In a flash, flames scorched the palm of that massive hand—the demon cried out in pain and quickly withdrew it, eyes sharp as lightning, locked onto the newcomer."
"That person had a towering presence, no less impressive than a god! Majestic and imposing, far from ordinary! Truly a handsome figure, divine and awe-inspiring—he stood shoulder to shoulder with the general!"
"Before one could blink, the general and the stranger exchanged a look, nodded in unison, and charged toward the demon in perfect sync. The god struck first, followed by that heroic warrior..."
-----------------------------------
"Ugh, they've been telling the same story for three days straight—aren't they tired? My ears are getting calloused."
March 7th felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her as she heard the story being told again at every tea stand they passed.
"Well, the people of the Xianzhou have a passion for storytelling that's hard for others to grasp. Plus, as long-lived beings, they've heard countless tales—so when a new one appears, it naturally draws widespread attention."
"But isn't this a bit too much? And also, that line—'Demon! How dare you rampage!'—who even made that up? I don't remember it happening like that at all."
March 7th rubbed her forehead helplessly.
As someone who had experienced the event firsthand, these weird versions were really testing her patience.
"And could you stop crowding up front like that? Can you even understand all those weird old sayings?"
She pulled Stelle back and rolled her eyes.
"But I think it's pretty fun?"
Stelle held a Happy Tea in her left hand and a biscuit in her right, with crumbs clinging to the corners of her mouth.
Clearly, she was blending into life on the Luofu just fine.
"I told you not to just take things from strangers!" March 7th cried.
"But she said it was free."
Stelle pointed at the fox lady vendor with the biscuits in hand.
"She said it was free and you didn't grab one for me?"
Glaring at this clueless Stelle, March 7th ran toward the stall.
While the two girls were running around for freebies, Welt gazed thoughtfully at a teahouse in front of him.
"Hello, would you like some tea?"
Just as he was pondering the familiar name, a sweet childlike voice piped up from below.
"Huh? Whose little kid is this? So cute."
The two girls, returning with full hands, smiled at the little proprietress who barely came up to Welt's knees.
"I'm the owner of The Sleepless Earl—you can call me Mengming."
"The Sleepless Earl… oh! This is the place Tingyun mentioned!"
"Mm! You know Sister Tingyun? Do you know where she is? She hasn't been here in a long time." Mengming looked at March 7th with joy.
"Tingyun's currently out on a mission, but I think she should be back soon."
Thinking that Godzilla was currently in Luofu, even though it would eventually return to Jarilo, Tingyun should be coming back sometime soon... right?
"That's great! Oh right, I haven't brewed your tea yet, wait just a moment!"
With that, Mengming ran back into the shop, her figure disappearing swiftly.
"She really was right—coming here was definitely the way to go."
March 7th looked at her outstretched hand and silently drew it back.
"Let's find a seat—Mengming probably wants to know what Miss Tingyun's been up to lately."
Nodding in agreement, the three of them sat down near the front.
Before long, Mengming brought out three steaming cups of tea.
"Sorry to keep you waiting—try it!"
March 7th had guessed wrong—Mengming didn't ask a thing about what Tingyun had been doing.
In her words: "Sister Tingyun is always very busy. Last time I saw her rushing about, she must've had an urgent matter to attend to. I better not ask too much and risk bothering her."
As they chatted idly, Stelle looked up and saw a small figure creeping along the wall, wearing fur-lined clothes with a wide tail.
That posture—if it weren't broad daylight, she'd have suspected the kid was gearing up for some heroic act of charity.
"Huh, what's that kid up to? Got in trouble with her mom?"
Since Mengming was around, they couldn't really talk about serious matters, so March 7th had been looking for light topics. She noticed the figure at the same time as Stelle.
"Is that... Healer Lady?"
"Healer? Lady?" March 7th looked at the little one—about the same size as Mengming. The only real difference might be those two… accessories.
But they had heard a lot about the Vidyadhara while heading to the Alchemy Commission—stories about their unique traits.
"So... this Healer Lady is someone important?" Stelle asked curiously.
Hearing her question, Mengming pondered for a moment.
"Actually, Mengming doesn't know how important that Healer Lady is either, but every time I see her run out, she's always very cautious, afraid of being discovered. Sometimes, when I catch sight of her, she's already been found and is racing against the Cloud Knights."
"Uh, that doesn't sound like a very good game."
"The Vidyadhara—these past few days I borrowed access from Diviner Fu and was able to read the Luofu archives. The Vidyadhara people are quite few in number now, so any Vidyadhara who is held in such high regard surely isn't ordinary. March… March?"
Welt was just about to tell the two little ones to behave when he realized no one was responding to him.
Turning his head, he saw that the two had somehow already huddled in front of Bailu, using their bodies to shield her.
Moments later, a group of Cloud Knights dashed past them in a hurry.
"Hey you two, did you see the Healer Lady?"
"Asking them is probably useless. You can tell just by looking that they're travelers—how would they know? Let's ask others. You go that way, I'll go this way."
"Hey! Wait! Judging by your appearance, could you be the esteemed guests the general invited some days ago?!"
...
After the Cloud Knights left, everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, little one, you can come out now." March 7th let out a breath, turned around with her hands on her hips, and proudly addressed the curled-up Bailu.
Hearing March 7th's words, Bailu cautiously peeked through Stelle's legs at the outside scene.
Seeing it was really safe, she let out a long sigh of relief.
"Thank you all. Otherwise, I would've been taken back by them."
"Why would they catch you? Did you do something bad? No, even if you did, a kid should look for an adult, right? Where are your parents?"
"I don't have a mom."
"Then what about your dad?"
"I don't have a dad either."
She said it with confidence and a straight face.
Stelle was amazed in her heart.
This child has such a steadfast mind, truly terrifying.
"Move aside, don't talk nonsense if you don't know how to speak."
"No, did you all misunderstand something? I'm from the Vidyadhara—this is how we all are."
Bailu looked speechlessly at March 7th, who had suddenly squatted on the ground drawing circles, and said helplessly.
"A whole clan with no mom or dad—was this some kind of punishment taken too far?"
Well, the misunderstanding seemed to deepen.
...
Luckily, with Mengming and the well-read Welt around, along with Bailu's explanations, the awkwardness eased slightly.
"How awful!"
Bang!
March 7th slammed the table.
"That elder is way too much! Not even letting a child go out and play!"
Bailu munched on her steamed bun.
"Seems like no one really cooperates with the Cloud Knights' work." Stelle mused, observing the silent neighbors from earlier.
"Bailu often sneaks out, and then a whole crowd is sent to find her. Over time, everyone here figured out she just wants to play. If they run into her, they just pretend not to see. The Cloud Knights don't really do much either—it's all kind of a formality now."
"..."
Bailu stared closely at Mengming, who had just spoken the blunt truth.
"Sounds like you've had it rough, Bailu."
Knowing she was in the wrong, March 7th gave up her share of the free meal. Upon hearing Mengming recount Bailu's experiences, her eyes welled up with tears.
However—
"Miss Bailu, how did you get out? Luofu was so chaotic not long ago. Wasn't it dangerous to run around?"
Welt spoke up.
A giant Godzilla-like creature was sprawled out in the Scalegorge Waterscape, Cloud Knights were guarding it with high alert, and those Vidyadhara elders couldn't possibly be unaware.
With the aftermath of the Phantylia's incident, they actually let Bailu sneak out?
"You mean that? Don't underestimate me just because I'm small—I'm a renowned physician of the Alchemy Commission! People lining up to get my expert appointment could form a line all the way to the Scalegorge Waterscape. This time, since all the patients were properly arranged, I figured I could sneak out a bit."
As Bailu said this, her tail swished back and forth, perfectly matching her cheerful mood.
"Overtime, overtime, overtime..."
Just as the group was deep in conversation, a resentful figure passed behind March 7th. The sheer force of that resentment gave her goosebumps all over.
Bailu's tail shot up as she hugged her gourd and curled into a ball.
At the crucial moment, Welt held his ground.
"Ahem, Miss Qingque, long time no see. You don't look well—why not stop for a cup of tea?"
Welt's words seemed to flip Qingque's switch.
Her lifeless eyes gradually regained a spark. Though her brain hadn't figured out how to respond, her body was already moving, turning to look toward the voice.
There she saw Welt, Stelle, March 7th, the medicine-Healer Lady, and the little innkeeper from the The Sleepless Earl, all sitting together drinking tea and snacking.
Her eyes welled up.
It clearly hadn't rained today, yet Qingque's heart felt ice-cold.
"Uwahhh~~~" Her lips quivered like waves. The next second—
"Benefactors!!!"