Robbed?

The Xianzhou "Luofu," Xuanye Avenue.

Bai Heng stood in a square before the theater, holding a candied skewer in his left hand, made of citrus, strawberries, and hawthorn berries coated in hardened sugar.

At that moment, he stared blankly at the enormous humanoid statue in the center of the square.

"Is that me? The fuck, that's me?"

As the landmark structure of Xuanye Square,

Bai Heng's statue had been placed at the center of the square.

Yet Bai Heng simply could not connect himself with this work by some abstract artist.

Besides, he had worn his hair long back then but kept it short now. No wonder no one had recognized him after he had wandered the streets for so long.

But honestly, seven hundred years had passed on the Luofu.

The people who had known him back then had basically reached the age of becoming Mara-Struck.

Even if they had not fallen into mara, seven hundred years was enough time to forget many things.

"Yingxing, Jingliu, and Dan Feng are nowhere to be found now. Bai Heng is frozen in the Prison of Confinement, too. I wonder whether Jing Yuan, the current Divine Strategist General, can still recognize me." A faint loneliness flickered in Bai Heng's eyes.

But the theater's opening bell quickly swept that loneliness away.

Bai Heng followed the crowd into the theater and waited for the play to begin.

The wait was not long. After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the curtain rose, and famous Xianzhou plays began one after another.

One of them depicted the recent revival of the Ambrosial Arbor on the Luofu, and the Lord of Destruction's attempt to use a Stellaron to overthrow the Luofu.

Bai Heng had heard the general details of the incident while he was still with the Interastral Astronomical Society, but he had never looked into it deeply.

Now, through this newly written stage play, he gained a clearer understanding of how it had all begun and ended.

Of course, something as artistically embellished as a play could only serve as reference. He could not believe all of it.

But the characters who appeared in the play could not simply have been made up.

"The Astral Express... the Stellaron...?"

"Who's that? Yingxing? Blade? He became a Stellaron Hunter?"

"Dan Feng? He returned to the Xianzhou too?"

"No, who's that... Master Jingliu? Wasn't she Mara-Struck?"

By the end of the performance, Bai Heng was drenched in cold sweat.

Although he had come to the Xianzhou as the Interastral Astronomical Society's representative ostensibly to research and gather information concerning the Yaksha Emblem and the Path of Abundance,

the company did not act without reason, and neither did the Interastral Astronomical Society.

The reason they had suddenly sent him to the Xianzhou Luofu at this particular time to conduct research was naturally connected to Lord of Destruction Huànlóng's appearance on the Luofu.

He simply had not expected Huànlóng's appearance to involve so many different factions.

Most crucially, every one of those factions had some connection to him.

Jing Yuan, the current Divine Strategist General of the Xianzhou Luofu, was his senior brother.

Jingliu, a nominal prisoner of the Xianzhou Alliance, was his master.

Blade of the Stellaron Hunters and Dan Heng of Akivili's Astral Express were his closest friends. Their current states were also related to Bai Heng.

Even Huànlóng might be considered his colleague, considering that seven hundred years ago, he had become a Destruction Emanator under Nanook, apart from the seven resident Lords of Destruction.

The appearance of one Destruction Emanator would most likely attract the attention of the other seven Lords of Destruction as well.

Perhaps Huànlóng would sense a familiar aura from him, too.

His previous trip to Herta's Space Station had taught Bai Heng that simulations could affect reality.

Then, if those people had not yet left the Xianzhou Luofu, perhaps he would experience a reunion seven hundred years in the making.

After the play about Lord of Destruction Huànlóng ended, the theater performed several heroic epics from Xianzhou history. The final performance was about him and Jingliu.

Bai Heng did not know which act was being performed onstage, nor was he familiar with the scene being portrayed.

Yet as he watched the two actors interact, he felt none of the awkwardness he had expected upon entering. Instead, it reminded him of the more than ten years they had lived together.

Yes, seven hundred years had passed...

This was the last play of the night. Once the host stepped out and announced the successful conclusion of the performances, Bai Heng followed the crowd out of the theater.

Near midnight, Xuanye Avenue was still brightly lit. Cloud Knights and a young girl were even performing tricks in the street, beating gongs and drums.

Seeing that, Bai Heng could not help but complain:

"Seven hundred years later, the Cloud Knights' scope of business has gotten this broad?"

He did not linger outside the theater for long. The night was already deep, so it was better to find an inn for the night.

Thus, he crossed Xuanye Square and headed down a lodging street where the crowds were thinner.

There were not so many lively vendors and shops there, so at this hour it was quiet and secluded, suitable for resting.

However, after he had walked for the time it took an incense stick to burn, he suddenly felt a chill travel from his sleeve to his neck.

A thin layer of frost had formed beneath the lanterns of the surrounding shops.

Faintly, Bai Heng sensed the cold drawing closer behind him.

Holding Nameless horizontally in one hand, he twisted the hilt slightly and blocked the sudden sword strike...