For the Luofu, today was supposed to be a day written into the annals.
It still would be.
Only now, it would be remembered as a taboo—something no one would willingly speak of.
No one had imagined that the new General of the Luofu, the man entrusted with countless hopes, would defect from the Xianzhou at the very moment of his inauguration, in front of the entire world.
Even less could anyone accept the second truth that followed: he had been a Lord Ravager hiding for over three centuries.
And according to every dossier, this Lord Ravager—when he first arrived on the Luofu—had received Lan's favor and became an Emanator of the Hunt.
So what was it?
Was the Aeon of the Hunt truly so broad-minded?
Whatever the answer, the cosmos had already been shaken to its core.
At some unknown moment, the Path of Destruction had birthed another Lord Ravager.
And in the span of days, the name "Qingzhou" thundered across the stars.
Everyone knew: every Lord Ravager had their own "corresponding" Path, their own aesthetic, their own defining nature.
So what, exactly, did Qingzhou correspond to?
At first, some suspected Abundance—after all, if an Emanator of Destruction could receive the Hunt's blessing, the only explanation that barely made sense was that he somehow "counterbalanced" it through Abundance.
But that theory was quickly torn apart.
Because Qingzhou wasn't merely associated with Abundance—he was an Emanator of Abundance outright, on top of everything else. How could a Lord Ravager be "the Abundance counterpart" when he already held Abundance itself?
So another theory surfaced, darker and more absurd:
Perhaps Qingzhou wasn't a Lord Ravager at all. Perhaps "Destruction" had only been a mask.
Perhaps his true identity was an Emanator of Elation.
Because if it was Elation… then even something this ridiculous could almost be called "plausible."
The moment that conjecture appeared, countless Masked Fools from the Tavern began loudly insisting they were Qingzhou.
The universe argued itself hoarse.
But for the Xianzhou—especially for the Luofu—none of those speculations mattered anymore.
Because Wei Qing's betrayal was now fact.
Whatever he truly was, nothing could change what had already happened.
And the Luofu itself had fallen into a vast, suffocating silence.
The storytellers of Changletian—who only days ago had been whipping crowds into cheers with fresh legends of "General Wei Qing beheading Shuhu"—now found those same tales turned into the most horrifying nightmare imaginable.
The merchants of Cloudford stopped calling out their wares. Goods lay scattered on the ground, untouched.
Then the silence broke.
And what followed was chaos.
Panic spread like plague. Questions erupted everywhere. Accusations collided with sobs and screaming disbelief.
The psychological whiplash—plunging from the peak of glory into the abyss of betrayal—nearly snapped the entire ship in half.
And then a voice, steady yet steeped in exhaustion and pain, rolled across the Luofu like a cold tide.
It was Teng Xiao.
He paused, as if forcing something down inside his chest before it could spill out.
"What has occurred… you have all witnessed.
"Wei Qing… has defected from the Xianzhou and fallen into Destruction. His crimes are beyond counting.
"This is a calamity the Luofu has never known in all its history. Yet with the Bow at our back, with the will of the Hunt still burning, the Alliance will not be toppled by a creature like him.
"I, Teng Xiao, by the name of the former General of the Luofu, swear this: I will restore order, join hands with the Alliance's strength, and hunt this beast to the end.
"Not until death… not until the very last breath… will it be over."
Yes.
The calamity had happened. The betrayal had already become reality.
But life still had to continue.
The Luofu… had to survive.
An era ended—ended in the most brutal way possible.
And another era, filled with the unknown and thorns, was forced into existence, stumbling forward in panic.
At Jingliu's residence, Bai Heng stood uneasily before her best friend's door.
Several days had passed since the sky-splitting betrayal, yet she still couldn't accept it—still couldn't believe that Wei Qing, the man who sometimes acted like an overgrown boy with heroic delusions, had been a Lord Ravager hidden within the Luofu all along.
She took several deep breaths before finally gathering the courage to knock.
"Jingliu…? I'm coming in, alright?"
There was no reply.
Bai Heng hesitated, then pushed the door open.
The room was dark. Curtains were drawn tight. Only a few pale strands of moonlight seeped through narrow gaps, barely sketching the outlines of a space so clean it felt almost empty.
Jingliu sat on the floor by the window, back turned to the door, cradling her sword as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
She didn't move.
Like a statue.
Yet an icy chill radiated from her—colder than Bai Heng had ever felt from her before—and beneath that, a dead stillness that made the room feel airless.
Bai Heng's heart clenched.
She knew Jingliu had been hurt more deeply than almost anyone.
"Jingliu…" Bai Heng stepped closer, her voice soft, careful. "Are you… okay? You should eat something. I brought soda-bean soup, and—"
Her words caught in her throat.
"That day…" Jingliu's voice suddenly cut through the dark—dry and hoarse, like someone who hadn't spoken in a long time. "That day he asked me…"
"If he hadn't come to the Luofu back then… what would have happened."
Bai Heng froze.
"He said it was a late thank-you," Jingliu continued, and something like a bitter laugh edged into her tone—too sharp to be comfort, too hollow to be anger. "He thanked me for the sword I gave him back then."
"He said he wanted my road ahead… to be a little smoother."
But no matter how she hated it—
Jingliu couldn't deny what she felt now.
If not for that "gift" Wei Qing had placed within her, then with her current state of mind… she might already have slipped into mara.
The thought was a blade twisted in her ribs.
"He planned all of this," Bai Heng finally choked out, voice shaking. "That bastard. That liar. He used all of us—he used you—he even… he even used the General's trust, his expectations—!"
When Bai Heng thought of Teng Xiao's back—how it looked as if he'd aged years overnight—her tears spilled freely.
"Dan Feng and Yingxing are furious. Jing Yuan too… How did it come to this? Jingliu, what do we do? What does the Luofu do?"
Jingliu slowly lifted her gaze toward the starless sky beyond the curtains.
"He said… old bonds end here," she repeated, each word deliberate, as if carved into stone.
Then she rose.
Her sword let out a low, subdued hum, as if sensing the shift in its master's heart.
She turned to face Bai Heng.
"What he said was right," Jingliu said.
"The bond is gone."
Bai Heng's face drained of color. "Gone…? Jingliu, what are you saying?"
"Tomorrow," Jingliu said quietly, "I'll leave the Luofu."
Bai Heng jolted, grabbing her arm. "Leave? Where are you going? Jingliu—don't do something stupid!"
Jingliu brushed Bai Heng's hands away, gently but firmly—an unmistakable refusal.
"I will become a sea-roaming ranger," she said.
"And then…"
Her eyes were cold, steady, and terrifyingly clear.
"I will find him."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 31
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 27
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 26
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