Moonlight, silver-pale. A woman's fragrance, faint and sweet.
Tears sever the sword. How long can feeling last?
So very… ahem. Jingliu wasn't present, but the atmosphere beneath that tranquil, crystalline moonlight carried distinct echoes of the Pass of Feeling — a sorrow stretching across the ages.
The jade corridor cast long shadows across the ground. March 7th and Fu Xuan both held their breath, as if afraid to disturb something. The entire courtyard fell into sudden, profound stillness, and the fine thread of insect song and cicada cries became audible in the silence.
Then Qingque spoke. Her voice carried its usual languid ease, yet cracked through the air like biting down on a sugar crystal — paired with her dazed, blinking little eyes and a charmingly muddle-headed scratch of her head, she looked utterly adorable and completely lost.
The strange, uncanny mood shifted once more.
"How did I end up here? What happened? I remember I was in the archives slacking off… working diligently."
Her fingertip was scratching the back of her braided head when, halfway through the sentence, she registered Master Diviner's presence. Qingque corrected herself instantly.
"Little Sparrow, how are you feeling right now? Anything seem off? Headache, nausea — any strange dreams?" Caelus cleared his throat softly and asked with concern.
"Mmm…"
Qingque propped her cheek on one hand, fingertip lightly resting against her lower lip, her other arm curling around her waist. The ink-green cloud-patterned sleeves swayed with the motion in a lively arc.
"Now that you mention it… I laid my head down—"
The girl stretched the end of her sentence out playfully, sounding both impish and a little sheepish:
"—and fell right asleep. Had this incredibly long dream… I struck it rich in the dream, hehe~"
"So what actually happened? Old Caelus, you still haven't told me how you all ended up here."
Qingque was thoroughly bewildered, wearing the vacant expression of someone who'd napped so hard they woke up with a gap in their memory.
"As long as you're alright." Caelus lifted the Yue-Hiding Gourd and gave it a little wave in front of Qingque's eyes. "Here's what happened — I got a message…"
"Ahem! Ahem!"
He'd barely started the explanation when Fu Xuan, face stiff as a board, let out a sudden and violent bout of fake coughing.
"Master Diviner, are you feeling alright?" Qingque blinked and asked with immediate concern.
She then glanced at the Jade Abacus for the time, and in that habitually idle tone of hers, offered a gentle word of advice:
"It's this late and you're still in the office? Work is important, but you have to balance effort with rest. Please don't wear yourself out — you are the entire Divination Commission's backbone, after all."
That well-meaning piece of advice transformed Fu Xuan's fake coughing into real coughing.
Do you have any idea who I'm staying late worrying myself sick for?!
Fu Xuan's whole body gave a shudder. The color drained from her face, then returned — darkening, grieving, bristling with killing intent.
"Qing — que —!"
Struggling to keep her expression composed, Fu Xuan ground out each syllable from behind her back teeth, the final note quavering — the sound of volcanic fury barely kept in check.
"Ah! Ah?! Present?!"
It was exactly the dread you feel when you've been goofing off at home all day and your mother suddenly calls your full name — multiplied by ten.
Qingque's ash-brown twin tails exploded outward with a small, rapid tremor. Her hand shot up in an instant. The white fluffy ornaments in her hair shook like startled snowballs, and her entire being compressed into a chibi expression-sticker.
They were nearly the same height, yet Fu Xuan radiated an overwhelming sense of towering authority. The killing intent on that cool little face was palpable; her voice was cold as a winter gale:
"Caught you dozing on the clock again!"
"Your auxiliary lane divination-mapping performance this month is still thirty percent short of target!"
"Last quarter's review archive — you're the only one who hasn't submitted a report!"
"…"
The rapid-fire barrage of reprimands, like shells from a chain cannon, sent Caelus flashing back to his corporate drone life before transmigration. March 7th watched Qingque with eyes that held what little pity she could spare.
"And that document I asked you to prepare—"
"You — you said the deadline was the day after tomorrow at the latest, didn't you?"
Qingque, trembling like a quail, raised a meek defense, her voice coming out hollow.
"At the latest — at the latest! Can you not get it to me a little earlier?!"
Fu Xuan planted both fists on her hips, and the roaring blaze of her fury seemed to swell further:
"'At the latest!' Failing to plan is planning to fail — can you not show a little initiative?! Where's your proactivity?! I never see you as the last one to leave when it's time to go home!"
"And now you're talking back?!"
"Master Diviner, I was wrong!"
Qingque dropped to her knees at light speed, eyes brimming with tears. With the boss clearly in a full-blown rage, saying anything extra would only extend the duration of her own struggle session.
"How dare you argue back? Don't you know the number-one rule of the Luofu bureaucracy — subordinates are not allowed to talk back to their superiors?!"
Stelle, standing beside Fu Xuan, automatically slipped into the role of a groveling subordinate latching onto power, adding her two cents with borrowed authority.
"Hey, can superiors talk back to their subordinates then?"
When it was Stelle doing the talking, Qingque had the nerve to respond — and not just a little. Quite a lot, actually.
"…"
Fu Xuan's small face flushed red — whether from anger or some other cause was unclear. With Stelle's interruption breaking her stride, the momentum of her tirade suddenly faltered. She gave up and simply pointed toward the archive office.
"Qingque, get in there and get to work. I want to see your performance at target and your review report submitted before today is out!"
"Yes, yes, yes! I'll hand it in today, absolutely!"
Nodding like a well-behaved little bird pecking grain, Qingque bolted for the office at full speed — not forgetting to wave goodbye at Caelus as she went.
Having chased Qingque off to work overtime, Fu Xuan left a curt "Farewell" and turned to go.
Stelle, Caelus, and March 7th exchanged glances, each wearing a different expression.
"All in all — a perfect resolution~!" Caelus clapped his hands together.
"You call that perfect?!"
March 7th's face was still red. She puffed out her cheeks with indignant displeasure, planted her fists on her hips, and glared at Caelus.
"Ah Qi, want to try fusing?" Stelle produced the Batara Earrings.
"No — I don't! Eek! Don't come near me!"
March 7th scrambled in alarm, dodging away from Stelle, who was sidling up to her with a shameless grin and a pair of earrings.
"Come on, come on~"
Stelle's tone was exactly that of a shady old man coaxing a little girl with lollipops. She lunged at March 7th, sending the latter fleeing at a sprint.
The two girls chased each other down the street, bickering and laughing all the way back to the courtyard.
In the end, Stelle never managed to put the earrings on March 7th.
And so.
Tonight's participant was the fusion of Stelle and Seele — Stelle-Seele!
The refined ash-gray of wolf fur blended with the oceanic blue gradient that subtly concealed streaks of deep lacquer-black, merging into a profound, shadowy blue-gray. Mid-length hair — perfectly uniting the gentle and the cool.
Golden irises and blue eyes interwoven into crystalline green.
…
Two days later.
A dusk breeze rolled in languidly, scattering itself across the earth. A sparse scattering of early stars glittered at the horizon, announcing to the world the beginning of nightlife.
Exalting Sanctum. Xuanguang Street. Lanterns like stars, the crowd a flowing tapestry.
At the heart of the night market, a barbecue stall sign spelling out "Star Rail BBQ" in printed characters of different sizes and colors, stuck on crooked and cheerful, glowed all around with a ring of breathing lights.
"Step right up, don't miss out! Ten-Lords Commission–certified new-energy charcoal grill! Master Diviner and the General both said it's the best! Eat up — no carcinogens, no sanity loss!"
Stelle sat in a white plastic chair at the outdoor stall, megaphone in hand, hollering away.
"One bite sharpens the mind, two bites banish fatigue, three bites grant eternal life — oh yeah~ Hey hey! Ah Qi, why are you grabbing me?"
"Keep shouting like that and the Realm-Keeping Commission is going to surround us."
March 7th clamped a hand over Stelle's mouth, snatched the megaphone, and raised it to her own lips, offering an embarrassed smile to the Xianzhou people around her who were beginning to look alarmed:
"Everyone, please don't worry — that was just a little joke! Our barbecue has absolutely nothing to do with longevity!"
"Young lady, what kind of meat are you grilling there?" A blue-robed Xianzhou man muttered under his breath: "The smell is really something… why does it feel a little intoxicating?"
"We've got venison, lamb, pork, and chicken!"
Stelle gestured at the skewers piled like a small mountain as she introduced them.
The deer was Abundance Ebon Deer. The pork, lamb, and chicken were all Abundance Spirit Beasts — they looked like ordinary livestock, and Stelle had sampled all the skewer varieties before setting up the stall. No problem whatsoever!
"Is that an automatic grill? Hissing — I've never seen an automatic grill like this! What brand is it? Looks incredibly useful!"
Many passersby had been drawn over by the peculiar spectacle of the stall.
What they saw were five grill racks blazing with azure-green flames that burst up from within.
The chunks of meat carved off the Abundance Ebon Deer during the earlier battle by Sword King Ryujinmaru had been sliced, chopped, and skewered. Tongues of flame licked at the venison, producing a soft, rhythmic sizzling.
No one was touching them — yet the skewers, dripping with golden fat, flipped themselves over. Oil droplets fell onto the Heliobus fire, sending up wisps of smoke that mingled azure and gold, wrapped in a uniquely appetizing fragrance.
Cumin, chili, and spices drifted up on their own as well, the seasoning perfectly infused by the spirit flame.
"This is our own invention — an exclusive brand. Come give it a try!"
Stelle planted both fists on her hips.
If anyone looked closely enough, they'd notice that each grill rack had a mantra cord talisman stuck to the base of it.
The day before, Caelus had gone to find Xueyi, helped return the puppet body to her, retrieved his own Herta puppet, and at the same time asked Xueyi to seal the Heliobus units inside the grill racks — much like the way Tail had been sealed inside Huo Huo.
"Give me two venison skewers."
An Outworlder called out from the crowd.
"Coming right up!"
Stelle sat in front of the payment QR code and snapped her fingers: "Number Five — serve the order!"
The freshly grilled skewers floated through the air to the little table where the Outworlder was seated, to the astonishment of everyone watching.
The Heliobus could shift the energy balance within an area the way a person might push a heavy object — through that method, they were able to move things.
Customers at the barbecue stall gradually multiplied. A white-bearded Vidyadhara elder stroked his whiskers waiting for his venison skewers. A Foxian girl held a small handkerchief and waited for her spirit sparrow wings. A group of Xianzhou students gathered for a dinner out…
"Hoh, Old Caelus — this is quite the thriving little business you've got here!"
On the balcony of a small building not far from the stall, two rocking chairs flanked a small round table laid with a teapot, sweet snacks, and a plate of skewers.
Qingque's soft little tongue swept across the corner of her lips as she nibbled delicately on a fragrant skewer.
"Just enough to earn a little pocket money. To make real money, we'd still need to build our Celestial Jade Corporation."
Caelus sipped his milk tea.
"Ugh, I can't hear that right now. If not for that one moment of wild ambition, I wouldn't have been possessed by the Heliobus, and none of what followed would have happened."
Qingque sighed.
"I'm telling you — these past two days, Master Diviner has had me locked down completely. I haven't found a single opportunity to slack off. Two full days of overtime!"
"Lucky for me I'm clever enough. I pretended to have forgotten everything that happened in the illusory realm."
Qingque patted her chest like someone who'd narrowly survived a disaster: "Otherwise, I shudder to think what my life would have looked like afterward."
"So — how did it feel to school your direct superior into obediently letting you have your way with her?"
Caelus's eyes danced with mischief.
"Don't even bring it up!"
Qingque's small face flushed faintly. She gave Caelus a sidelong look: "I've never done anything that thrilling in my entire life!"
"Ahh—!"
Qingque let out a long, wistful sigh: "If only that hadn't been an illusory realm, and it had all been real…!"
"Pfft — cough, cough!"
Qingque's sudden lament caught Caelus completely off guard, wrenching something in his back. He stared at the girl in green with a deeply complicated expression, genuinely unsure what was going on inside that little head of hers.
"Are you serious?"
"You actually want to get on top of Fu Xuan like that?"
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