for once.

Only after entering the Divination Commission did Xiao Lin realize what had happened.

The general had fooled him again! And woken him up in the middle of the night to work overtime!

Seething, Xiao Lin swept his gaze over his energetic subordinates before settling on Xianyu, who had just emerged from the break room holding a palm-sized cup.

As their superior, he knew his subordinates' little schemes all too well. A cup that small would be empty after a few sips, and once it was empty, wouldn't he have to head back to the break room to chat again?

Xiao Lin had a brief flare of anger, but remembering that his own misunderstanding had left Xianyu embroiled in rumors of being beaten, he merely snorted and carried the books toward his office.

Xianyu: "...?"

Can anyone explain why my boss just gave me a dirty look for no reason?

Utterly baffled, he recalled the stack of books the Diviner had been carrying.

"How to Win Friends and Influence People," "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life," "A Brief Analysis of the Psychological Characteristics of Anti○ocial Personality Disorder"...

Xianyu was stunned. Diviner, aren't you trying a little too hard?

Is my boss doing this for me? Surely he doesn't need to take it this seriously?

He could hardly describe how he felt. It was like eating Strawberry Mapo Tofu.

His intentions are good, but there really is nothing wrong with me...

Xianyu felt that no amount of explaining would clear things up. All he could do was slack off with a vengeance to vent his feelings.

He opened his chat with Hua.

[No replies outside work hours: Do you owe Teng Xiao a favor? Or does he need something from you?]

The first answer came not from Hua, but from an automatic reply.

[Hua: Busy. Away from my post. For inquiries, book an appointment 180 days in advance.]

Yesterday, Teng Xiao had carried on by himself, looking determined to help Xianyu resolve his problems.

What Xianyu feared was that, without his having said a thing, both Hua and he would end up owing Teng Xiao a favor for no reason.

If he could pay off both their debts of gratitude with Strales, that would be a fantastic bargain.

Xianyu specifically checked his account, picked out the spare change from his balance, and asked.

[No replies outside work hours: Just asking in advance, can I solve this by throwing money at it? Would an eight-figure sum in Strales be enough for Teng Xiao? Or would that be too little?]

[Hua: ...]

[Hua: Don't.]

[Hua: Stay away from him.]