"Jing Yuan! Do you know your crime!" Jingliu held her sword in one hand, the blade suspended above Jing Yuan's head, and said coldly.
"Master, which matter are you talking about? How would I know if you don't tell me?" Jing Yuan swallowed hard, gripping the blade tightly with both hands and looking completely innocent.
"You committed a mistake and still need me to remind you? It seems you haven't truly repented at all."
"Master, please listen to my explanation…"
"What is there to explain? Prepare to die!"
"..."
The three people on the side quietly watched the two of them arguing, their gazes shifting back and forth between Jingliu and Jing Yuan, utterly confused: Old Jing looks like such an honest person — what exactly did he do to be called "deceiving his master and destroying his ancestors"?
At Stelle's urging, March 7th reached out and grabbed, causing a Memory Bubble to appear in her hand. It displayed the events of the past for everyone:
Stellar Calendar XXXX, Jing Yuan's youth.
Early morning, inside a room. Young Jing Yuan sat cross-legged on the sofa, head lowered, looking dejected.
"Jing Yuan, what's wrong with you? You have no energy at all. This doesn't seem like you."
Yingxing happened to pass by, still chewing a sandwich, and asked in confusion.
Hearing his voice, Jing Yuan slightly raised his head, revealing bruises and swollen lumps on his face. He said weakly: "What kind of energy do you expect me to have?"
Yingxing was shocked: "Whoa? Who beat you up? A sly old fox like you actually had a day like this?"
"I'll take that as a compliment…"
—"Who else could it be?"
At this moment another voice rang out. Dan Feng sat down heavily beside Jing Yuan, his tone full of pity: "Far away in the horizon, yet right before our eyes."
Yingxing raised an eyebrow: "You? Jing Yuan would fight with a scumbag like you?"
Dan Feng shook his head: "Sigh, how can a person be this stupid… There are only five of us in this house. Even by process of elimination, you should know who beat him."
Hearing this, Yingxing suddenly understood: "Oh—I get it."
Yingxing also sat down beside Jing Yuan and said: "Jing Yuan, I really don't understand this. That's Jingliu we're talking about!"
Dan Feng chimed in: "That's your master!"
Yingxing: "She's nearly a thousand years older than you, right?"
Dan Feng chimed in: "Old enough to be your great-grandma!"
Yingxing: "We all see how she acts normally."
Dan Feng chimed in: "Pretending to be young all day… ptooey, baby-faced giant… ptooey, white-haired with a youthful face, maiden heart!"
Yingxing: "She gets touched by Baiheng and doesn't even resist!"
Dan Feng chimed in: "That's quite slow-witted."
Yingxing: "Even if someone provokes her."
Dan Feng chimed in: "She might end up crying from her own anger."
Yingxing: "So—"
Dan Feng: "How did you—"
Yingxing & Dan Feng: "Provoke her into sneaking up on you at night?"
Jing Yuan pressed both hands on their faces and forcefully pushed them away, sneering: "Hmph, what do you two know? Things can't be judged only by the surface. So shallow."
These two didn't know, but Jing Yuan did!
Jingliu pretends to be young and innocent during the day, completely fooling these three idiots. But at night, her eyes widen, her mouth twists, and she flips without warning!
She bows and apologizes during the day, saying sorry for her second personality. At night she closes her eyes and immediately starts "special training" for her disciple.
Jing Yuan felt that the nighttime Jingliu existed purely to torment him, treating him like a toy!
Dan Feng chuckled: "Shallow? Oh— are you implying that Jingliu isn't actually what we see, right?"
Jing Yuan's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly: "As expected of the Dragon Lord, much sharper than normal people."
The crazy woman at night wouldn't let him tell others this secret, but if Dan Feng could guess it, then it wasn't his fault.
Dan Feng put on an "ah yes yes yes" expression: "Go on."
Jing Yuan: "You may not know this, but some people look harmless on the surface, yet they're actually psychopaths. Imagine waking up frozen in the middle of the night, opening your eyes to see a woman in pajamas holding a sword standing by your bedside. Wouldn't you be scared?"
"Although I know I'm very handsome — everyone in the Luofu knows I'm handsome — she said she wanted to give me special training. I asked how, and she said 'I take the moonlight as my sword, tears falling like rain filling the ferry river tides surging to lead you home…'"
Yingxing lowered his head: "Pfft—"
Jing Yuan: ?
Jing Yuan scrutinized Yingxing with a bad tone: "What are you laughing at?"
Yingxing kept his head down, not daring to look at Jing Yuan: "I… I just remembered something happy."
Jing Yuan: "What happy thing?"
Yingxing: "M-My goddess agreed to go on a date with me."
"Pfft hahahaha—"
Dan Feng suddenly couldn't hold it in either and burst out laughing, but since Jing Yuan was still there, he only laughed for one second before instantly returning to a serious face, as if nothing had happened.
Jing Yuan turned to Dan Feng with an even worse tone: "What are you laughing at?"
Dan Feng's voice trembled: "M-My goddess also agreed to go on a date with me."
Jing Yuan exploded in anger: "Bullshit! Aren't you into guys?!"
Dan Feng was stunned, then flew into a rage: "Bullshit! I just haven't met anyone I like. Who said I'm into guys? Who said it?!"
Jing Yuan: "Yingxing said it! All four of us know!"
Dan Feng reached past Jing Yuan to pinch Yingxing: "You treasure… wuu… I love you so much…"
"Enough!!"
Jing Yuan couldn't bear it anymore and pushed the two away, his face serious: "I solemnly reiterate once more right here — I am not joking with you! OK?"
Hearing this, Yingxing and Dan Feng, who had instantly put on battle faces, immediately quieted down. But before long, someone couldn't hold it in and laughed again, instantly making Jing Yuan's anger flare up.
"Cough cough—!"
Seeing Jing Yuan's face as black as a pot, Dan Feng finally cleared his throat and tried to restore a serious expression: "So, Jing Yuan, that 'female ghost' you mentioned earlier — I'll call her a female ghost for now — is she pretty?"
Jing Yuan slapped Yingxing's thigh hard: "It's not about whether she's pretty or not! She's truly the rare kind."
"Her eyes are like tomatoes, her nose like a head of garlic, her teeth are sharp. Very standard two eyes, one nose, one mouth. Although she's scary at first, after getting used to it, she actually looks quite beautiful…"
"Pfft—"
Yingxing couldn't hold it again.
Jing Yuan was completely furious: "You've gone too far! I've tolerated you for a long time! Want to fight?"
Yingxing quickly raised his hands to show he meant no harm: "No no no… pfft hahahaha—"
"Cough cough! Anyway, Baiheng agreed to go on a date with me. I'm happy. We're all bros, you should understand the joy in my heart right now."
"You're clearly laughing at me the whole time! You haven't stopped!"
Dan Feng patted Jing Yuan's shoulder with a straight face: "Jing Yuan, we are Cloud Knights after all. We've all undergone strict training."
"No matter how funny something is, we won't laugh."
"…Unless we can't hold it in."