Jingliu's fingertips carried a chill, yet she was uncharacteristically bold as they traced over Lucian's sharp brow, slid down the ridge of his tall nose, and finally lingered on his lips—faintly cold and stern in shape—brushing against them lightly.
Her gaze remained fixed on his, filled with grievance, unwillingness, and an almost forceful possessiveness.
In this silent courtyard, broken only by the rustling night wind sweeping through the leaves and dissolving into the shadows of flowers and trees, an icy wall in the corner that formed a cocoon was cold to the touch—yet within it, the air suddenly grew warm.
Jingliu had raised the cocoon-like ice wall, shutting out the outside world and leaving only her and Lucian inside it, accompanied by faint, alluring grunts and moaning sounds.
Inside Lucian's bedroom, the dim yellow light continued to burn quietly, reflecting Baiheng's sleeping profile, unaware of what was happening outside.
No one knew how much time had passed until the alluring grunts and moaning sounds finally vanished, leaving the courtyard to return to silence.
Moonlight fell across Jingliu's sweat-dampened temples and flushed cheeks, her glassy red eyes shimmering as she gazed straight at Lucian.
"I'm a criminal... I can't stay here for long..." Jingliu said softly, her charming eyes locked onto Lucian's. "Master, you've got one night to tell me what you did to my life."
===
Early the next morning, Lucian broke through the cocoon of ice, carrying the sleeping Jingliu back to his bedroom, and laid her down on the bed beside the sleeping Baiheng.
"Another one fainted, huh..." Lucian murmured to himself as he felt his body getting stronger.
Perhaps it was because, during this period, he had helped others—practicing the generous spirit of the Path of Abundance—that, in return, he had grown more powerful.
It could be said that, with such a body, no woman could claim to monopolize him alone now.
No doubt, becoming an Emanator of Abundance was truly a blessing.
However, most important of all, he discovered that both Jingliu and Baiheng were actually still virgins. Apparently, even if, in the script, he had broken their virginities once, their virginities in reality were not affected at all.
As Lucian was lost in thought, contemplating how powerful his own body was, Baiheng woke up.
Still looking quite dazed, Baiheng rubbed her eyes groggily, instinctively hugging the person beside her.
"Hm? What a big pair of... boobs..."
Baiheng muttered dazedly, but then paused when she felt something was off.
In the next second, her eyes flew wide open, and in that instant, what she saw was a beautiful woman she was familiar with—Jingliu!
"AH!"
Baiheng sat up at once—first shock, then puzzlement, and finally, upon seeing Lucian standing at the bedside, sudden realization.
"What happened yesterday?!" Baiheng asked hurriedly while quickly dressing herself. "I think I just blacked out all of a sudden. How did Jingliu get here?"
Hearing her question, Lucian explained the events one by one, though he naturally left out the 'smashing' part.
"As expected of Jingliu. Sneaking into the Luofu is like child's play for her." Baiheng smiled wryly. "I mean, this is Jing Yuan's private residence, known only to a handful of people, yet she still managed to find us."
Before long, once she had dressed, she handed Lucian a comb with a smile.
"Help me brush my hair~" Baiheng asked while acting cute.
At this, Lucian rolled his eyes.
'You know this is someone else's private home, yet you still act so impolitely...'
Lucian complained inwardly and judged that he definitely had to tidy the place before Jing Yuan showed up, before accepting the comb and brushing Baiheng's hair, then her tail fur with it.
"Today, you stay here with Jingliu. I'll go to clear her crimes." Lucian said, rubbing Baiheng's fluffy tail. "She definitely doesn't want to keep carrying the guilt of slaughtering her own people, so I'll sort this out as soon as possible."
"Clear her crimes?" Baiheng raised her eyebrows. "How? I mean, the Alliance laws are strict and rarely compromise..."
"Simple." Lucian smiled calmly, looking confident. "Just get forgiveness letters from the victims."
===
At the Seat of Divine Foresight, many were already busy starting their day, yet the leading general was still buried under his blanket.
In the eastern residence of his private estate, Jing Yuan slept soundlessly.
Between this residence and the western one, where Lucian and Baiheng stayed, stretched a grove of tall bamboo, separating the two places.
*Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*
At seven o'clock, as Jing Yuan's alarm rang, he raised a hand, turned it off, and rolled over to continue sleeping, but—
*Ding-Dong!*
*Ding-Dong!*
Just as he was about to return to dreamland, the doorbell suddenly resounded.
Jing Yuan sighed, got up reluctantly, slowly walked to the foyer, and then opened the front door.
Surprisingly, the guest was actually Lucian, but unlike his usual casual and carefree look, this time he appeared sharp and commanding.
"Uh, so early? Did something happen? Hahh~" Jing Yuan yawned, his eyes still bleary with sleep.
It couldn't be helped—he was older now, teetering on the edge of mara, so he had to keep his mood light and relaxed.
"I wanna clear Jingliu's crimes." Lucian went straight to the point. "Ask the Ten-Lords Commission if forgiveness letters from the victims would work."
As soon as these words fell, Jing Yuan instantly jolted awake, his face full of seriousness.
Forgiveness letters?
From victims?
They were already dead, so how could they write forgiveness letters?
Was it resurrection, like what had happened to General Yueyu and General Teng Xiao?
If that were the case, that would be monumental.
"Are you serious?" Jing Yuan asked with a grave expression. "Don't tell me—you can resurrect the dead without limits? You can just bring back anyone you want?"
"Not without limits—in fact, the limitations are too great." Lucian shook his head. "As long as there's either a body part or a soul, I can bring them back, but if both are gone, then it's impossible."
Upon hearing this, Jing Yuan's face went blank, having no idea how to respond.
It couldn't be helped.
Was that even supposed to be a limitation?
"So... from what I get... Jingliu is alive, maybe even fully recovered, and could very well be here on the Luofu now?"
From Lucian's words, Jing Yuan pieced together the clues and came up with a bold guess.
Lucian, however, only smiled without answering.
Truly, as expected of the wise Arbiter-General known as the Divine Foresight, his mind was truly sharp—just a bit of talk, and he had already reached the truth.
"Alright." Jing Yuan nodded. "I'll ask the Marshal right away. If she steps in, the Ten-Lords Commission should agree."
In the next moment, he went back to his bedroom, dressed in his official outfit, and called Marshal Hua.
Lucian waited outside for quite a while, and soon, when Jing Yuan hung up and returned, he let out a smile.
"Apparently, the Alliance values you highly." Jing Yuan said with relief as he gazed at Lucian. "Thanks to that, the Ten-Lords Commission even made an exception and agreed to let you do it as you see fit. Of course, you already know their real intention."
"Naturally." Lucian nodded calmly. "They just wanna use this chance to probe the secret of how I can perfectly resurrect the dead, right?"
"Exactly." Jing Yuan chuckled. "They want to send people to observe and record. What do you think?"
Lucian honestly didn't care.
After all, even if he performed resurrection right in front of them, they wouldn't understand the principle behind the Godly Bandage.
Soon after, Jing Yuan located records from seven hundred years ago, after Jingliu fell to mara.
It was stated that she had slain a thousand Cloud Knights, which was, without a doubt, the unforgivable crime of betraying the Xianzhou Alliance by slaughtering her comrades.
Jing Yuan compiled the list of victims and handed it to the judges of the Ten-Lords Commission at the Shackling Prison.
In truth, the public graves for Jingliu's victims were merely symbolic, as the real ashes of their bodies were kept within a domain under the Ten-Lords Commission's control.
Lucian followed Jing Yuan to the branch office of the Ten-Lords Commission, and then, before several judges of the Ten-Lords Commission, he wrapped all the ashes in a white bandage created by the Godly Bandage.
Before so many witnesses, Lucian's technique showed not a trace of the power of Abundance at all, yet he revived the ashes into living, breathing people!
Several judges recorded video, scribbled notes, and sent everything back to headquarters, yet nothing made sense.
All they saw was Lucian wrapping the ashes in a white bandage, and suddenly, they became humans again.
Merely witnessing something like that, they had no idea what power was at work.
Later, Lucian sent the resurrected victims to the Xianzhou Yuque, where Yao Guang personally verified their identities. Naturally, in return for resurrecting them, he received a thousand signed forgiveness letters from them.
From that moment on, Jingliu's crimes were wiped clean, and she regained her status and rights as a citizen of the Xianzhou Alliance.
To Jing Yuan's surprise, the entire process took only a single day.
===
By the time Jingliu woke up, it was already dusk.
"What... happened…" Jingliu held her head, incredulous that she had become so weak. "Was I knocked out?"
"You're awake? Heehee~" Baiheng, sitting near the window, chuckled as she looked at Jingliu.
"Baiheng..." Jingliu muttered in a daze. "To see you again... It feels unreal..."
As soon as she saw Baiheng's face, her heart told her none of this could be real.
"Wait..." Jingliu, looking like she remembered something, quickly glanced around nervously. "Where?! Where's Master?!"
Clearly, she feared Lucian might be gone again.
"Alright, calm down..." Baiheng stood up, approached the panicked Jingliu, then gently embraced her, soothing her. "He went to clear your crimes, and it worked. Now you no longer carry the sin of killing your own people. You're free now."
Upon hearing this, Jingliu instantly froze in place.
"I slept, and he already solved all my problems...?"
Jingliu murmured in disbelief, and without her even realizing it, a smile formed on her face—a pure and heartfelt smile she had never shown ever since the death of her parents.
"Baiheng, do you think... running into him means I must've saved the world in my past life?" Jingliu muttered absent-mindedly. "How else could I have the great luck of running into him if I don't have extremely good karma from my past life..."
===
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