Xianyu: I'm sweating bullets, bro

An intergenerational friendship described friends who got along wonderfully despite a vast difference in age or seniority.

Xianyu and Jingliu had an intergenerational friendship.

At first glance, was there anything wrong with that statement?

Not at all.

They knew she had once instructed Jing Yuan not to show mercy when she became mara-struck.

As a member of the Cloud Knights, Jingliu had seen this all too often. She knew exactly how old she was and what awaited her.

She accepted her own death with complete equanimity.

Jingliu certainly wouldn't care about her age. When spending time with friends, she never shied away from discussing what would happen after her death, either.

Come on, this was Jingliu, who could calmly ask her apprentice to end her life. How could she possibly care about her age?

Every friend close to Jingliu knew this.

Had Dan Feng never heard Jingliu say, "We're not lovers," he would have had to agree with Yingxing.

After all, the age gap was right there.

Yingxing had a whole group of friends from long-life species, so he was well practiced at converting Xianyu's age into short-life species terms.

This fellow was Jing Yuan's contemporary and Jingliu's friend. Wasn't he basically an eight- or nine-year-old child? Wasn't this an intergenerational friendship? Never mind comparing him to Jingliu-even to Yingxing, who was approaching forty, Xianyu was just a youngster.

Yingxing was especially relaxed around his friends.

Who carefully weighed their words while chatting with friends and family? Could someone you had to tiptoe around even be called a friend? Better to cut ties now.

And so, he blurted the question out without thinking.

As for Dan Feng, the only dragon who knew the truth, he didn't know Jingliu's exact age. He could only estimate a rough range.

Honestly, his friend's situation wasn't promising. To put it more gravely, Jingliu was only one step away from becoming mara-struck.

Aside from accompanying the army on campaigns, Dan Feng spent much of his time at the Alchemy Commission. He had seen countless Xianzhou natives become mara-struck.

For that reason, he had specifically collected data on the condition.

Nearly eighty percent of Xianzhou natives would gradually begin showing signs of becoming mara-struck after the age of eight hundred.

And Jingliu?

Swinging her sword to kill enemies came as naturally as breathing, without the slightest warning sign of becoming mara-struck. Her current mental state surpassed that of eighty percent of Xianzhou natives.

Meanwhile, Xianyu, the Diviner the Sword Champion had set her sights on, was only a few years apart from Jing Yuan. Barely in his twenties, he probably had another eight hundred years before becoming mara-struck.

Sigh...

Dan Feng sighed inwardly. Holding this earth-shattering piece of gossip all by himself, he felt the loneliness of being the only sober person in a room full of drunks.

Just as the atmosphere threatened to explode, the server nearby began trembling all over, as though faced with some vicious criminal. They shakily approached and hung six aprons over Xianyu's forearm.

Then the server glared at Jing Yuan, their expression practically screaming, "Xianzhou profanity."

Jing Yuan immediately understood what they were thinking.

Server: You're a gods-damned Cloud Knight?! The Luofu is completely doomed!

Jing Yuan: ...What on earth did they say behind my back?! How did we end up being mistaken for murderers?!

With an awkward laugh, Jing Yuan ushered the server away, taking on the heavy responsibility of salvaging the Cloud Knights' reputation. "I'll go get a few more skimmers."

Once Jing Yuan, the only person capable of uncovering the truth, had left, the High Elder was left utterly alone. He could only look up with a touch of pity at the other person at the center of this gossip-Xianyu.

Xianyu: "..."

Xianyu was sweating bullets.

Bro, my man, didn't you see Jingliu's eyes?!

She wants to kill you!!

Even a shut-in like him knew that when dealing with the opposite sex, there was an untouchable minefield that would explode at the slightest provocation.

Age.

Never mind how old Jingliu actually was. Even if she were five thousand or fifty thousand, it wasn't a topic anyone could freely joke about.

The second Jingliu finished looking at Yingxing and turned toward Xianyu, he had already planned his own funeral arrangements...

He wore an impeccable smile, but his CPU was practically burning out. Like some clueless college student suddenly called on by a professor, he had no idea what to say. His mind was completely blank.

Xianyu began spouting nonsense:

"That's right. I'm already five thousand years old, so the Sword Champion and I certainly count as intergenerational friends."

If he hadn't been so unfamiliar with Jingliu, he would have insisted she was three years old this year...

Perhaps Yingxing finally noticed Jingliu's gaze. He merely smiled and said no more.

Xianyu kept talking, shifting the topic to Baiheng, who sat right beside him. "Your oil dip and sesame dip. Oh, and your apron."

He sat in a row with Baiheng and Jingliu, facing Jing Yuan and the other two.

He placed one apron at Jing Yuan's seat, then handed two each to Yingxing and Baiheng, who sat at the outer ends.

Once everyone had an apron, Xianyu glanced at Baiheng and Jingliu out of the corner of his eye and breathed an inward sigh of relief.

The skin exposed at their necklines was completely covered by the aprons. Good. He could finally eat in peace.

Xianyu divided the raw meat rolls evenly among the four pots, then brought over a plate of fried meat and set it before Baiheng, who sat in the middle.

Dan Feng, who had barely spoken since meeting Xianyu, suddenly broke his silence.

The High Elder asked Baiheng, "Didn't you always prefer the window seat?"

Baiheng, who had been busy eating the fried meat in front of her, looked up in confusion, chopsticks in hand. "...Huh?"

"Why not switch seats with Jingliu?" Dan Feng added, his voice carrying a hint of amusement for some reason. "She'd be very happy to."

Jingliu: "..."

Baiheng looked from Dan Feng to Jingliu, unable to understand what either of them was thinking.

Why is Jingliu glaring at Dan Feng? Did they have a fight? But why would their fight mean I have to switch seats?

A little hesitant, Baiheng asked Jingliu, "Want to switch?"

Jingliu was concise. "Yes."

Her tone sounded less like she wanted to switch seats and more like she wanted to smash Dan Feng's head open.

Baiheng couldn't help it. Her fox ears twitched reflexively, instantly flattening sideways. She swiftly gathered her dishes while urging Xianyu to stand so the two of them could switch.

Xianyu, focused entirely on eating, was oblivious to all of this. Holding his bowl and chopsticks, he obligingly stood up. When he saw that Jingliu had become his neighbor, he thought nothing of it and casually asked, "Jingliu, which pot do you want?"

Jingliu glanced over the broths and chose the spicy pot, which was somewhat farther from her and closer to Xianyu.

Baiheng was baffled. "Don't you dislike spicy food?"

At that, Jingliu kept her beautiful face cool and said, "I've heard their spicy broth is good."

"Why don't you try a little first?"

Xianyu used a skimmer to scoop the cooked meat rolls from the spicy pot, put them on an empty plate, and set it before Jingliu.

The white-haired beauty stared at the meat rolls soaked in red chili oil, their smell alone enough to sting her nose. Slowly, she lifted her chopsticks and put one in her mouth.

In an instant, the aloof, unattainable beauty's eyes reddened, her crimson irises swimming with tears.

Jingliu instinctively reached for her water glass, only for Xianyu to catch her wrist and take it away.

Xianyu stared in puzzlement at the glass he had snatched. The owner's choice of supplies should have been meticulous in every respect.

So why was Jingliu's glass covered in cracks? Was it about to shatter?

He hurriedly asked, "Did you drink from this just now?"

With tearful eyes and a flushed face, Jingliu shook her head.

"I haven't touched mine. Drink this first."

Xianyu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly handed over his sour plum drink, adding, "I'll go ask what happened. How could they use a broken glass..."

"Cough, cough-"

Before Xianyu could get up to confront the server, Jingliu covered her mouth and began coughing her lungs out.

Helpless, Xianyu hurriedly grabbed some tissues and handed them to Jingliu. Baiheng rushed to pat her back, unable to resist complaining, "Sword Champion, if you can't handle spicy food, don't eat it..."

Across from them, Yingxing's eyes lit up. He picked up the glass on the verge of breaking beside Xianyu's hand and clicked his tongue in wonder.

"That shouldn't happen with this material... What kind of superhuman could crack a glass like this? Dan Feng, why are you stepping on me?!"

After snapping at Dan Feng, Yingxing continued marveling, "You'd need at least a thousand pounds of grip strength..."

Yingxing seemed to realize something. Mid-sentence, he fell silent, like a chicken grabbed by the neck, not another sound escaping him.

As soon as Jingliu recovered, she tugged at Xianyu's shirt and shook her head. "Don't concern yourself with that glass."

Xianyu shook his head in disagreement. "This isn't a minor issue. It's lucky you didn't drink from it."

Jingliu remained adamant and shook her head again.

Seeing this, Xianyu could only go along with her wishes.

Jing Yuan returned with an awkward smile and the skimmers in hand. As soon as he sat down, he quietly demanded of Yingxing and Dan Feng, "What on earth were you two talking about?! The server almost reported us to the Cloud Knights as criminals!"

Neither Yingxing nor Dan Feng spoke. They stared down at the hot pots as though hoping to discover something remarkable in them.

Yingxing couldn't fathom it. Who on earth had upset Jingliu?

Dan Feng sighed. Being the only person who knew the truth was truly lonely.

After that single complaint, Jing Yuan immediately picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

Since Jingliu couldn't handle spicy food, Xianyu took care of all the meat rolls he had just scooped out.

He lowered his head to pick up meat with his chopsticks and add ingredients with the skimmer, casually asking Jingliu, "Can you eat the tomato broth?"

"Yes."

Jingliu's voice was very soft, like a murmur right beside his ear.

Xianyu scooped the cooked food out of the tomato pot and placed it on his own unused plate, then set it before Jingliu.

This was his first time meeting someone like Jingliu, who could be brought to tears by spicy hot pot.

She'd probably cry even if she used a plate with chili oil on it...

So Xianyu thoughtfully gave Jingliu a fresh plate and took the chili-oil-stained one for himself.

Xianyu couldn't imagine how much enjoyment someone who couldn't eat spicy food would miss out on! If you don't get it, farewell!

Dan Feng took a sip of sour plum drink and initiated a conversation.

"How old are you this year?"

Xianyu was picking up a springy, delicious shrimp dumpling. After repeatedly confirming that the High Elder was looking at him, he set down his chopsticks. "Twenty."

The High Elder nodded without any change in expression, maintaining his distant air.

He stared at Xianyu's face, lost in thought for a moment, then asked:

"Are you from the Yaoqing? Are you currently at... the Divination Commission?"

Xianyu was confused.

When Baiheng had introduced him earlier, she had already told everyone who he was.

Perhaps the High Elder was too important to pay attention?

Xianyu replied:

"I'm from the Luofu. I work at the Divination Commission."

Dan Feng gave him a faint smile.

"That's good."

"The Divination Commission... is a little more leisurely."

Dan Feng didn't know what he was saying, either.

He knew perfectly well that that person was already gone.

That person had died alone in a place no one knew.

But faced with a similar face, the lingering emotions within Dan Feng, belonging exclusively to the other incarnations of Imbibitor Lunae, still drove him to ask.

He murmured:

"That's good."

He collected himself and, under Jingliu's murderous glare, continued, "Is there anyone you like?"

Xianyu felt that even the shrimp dumpling in his bowl had lost its appeal. Why does this feel like a matchmaking interview? Why is Imbibitor Lunae asking this? Does he want to set me up? Introduce me to someone from the Vidyadhara?

He hesitantly shook his head.

Dan Feng fell silent and said no more. The reason was simple: the High Elder couldn't think of another topic. It had absolutely nothing to do with Jingliu's gaze, as cold and cutting as a blade.

Oblivious to Dan Feng's thoughts, Jing Yuan chuckled. "He stays home all day. Who could he possibly like? His bed?"

Xianyu: "...Not my bed, thanks. If possible, I'd still prefer to date a human."

"Date? What dating?" Jing Yuan scoffed. "You never leave home except for work, and you can't seize an opportunity even when you get one. What are you waiting for? A burglar to break into your house so you can fall in love with them?"

Xianyu bit into a shrimp dumpling, utterly bewildered. "When did I get an opportunity?"

Jing Yuan was exasperated, frustrated by his hopelessness. "The owner just now!"

At that, Baiheng sucked in a breath. Her face filled with the shock of stumbling upon juicy gossip, and she nearly squealed. She hurriedly pressed Jing Yuan, "Who do you mean? My childhood friend? You're saying she likes Xianyu?"

Jing Yuan nodded, and Baiheng nearly jumped up in excitement.

A sociable extrovert, Baiheng immediately wanted to play matchmaker upon learning this gossip about the people around her. She exclaimed, "Xianyu, you're so lucky! She's seriously loaded! You've hit the jackpot!"

Jingliu lowered her head, concentrating intently on stabbing the food in her bowl over and over with her chopsticks.

Dan Feng and Yingxing exchanged a discreet glance.

Dan Feng: There's no saving them... No saving them at all...

Yingxing: Why is Jingliu angry again? Who upset her?