Qiluo's Excuses

Boom!

With a loud bang, the outer wall of the command center exploded! Three figures shot out from the hole one after another, landing awkwardly but swiftly on the wide deck.

Smoke and dust billowed out, Zijin's eyes, sharp as knives, locked onto Su Ming and Ruixiuli opposite her.

Jielusi then gracefully leaped out from the hole in the bulkhead and quickly found the best spot to watch the battle. A curious crowd of onlookers quickly poured in from the decks and corridors, forming a loose circle around her.

"Hand-to-hand combat?" Ruixiuli raised an eyebrow.

Zijin gritted her teeth, but had no choice but to agree—this was dismantling her own warship!

Su Ming rubbed his slightly numb left eye. The punch he had just received from Zijin was powerful and heavy, and his eye socket was already starting to swell. He was already planning to find an ice pack to apply to it later.

He bumped his fists together and glanced at Ruixiuli with his right eye. Their eyes met briefly, and they immediately understood each other! In the next instant, the two of them shot towards Zijin at the same time, like arrows released from a bow!

But right after starting, Su Ming took a strange step! A "crack" sound was heard, and rows of sharp, gleaming White Bone suddenly emerged from the deck between Zijin and Ruixiuli!

Ruixiuli reacted extremely quickly, her body instantly becoming as supple as if boneless, twisting and turning left and right, weaving through the thorn bushes, narrowly avoiding the obstacles created by Su Ming!

Still shaken, he was about to turn around and question Su Ming when Zijin's figure had already taken the opportunity to approach!

The scholar clenched her fist, unleashing astonishing force and wind pressure, and with a muffled thud, slammed it into Ruixiuli's right eye!

A rapidly swelling, panda-eye-like purplish-blue mark immediately appeared!

"You—!" Ruixiuli clutched his throbbing right eye, furious.

Are you two the ones working together so seamlessly?

"Sorry, Ruirui." Su Ming's lips curled into a smile, but he said it without any sincerity, "I can't be the only one suffering from these 'panda eyes'!"

Just then--

A cold, pure dark Magic Power suddenly erupted without warning!

The three of them turned around at the same time, only to see that the source was Jielusi, who had been watching the battle from the bridge platform! At this moment, her eyes were empty and lifeless, and she was surrounded by a deep darkness as she charged towards Zijin in the arena!

"Why did Jielusi react so strongly when Zijin hit you?!" Su Ming turned to question Ruixiuli.

"... I didn't do anything!" Ruixiuli looked utterly speechless.

With a flick of her wrist, Zijin summoned the Divine Favor Staff!

"Clang--!"

The staff collided with Jielusi's fist, which was covered in black light! The out-of-control dark energy, like a black tide, spread outwards with the shockwave!

"Wow!"

The surrounding crowd scattered in panic, running for their lives! Several sections of the fence and the thin walls of nearby compartments snapped and shattered under the force of the energy!

Su Ming raised his hand to disperse several chaotic streams of Magic Power, then flashed to form a pincer movement with Zijin, working together to suppress Jielusi!

As the three faced off, Ruixiuli seized the opportunity to close in, grabbed Jielusi's slender wrist, and pressed it down forcefully!

Jielusi, whose wrist had been grabbed, did not resist, but the flow of energy within her body sluggished. She raised her head, her eyes meeting those of Ruixiuli.

Then, the indifference in her eyes receded like the tide, and the deep darkness surrounding her quickly dissipated.

Shadow Form, dispelled!

Looking at the broken fences, damaged walls, and the excited crowd around her, Gerus, regaining her Jielusi, blushed instantly and said shamefully, "I'm so sorry... I don't know... how I suddenly lost control..."

"Oh dear, why did you stop?" A regretful voice came from above. There stood Qiluo, who had appeared sometime earlier, carrying a fruit platter full of melon seeds. "Keep going!"

"..."

The four people in the arena exchanged glances for a fleeting moment in mid-air!

The next moment!

"Whoosh!"

Four figures activated, instantly surrounding Qiluo was watching the show from above!

Su Ming grabbed the right foreleg! Zijin grabbed the right hind leg! Ruixiuli and Jielusi each grabbed the two hooves on the left side!

"What?" Qiluo blinked her big eyes, puzzled.

All four exerted their strength simultaneously!

Before Qiluo could react, she fell onto the deck with a thud! Her long, beautiful hooves were forcibly pulled apart in four directions, resulting in an extremely exaggerated "splits" position!

The plate of fragrant sunflower seeds in his arms spilled all over the floor with a crackling sound!

Seeing the four fierce-looking "Four Immortals of Peach Valley" in front of her, Qiluo could no longer hold back and burst into tears!

*****

"How dare you say this wasn't drawn by you?" At the interrogation, Zijin raised the album of evidence in her hand and questioned Qiluo, who refused to admit it no matter what.

She glared at the unicorn. "We landed in the Northern Lands, and there were only a handful of people on the train! And you were the only one who was constantly sketching and drawing—who else could it be but you!"

Qiluo's four hooves were tightly bound, and she was hung upside down from the ceiling of the command room like a strange festive decoration, swaying slightly with the airflow.

Below, special guest juror and recorder Younier carefully picked up another sketchbook and flipped through a few pages. She felt Zijin's cold gaze sweep over her, and under pressure, she quickly closed the sketchbook and neatly placed it back on the table.

"Um..." Younier cleared her throat, mustering her courage to speak, "I think Miss Qiluo's painting skills seem... far inferior to this ' Melancholy Cavalryman ' teacher."

To prove her point, Younier hurried back to her cabin. Soon, she returned carrying a rolled-up scroll.

"This is a painting she drew for me a while ago," Younier said, unfolding the painting.

The image shows Younier herself, meticulously dressed in a gorgeous gown.

However, the painting turned out quite badly! The girl's exquisite attire and gorgeous dress became extremely distorted under Qiluo's brush—the figure's limb structure was a mess, the perspective was completely broken, and the whole painting was filled with an indescribable sense of strangeness, quite abstract in style.

When Younier recalled how she felt when she received this "masterpiece," she was afraid of hurting Qiluo's feelings, so she couldn't just throw it away and ended up keeping it at the very bottom of a box.

Su Ming, Zijin, and Ruixiuli exchanged glances. Although none of them were experts, the difference was striking—like comparing a primitive rock painting to a master sketch—it was impossible for them to be the work of the same artist.

In terms of artistic conception, structure, and spirit, Qiluo's paintings are far inferior to those in that picture book!

"That's right, that's right!" Qiluo, hanging upside down from the ceiling, grasped at a straw and hurriedly defended herself.

To make her words more persuasive, she activated the "Honesty Aura," and a pale white light immediately enveloped everyone in the room, including the unicorn herself.

"My drawing skills are terrible!" Qiluo said, sobbing sadly. "I've tried so hard to practice, but... but this is all I can ever draw!"

The "Honesty Aura" surrounding Qiluo remained completely still. Su Ming and the others were utterly dumbfounded. The unicorn... hadn't lied?!

The four looked at each other, their expressions turning into utter bewilderment.

Qiluo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had exploited a loophole in the Honesty Aura" —she really hadn't lied. Her skill and level in drawing dressed figures were truly appalling!

Her words were truthful. However, the meaning of the phrase "this kind of painting" differed from the understanding of Su Ming and the other listeners.

"Furthermore, the cover art and the illustrations inside the book have different styles," Younier added. "This book must have been created by two different artists."

"The two of you?"

Younier reached out and gently stroked the cover of the art book. "The brushstrokes and colors are somewhat like the style of Crystal Orchid —no! It should be said... it's a deliberate imitation of the master Crystal Orchid!"

Crystal Orchid, a renowned painting master, was active nearly two hundred years ago. Therefore, the cover of this album could not possibly be her work.

As a noblewoman from a wealthy family on a coal mining island, Younier's ability to appreciate art was still far superior to the other four.

She reopened the picture book to examine it closely. This time, although Zijin frowned, she did not stop her.

Younier's gaze fell on the exquisite illustrations—young men and women embracing tenderly or kissing passionately... Her eyes lit up slightly at a few particularly exquisite pieces, but she quickly regained her composure as a professional reviewer, subtly concealing her excitement.

The last page of the album is a large double-page spread that occupies both sides of the page, with a scene on a scale far exceeding any of the previous images.

It was a horrific battlefield in the valley. The snow-covered ground was littered with huge, charred, and menacing craters from spells, and mutilated corpses were scattered everywhere, quickly freezing and covering themselves with frost in the biting cold wind.

High in the sky, a colossal blue frost dragon, radiating terrifying pressure, spread its wings and roared. What spewed from its mouth was not frigid air, but a scorching Meteor Fire Rain, like divine punishment!

These fiery meteors, trailing long fiery tails, avoided the male and female protagonists in the center of the scene, who were at the epicenter of the battle, and instead formed a curtain of fire around them!

The visual impact is unparalleled; the extreme power of ice and fire collides fiercely in the sky above this battlefield, creating a profound, magnificent, and destructive visual spectacle.

Its grandeur and somber atmosphere make it difficult to categorize it merely as... erotic literature.

Younier closed the sketchbook again, coughed lightly, and summarized to everyone, "The figures in this sketchbook, in terms of technique and expressiveness, are indeed significantly different in level from Miss Qiluo's... uh, the work she created. They don't seem to be from the same person."

"If it's not Qiluo, then who could it be?"

The air in the room suddenly froze.