"True enough."
The moment Lingchen said that, Jing Yuan knew everything was settled.
Lingchen had chosen to build a genuine friendship with them, which meant they could trust him completely as well.
"But you're Aha's Emanator~ Are you Aha's dear son too?" The sudden voice made Lingchen's face darken just as he was about to say something else.
"I'm your dad!" Thanks to his experiences in his previous life, Lingchen's mouth reacted faster than his eyes. If someone called him their son, he immediately turned the tables and made himself their father.
Then he saw the candied fruit skewer that had suddenly appeared, wrapped in a coating of stinky tofu, and was briefly speechless.
Sure enough, no Aeon in this world ever had an undeserved nickname.
Jing Yuan was dumbfounded too. Did the Lord of Eternal Joy not have any entertainment of his own to find? Why had he suddenly popped up beside Lingchen like some curious, fawning puppy?
And... wasn't Lingchen's answer a little too disrespectful toward an Aeon?
Jing Yuan regarded Lingchen with an unreadable expression, increasingly convinced that the price he had offered was the right one.
It looked steep, but they had actually won twice over.
Lingchen had only accepted that price because there were people on the Xianzhou he cared about.
"But I'm Diting~" Lingchen's eye twitched as he watched Aha transform from a talking candied fruit skewer into Diting.
What the hell? Was this god sick in the head?
Lingchen immediately used the power of [Elation] to conjure a flying disc and tossed it in front of Aha-Diting.
Then, using the authority of [Seizure] under [Domination], he temporarily seized control of the space beside him and opened a rift.
"Here, boy. Good dog. Go inside and play Diting on your own."
As Lingchen spoke, he kicked Aha-Diting, who was laughing merrily on the ground and preparing to fetch the disc, into the spatial rift.
A moment later, the authority of [Annihilation] under [Fire] manifested, burning the rift away and restoring the space to normal.
The authorities the system gave me really do have a lot of uses.
Lingchen dusted off his hands, unable to help admiring them.
Jing Yuan broke into a cold sweat at the sight.
"Lingchen, is that really all right?" "What's the problem? Oh~ You mean the price? It's fine. I understand the Xianzhou's sincerity. Haven't we already agreed...?" "That's not what I meant." Seeing that Lingchen truly didn't care, Jing Yuan was at a loss for words.
"That was an Aeon."
"Oh~" Lingchen understood. His face instantly filled with sorrow. "Ah~ You might not know this, but Aha and I used to be close brothers. He was a doctor, and I was the head doctor. In our free time, we'd travel through mountains and rivers together, watching sunrises and sunsets. Those were such happy days."
Lingchen gazed skyward at a forty-five-degree angle, seemingly recalling the days he had spent traveling with Aha-the youth he had already lost.
He took a deep breath and sipped his tea. Jing Yuan glanced over speechlessly and discovered that, at some point, the word "wine" had appeared on the teacup.
"But after one operation, an enraged patient beat Aha up, leaving him confused and prone to doing strange things. Like dressing up as a dog to cheer me up. To help him recover his sanity, I can only steel myself and let him go, while playing along with his performance. Ah~ My Aha-Diting~" Watching Lingchen "weep bitter tears," Jing Yuan was utterly speechless.
Fine, fine. Looks like I was overthinking things.
The man and the god were having a wonderful time together.
After all, wasn't one a doctor and the other the doctor's master?
"Boohoo, Lingchen, Aha is so touched that you think that way. But why doesn't Aha remember operating on anyone?"
At some point, Aha-Diting had appeared in front of Lingchen again.
Lingchen looked at Aha with pity.
He wasn't surprised by Aha's return.
Although neither had said anything about it, they had a tacit understanding. Aha never appeared when Lingchen was genuinely busy with important matters.
Usually, Aha didn't show up during Lingchen's free time either.
After all, Aha searched everywhere for amusement, and Lingchen didn't think there was anything particularly entertaining about him.
As for Lingchen, the system shielded him. Aha and the other Aeons couldn't detect even his slightly private affairs.
So he didn't mind playing along a little.
"Ah~ Poor kid. Have you forgotten even that? Then let me tell you.
"Do you remember Nanook?" The moment those words left his mouth, Jing Yuan's expression changed.
Chapter 62: It's Your Adorable Little Sister Sparkle
"Of course I remember. Didn't you say he used to sell his ass?"
Aha's canine eyes widened.
Cold sweat trickled down Jing Yuan's forehead again.
This was far too wild.
He was old. He couldn't handle hearing any of this.
He didn't know whether he should stop them, either. Discussing Aeons like this was rather dangerous, after all.
"That's right, him. Ah, let's leave the details for another time. Aha, since you've lost face, hurry off and put on a face mask."
"Huh? Just tell Aha! Aha definitely..." Before Aha could finish, Lingchen repeated his earlier trick.
"Off you go!" "Ah~ That's really far."
Lingchen gazed into the distance.
"Impressive."
Jing Yuan fell silent for a while, then copied Lingchen and gave him a thumbs-up.
"By the way, the Heavenly Strike General, Feixiao, is expected to arrive this afternoon."
"That soon?" "Well, General Feixiao has been fighting continuously for months. Even the Marshal is a little worried about her mental state."
Jing Yuan shrugged. He was getting old. If he fought like Feixiao, he would have become mara-struck long ago.
"She should have contacted you too, right?"
"She did
"contact me, but she only said she'd be coming over sometime soon."
Lingchen's answer confirmed Jing Yuan's suspicion. Although Feixiao had acted calm, their words had indeed affected her.
"In that case, I'll head back to the Seat of Divine Foresight. I still need to contact the Marshal about the arrangements for the new Cauldron Master."
Besides that, he also needed to discuss the Borisin and the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
Although the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus were currently only known to be on the Luofu, so much time had passed. Who knew whether they had taken an indirect approach and established sizable footholds on other Xianzhou ships?
"All right."
"Lingchen, has General Jing Yuan left?" Seeing Lingchen approach, Bailu quickly wiped the corner of her mouth.
"Yes. Were the snacks good? Want some more?" "Ooh~ I'd better not."
Bailu hesitated, rubbing her little belly with one hand, but ultimately shook her head.
"I've already eaten lots of snacks today. Besides, there should be some patients at the Alchemy Commission. I need to go help."
Because of Lingchen, although the Vidyadhara hadn't exactly given Bailu free rein, they no longer denied her all freedom as they once had.
At least, no one dared stop her when she came to see Lingchen.
That gave her another option whenever she wanted to have some fun.
"All right. Whenever you want to play, just tell them you're coming to see me. Got it?" "Okay~ Lingchen, you're so good to me~" "Can't help it. Little Bailu is just too cute~" "Hmph, this time I won't hold it against you for calling me 'Little Bailu.'"
Bailu looked thoroughly haughty.
She was older than Lingchen, thank you very much.
After watching Bailu leave, Lingchen slowly settled back into his chair.
"If only a maid would show up sometime. Then I wouldn't even have to handle my own meals. I wonder where Sparkle went. Now that she's gone..." "You've been missing me, haven't you?" Sparkle vaulted over the wall, performed a full somersault, and landed in a superhero pose.
"Ta-da! Hello, hello! I'm Sparkle, the Number One Maid in the Universe, at your service."
Sparkle handed Lingchen a menu.
"You don't even have a maid outfit. How unprofessional."
Lingchen wasn't at all surprised by Sparkle's unpredictable appearances. In any case, this girl could no longer escape his grasp.
Lingchen looked over the menu. Across the top were the words, "Thrilling, professional, meticulous, safe. The God of Elation Happy Service Group is dedicated to serving you."
"This flyer actually looks pretty convincing."
"Just make do. You only want to try it out, and the great Sparkle only wants to try it out too. Since that's the case, shouldn't we just hit it off?" "Sorry, after the hitting comes the slapping.
"Not the 'off.'"
Sparkle looked "confused," but still began playing the maid with remarkable "excellence."
"Hello, this is the God of Elation Happy Service Group. What can we do for you?" Sparkle ran behind Lingchen and began kneading his shoulders.
"Let's see. The 'can't stop, won't stop' service? Is this a legitimate service?" Lingchen looked at the first entry, clearly priced at fifty thousand Credits.
"Of course it's legitimate. It's a complete repair service for when your bath won't work."
Sparkle took out her phone, displaying the number of a repair company on the Xianzhou. Lingchen looked closely. The repairs only cost five thousand Credits.
Lingchen's eyelid twitched. Never mind that the service was legitimate-she was outsourcing it too? And it was actually that cheap?
"...Then what is this 'strip and get dirty' service?" "Laundry, mopping, and comprehensive cleaning, sir."
Sparkle smiled at Lingchen and pointed a little finger at a patch of white coating beside the service.
"What's this?" "Please scratch it off. The service options are underneath."
Once Lingchen scratched it off, a dense mass of tiny print greeted him.
"Please select your desired services."
Lingchen examined it closely. Laundry alone had options for water washing, oil washing, and air washing, while the clothing categories were even more detailed. One glance was enough to make his head spin.
"Selecting everything will cost around seventy thousand Credits. Since the adorable Lady Sparkle likes the look of you, I'll round it off and give you a discount. Just one hundred thousand Credits."
With that, Sparkle was already rubbing her hands eagerly.
If Lingchen suddenly turned stupid and played along, wouldn't she earn some Credits for nothing?
"No rush. Tell me about this 'Sparkle's private photos' service."
Lingchen waved a hand, looking as though money was no object.
"You take pictures of me in Lady Sparkle's own room. If I'm satisfied, you pay one hundred thousand Credits."
"...And if you're not satisfied?" "Then you pay one hundred and fifty thousand."
Fine, fine. So that's how we're playing.
"Then this last one, 'superb little-sister juice'..." "It's juice poured personally by your adorable little sister Sparkle."
As she spoke, Sparkle pulled a can of apple juice from behind her back and poured a little into Lingchen's cup.
"There you go. That'll be three hundred thousand Credits, please~" "Why don't you just rob people? You might even help the Earth-Balance Commission improve its numbers."
"Of course not. Robbing people isn't nearly this fast-I mean, I poured it myself. Plenty of people would love to have Lady Sparkle personally pour them a drink, but never get the chance~" Sparkle proudly lifted her little head, her twin tails swaying along.
"Really? What a shame. If you were Sparkle the 'director,' that would be fine. Unfortunately, you're only Sparkle the 'pourer'..." "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" "Nothing. I just wanted to ask: have you heard the story of the Ansai Waist Drum?"
Chapter 63: Lady Sparkle Won't Admit Defeat!
Once the beating began, it grew fierce, rapturous, reckless! Like a sudden downpour came the urgent drumbeats; like a whirlwind, the shaking bells; like a frenzy of frogs, the leaping footsteps; like sparks, the tear-brimming eyes; like battling tigers, the tall and petite figures.
What a grand, unrestrained, fiery dance erupted in the courtyard of Fu Xuan's Mansion! "Boohoo, it hurts! Lingchen, you big meanie~!" Sparkle clutched her bottom, pitifully protesting his cruelty.
"That verbal firepower doesn't sound like you, Sparkle.
"You could actually curse a little more crudely."
This waist drum turned the cold air scorching, sent the tranquil sunlight splashing, and whipped the drowsy world into a frenzy.
What an Ansai Waist Drum! Lingchen held his hand before him and closed his eyes in satisfaction.