Chapter 103: Jing Yuan: Eight Hundred Years Ago, a Master Said I Was Fated to Clash with a Certain Surname...
Jing Yuan set down the brush in his hand.
For some reason, his mind had drifted back to something that had happened a very, very long time ago. Back then, he was still a young man, not yet a member of the Cloud Knights. A roadside master calling himself 'Little Blue' had cast a divination for him, proclaiming that he was destined to be at odds with anyone bearing the surname 'You', and that this fate was inescapable.
At the time, Jing Yuan had naturally just laughed it off. That sort of thing was merely for amusement, something to listen to and forget.
But today, Jing Yuan felt as if that diviner might not have been wrong after all.
His own master had just been pushed into his office in a handcart by Stelle.
To be perfectly honest, when Jing Yuan first saw Jingliu and Blade being wheeled in like a pair of discount groceries, his first instinct was to wonder if his own Mara had finally flared up. He had lived for eight hundred years. He had weathered storms that could shatter stars and witnessed conspiracies that spanned generations.
But this… this scene unfolding before his very eyes was something he had truly never witnessed before.
What in the world was this bizarre spectacle?
How did they manage to be so utterly strange and yet so deeply hilarious at the same time?
"Maka Paka, Akka Wakka, Mikka Makka… Boom—"
Rekka's hands were pressed down in mid-air, his mouth endlessly chanting a string of abstract scriptures that no one but he could possibly comprehend. In truth, the chanting was no longer necessary; on the way over, he had already used his strange little cube to apply a sedative effect to them both.
But a sense of ceremony was important.
Jing Yuan hesitated, the words catching in his throat. 'Is my long life finally coming to an end?' he wondered bleakly.
"The manner in which you all returned to the Xianzhou is… truly special," he finally managed, his voice strained.
"Of five people, three must pay a price. Jing Yuan, you are not one of them…"
"Designated driver? What designated driver? I haven't been drinking… Does a handcart count as a vehicle? Do we need to call a designated driver for that, too?" Stelle scratched her head, looking over at Rekka, who was still muttering his nonsense beside her.
Blade: "..."
Even Blade, a man of few words and many sorrows, was rendered somewhat speechless by Stelle. The main issue was that the Stelle from his Stellaron Hunter days wasn't like this at all. Back then, she was a cool and elegant older sister type. But ever since joining the Astral Express, she had transformed into this… abstract, chaotic young woman.
"Designated driver…"
Jing Yuan felt a laugh bubbling up but forcefully suppressed it. He could feel the self-restraint he had cultivated over eight centuries facing an unmatched challenge.
"A private shuttle, and a convertible one at that. I'd say it's quite prestigious," Rekka declared, taking a breath and finally ceasing the chant that was giving Blade a throbbing headache.
"As for you…" Jing Yuan's gaze shifted, landing on Dan Heng. "I never expected you would take the initiative to set foot here again."
"...I am only here to ensure the safety of my companions," Dan Heng replied, his voice low and steady. "I will leave shortly."
"Since you're already here, why be in such a hurry?" Jing Yuan shook his head. He genuinely wanted Dan Heng to stay.
Rekka and Stelle's behavior felt particularly alien to him. Their thought processes and actions didn't seem to belong to the world of mortals; they were close to gods but far from human. He desperately needed someone present who could actually communicate with Rekka on a somewhat normal level.
"Fine," Dan Heng finally conceded with a sigh. "I will stay temporarily and leave once matters are settled."
A wave of relief washed over Jing Yuan. "Men! Take these two to the Shackling Prison."
"By your command!"
The Cloud Knights soldiers moved nimbly, pushing the handcart out of the office. As they passed by Stelle, she even gave Blade a cheerful wave.
"Goodbye, you two!" she called out sincerely. "Make sure to reform yourselves and try to get out early!"
Blade: "..."
Jingliu: "..."
Jing Yuan could understand every individual word Rekka spoke, but when they were all strung together into a plan, he felt it transcended the very concept of common sense. The genesis of this entire fiasco had been that antimatter bomb package.
According to Rekka's account, he was nearly blown to smithereens by it. In his quest to find the person who framed them, he had even managed to smoke out the Lord Ravager hidden on the Xianzhou, yet he still couldn't pinpoint the culprit who had planted the bomb on him in the first place.
"Achoo!"
A certain member of the Masked Fools, having just returned to The Tavern using [Aha's Random Door], sneezed abruptly.
'Strange,'she thought.'Who could be talking about me?'
"You caused such a monumental commotion just to force the person who gave you the bomb to show themselves?" Jing Yuan asked, trying to wrap his head around it.
"Not entirely," Rekka said with a shrug. "After all, the Stellaron Hunters did tell us someone was going to detonate a Stellaron on the Xianzhou. We originally intended to negotiate normally, but who could have guessed we'd be handed a bomb right at the start and then have a warrant issued for our arrest on the spot?" He spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness.
Jing Yuan's expression was a mixture of exasperation and sympathy. "That… was indeed quite the coincidence."
"However," he conceded, "if you had negotiated through formal channels, the Lord Ravager probably wouldn't have been found so easily."
"...True."
"We Trailblazers have always enjoyed helping others, without regard for reward or compensation. However—" Rekka held up a single finger. "Since we were wanted criminals for a while, there has to be some kind of gesture, right?"
Jing Yuan was stunned for a moment, then let out a low chuckle. "Of course. What compensation do you all desire?"
"One Credit Point per person for mental distress," Rekka stated plainly. "And then your officials should issue a clarification notice. At the very least, you can't have us being treated like pariahs everywhere we go. Our wanted posters were plastered in every street and alley earlier."
"Qingzu." Jing Yuan turned his head to the subordinate beside him. "Go and issue one Credit Point in compensation to each of these three, and draft a notice to clear up the misunderstanding."
"Yes, General." Qingzu nodded and turned to leave.
"You all helped the Luofu so much, yet you only ask for three Credit Points," Jing Yuan remarked, a genuine smile on his face. "Such magnanimity is truly admirable."
"More than that, I'm more concerned about another matter," Rekka said, his expression turning serious as he looked at Jing Yuan. "Regarding Dan Heng. I hope to resolve the issues concerning him."
"...Concerning him?" Jing Yuan's smile remained, but his eyes were fixed intently on Dan Heng. "This matter isn't entirely up to me. At least, not until he is ready to face those things himself. It cannot be resolved."
Dan Heng stood off to the side, remaining silent throughout the exchange.
"You care about him a lot," Jing Yuan observed.
"He's my brother," Rekka stated simply. "I don't want him to keep carrying those burdens."
Hearing this answer, Jing Yuan's expression grew slightly complex. The crimes committed by his predecessor could not be erased with a few simple words. Some things, not even the passage of time could smooth over.
"—Of course," Jing Yuan's broad, knowing smile returned, "it's not entirely without a way."
"General, feel free to speak plainly. Don't leave us hanging, Jing—" Rekka caught himself.
"Naturally, there is a task I wish to entrust to you all," Jing Yuan said smoothly. "If you can complete it successfully, then… there will be a turning point for his matter. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to restore his legal status."
"What is it?"
"Go solve the Stellaron problem," Jing Yuan stated. "Weren't you all here on the Luofu looking for a Stellaron anyway?"
"That's right."
"You need at least a legitimate reason to revoke his exile, don't you?"
"Bro, let's go!" Rekka clapped Dan Heng on the shoulder. "Let's go find that Stellaron. Your innocence depends entirely on that thing."
Finding a Stellaron wasn't difficult. Not for Rekka. Today, he just so happened to be walking the Path of Harmony; sensing a Stellaron was a simple matter.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a cheat.
A bloodhound has marked the Stellaron's location.
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