Lan sat where he was, his posture straight, seemingly unaffected.
Jing Yuan stood, unsure for a moment whether he should intervene.
As his Aeon's collar grew increasingly disheveled, he gave a light cough. Akivili happened to let go, turned to him, and asked, "What happened? Did something happen to your Imbibitor Lunae too? That can't be right, can it?"
Jing Yuan froze for half a second.
What did he mean, something happened to our Imbibitor Lunae too?
"How could that be? You must be joking," he said with a smile.
Jing Yuan listed the contributions of Dan Heng of the Nameless as though reciting his own treasures.
Akivili suddenly realized: what did any of this have to do with the High Elder?
This was clearly a problem with Xianyu!
Akivili waved a hand and said offhandedly:
"Right, you have your best friend. How could anything happen?"
Hearing that, Jing Yuan began to suspect something.
He opened his mouth, about to ask for more details, but Akivili rolled up his sleeves and strode angrily outside, waving farewell with his back to them as he declared, "All right, I'm off. I'm going to teach him a lesson!"
Lan lowered his eyes and took out the Gift Bag Akivili had left behind.
Jing Yuan sat back down and waited quietly.
The Aeon slowly drew a Captain's Hat from the bag.
Its brim was covered in dried blood.
Its owner had accidentally dropped it, staining it with the blood on the ground.
Jing Yuan closed his eyes briefly.
Why had the deity mentioned Xuling? Why had he gone there in person?
Because... this was Xianyu's blood.
Without a word, Jing Yuan examined it carefully.
That much blood...
Calling it a bloodstain was hardly accurate. A pool of blood would be more apt.
That fellow