At this moment.
Welt was leading Diting toward two men by the port to ask for directions.
"Excuse me, have either of you seen a foxian pass by?"
The two men dressed in green clothes glanced at each other. One of them smiled and said, "Eh~! You've asked the right people. There are always foxians coming and going at Central Starskiff Haven—easily seven or eight hundred if not one or two thousand! The foxian you're asking about~ may not be the same as the ones we've seen!"
The other man chimed in, "Eh~! Of course not! Why don't you describe her for us?!"
Welt's gaze fell on the two men. Although something felt off about the way they spoke… he still cooperated and said, "It's a female foxian."
"Goodness, that one sentence really hit the key point!"
"Could you kindly elaborate—does she have any obvious features? Having ears on her head and a tail behind her doesn't count, though!"
"..."
Welt glanced in the direction March 7th had gone. They seemed to have already gotten quite far ahead.
Then his gaze returned to the two men. "Her name is Tingyun. On the Xianzhou… she should be somewhat well-known."
"Goodness, that sentence also hit the key point. I've parked before too!"
"Hey~ That's not right. On our Xianzhou, it's called a starskiff~!"
"Eh~ Looks to me like you're just looking for trouble~!"
"You can't say that. Listen, doesn't the name Tingyun sound a bit familiar?"
"Hm~ That's true. Is there something special about it?"
Welt: "..."
"Heh, just hearing the name, you know she has a charming appearance. In my heart, I already treat her as an old acquaintance. Today is our long-awaited reunion!"
The other man nodded at Welt. "Sir, did you understand? My partner here is daydreaming."
"Have you… really seen her?"
"Of course… not."
"..."
"Hehe, sorry about that. My brother and I usually perform crosstalk together at the teahouse on the street corner that never closes~ You can see the situation for yourself."
"With the Cloud Knights enforcing martial law these days, the teahouse business has been impossible. So we thought we'd find an open-air spot to warm up our voices and practice our skills."
"Since you just happened to come ask for directions, I figured I should show you a little something. Don't worry, this is a free performance—no hard selling~!"
Seeing that Welt's expression didn't look good and that he was turning to leave with Diting, one of the men quickly said, "Hey hey hey~ Don't be angry! I actually just saw the girl you mentioned. Isn't it Miss Tingyun? Just a moment ago, I saw her turn into Xuan Ye Avenue. If you head over there and hurry, you might still catch her!"
"?"
Welt turned back, brows tightly furrowed. "Why didn't you say that from the beginning?"
"Don't be mad~ The two of us have been standing here for a long time. It's rare for someone to come listen to a segment—how could we just let you walk away like that?"
"See, that's where you're wrong~!"
Seeing the two start bickering again, Welt took Diting and quickly ran toward Xuan Ye Avenue.
...
On the other side.
"Sorry, miss, you've come at a bad time. Our shop… closed early today!"
March 7th was riding Zeig and had stopped in front of a counter, staring excitedly at the accessories inside.
"You're closing this early? What time is it now… How much is that bracelet?"
"This miss has asked the right person. Our shop's bracelets and pendants are very popular with the ladies."
"Of course, for a beauty as charming as you, miss, our latest Moon Carving series is even more suited to your temperament!"
"Hehehehehehe—!!" Suddenly, March 7th's mount made a sound.
"Huh, wait… Miss, what are you riding?"
The foxian girl stood up, leaned out over the counter, and looked down.
She met Zeig's wildly ferocious gaze head-on!
"Aaaaaah—!! What kind of animal is that!!"
March 7th said disdainfully, "Don't make such a fuss. In the outside world, this is perfectly normal!"
"Hehehehehehe—!!"
"Really? Is it… really like that?"
The foxian girl pulled her head back, plopped down on her chair, and fearfully took out a handkerchief to wipe the fine sweat from her forehead. "So that means you're outsiders. Oh… wait, I think I saw you traveling with Miss Tingyun earlier."
Thinking of this, she seemed to feel she had discovered the truth and said enthusiastically, "I see, you must be guests Miss Tingyun is receiving. She occasionally brings foreign guests from merchant groups to tour Central Starskiff Haven… I just caught a glimpse of her earlier. She was heading further into the street."
March 7th waved her hand. "Don't worry about that. I don't care where she is at all."
"Then, miss, you are…?"
"Your jewelry is nice. Do you have any rope that looks more high-end? This rope of mine isn't holding up too well."
Under the foxian girl's puzzled gaze, March 7th lifted the rope in her hand. The other end was attached to the collar around her mount's neck.
"Look, it's too disobedient. It just keeps gnawing and gnawing and gnawing, and it's already chewed the edges frayed."
"..."
"You guys… really know how to have fun, haha."
The foxian girl smiled awkwardly and looked at the racks behind her.
"Rope… We don't have many bracelets or necklaces here. How would we have rope of that length?"
"Tsk, such a big shop and you don't have anything?" March 7th said disdainfully.
"Uh…"
"Hmph, let's go, Peppy Shrimp!"
"..."
The foxian girl silently watched as March 7th rode the strange creature away like the wind.
After a while, she patted her cheeks, confirmed she wasn't dreaming, and quietly took out her phone.
She dialed a mysterious little number.
Soon, the call was answered.
"Hello? Is this the Cloud Knights?"
"...There are two lunatics here."
...
The two rampaged all the way, causing passersby to panic and retreat while pulling out their phones to take pictures.
"Oh my god, what the hell is that creature? It's terrifying!"
"What are they looking for? They look so evil!"
"This is Cloud Knights Team Three. Unidentified creature spotted… requesting backup! Requesting backup! Over!"
"Can we request lethal force? Those two lunatics said when they catch up to Miss Tingyun they're going to hehehee her!"
"Too arrogant… What the hell!"
"…Don't they look a bit familiar?"
...
March 7th held the reins and shouted heroically, "Giddyup—!!"
Ahead.
A sword-holding youth who was squatting by the roadside and emo-ing heard the noise and looked up in confusion.
"Huh… When did the Luofu get this kind of transportation?"
"Don't block the road, don't block the road—!!" March 7th shouted from afar.
"Heh, try touching me if you've got the guts?" Yanqing continued maintaining his squatting posture.
"..."
A few seconds later.
A huge crash came from the street.
"Bang—!!"