Cangxuan's expression was indifferent, but Danzhu was her twin sister and they had grown up together. How could she not see her sister's nervousness?
However, Danzhu simply believed that her sister was having trouble adapting to the change in environment.
That was just how Cangxuan was. She possessed an unparalleled power of observation; on this point alone, Danzhu was confident that not even Dr. Mebius could compare to her sister.
But this had a downside.
If they were in an unfamiliar environment where Cangxuan couldn't grasp any of the "rules," she might become resistant, or even fearful.
Danzhu didn't want her sister to be so distressed, which was why she was always trying to find ways to comfort Cangxuan and make her laugh.
After all, ever since they had arrived here, her sister's brow had been constantly furrowed.
She seemed to be perpetually worried about something.
But Danzhu felt that since they were already dead and there was no Honkai here, they might as well relax and be happy, taking each day as it came.
She would be the one to break her sister's gloom!
At that moment, however, Ye Feng smiled.
"Ah, it looks like Danzhu has finished cooking. You win this round, Cangxuan. You're quite impressive. As promised, I'll let you go for today. See you later~"
Eh?
Cangxuan was slightly taken aback. Ye Feng had really vanished, just like that!
She hadn't even seen how he left.
That guy is surprisingly true to his word?
But this was, ultimately, a good thing.
Cangxuan subconsciously reached down to straighten her slightly disheveled skirt, concealing the faint glisten of moisture on her thighs.
She looked at her sister's expectant gaze and nodded.
"Alright, let's go together tonight."
She truly did need to bathe and wash herself clean.
It was like a dam; even if the floodgates weren't opened, some water would still seep through.
"Yay!"
Danzhu cheered, hopping up and down so excitedly that she nearly dropped the plate.
"Be careful."
A weight lifted from Cangxuan's heart, and she stroked her sister's head.
However, she failed to notice that the heart icon at the end of the pink progress bar was locked.
This meant she would remain in a constant state of ninety-percent stimulation.
---o---
Qingque, a diviner of the Xianzhou Luofu's Divination Commission.
In her ten-plus years at the Divination Commission, Qingque had managed to act like a harmless and low-key little sparrow.
She had originally only taken the stable government job to meet her parents' expectations. Qingque thought she could finally relax, but she had no idea that the Divination Commission—responsible for intelligence, calculations, and information—was a boundless sea of suffering for slackers. No matter how hard she tried, she could see no shore.
The high-intensity work plunged Qingque into a state of torment from which there was no escape.
But "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." After struggling through her endless career, Qingque had mastered the veteran-level skills of slacking off. Departments came and went, and her supervisors changed several times.
Qingque, however, remained immovably at the lowest rank of diviner, and there were even signs of her sinking lower... her progress was truly gratifying.
She had thought her days would be leisurely from then on—playing Celestial Jade every day, occasionally strolling through the streets. Wouldn't such a simple life be wonderful?
However, the good times didn't last. A few years ago, a formidable new boss arrived.
The Grand Diviner of the Divination Commission, Fu Xuan, a pink-haired shorty.
For some reason, she had set her sights on this inconspicuous little sparrow.
She was forced to write reports every other day.
It was pure hell for Qingque—the Grand Diviner, whose actions were as precise as a Jade Abacus, could always find new work to pile on whenever she tried to sneak a break.
Deprived of her leisure, Qingque engaged in a daily battle of wits with her superior just to be able to slack off at work.
"Yo, Qingque, clocking in right on the dot again."
As soon as Qingque walked into the department, a colleague greeted her with a smile.
"Not at all. On my way here today, I helped a blind old granny cross the street. That's what held me up."
Although she called her an old granny, the woman was breathtakingly beautiful, with a superb figure and skin.
However, the people of Xianzhou didn't judge by such things; Qingque could sense an aura of "being at death's door" about her.
But she was probably genuinely blind; she wore a black blindfold like those from Tsukihime.
"Alright, alright, you think we don't know you? The boss isn't in today. Up for a few rounds of Celestial Jade?"
"Heh, now that's a great idea! You've grasped the essence of work, my friend. Come on, come on, clear off those documents, let's play a few hands."
Qingque eagerly dragged a chair over and sat down.
Several other colleagues also pulled out their Celestial Jade sets from hidden compartments.
The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, without the slightest hesitation.
Under Qingque's influence, her colleagues had also developed the good habit of slacking off at work.
"Have you heard? The Trailblazing express has set off once again."
"Akivili, the Wandering Cloud Celestial Lord? He's not dead? Ah, Pong!"
"No, you really don't know? From what I've heard, it's been on its way for several months. I don't know if the Wandering Cloud Celestial Lord is dead or not, but someone has definitely inherited the will of the Trailblaze."
Qingque fiddled with her tiles. "Bah, stuff like that has nothing to do with us. We're just small-fry on the Xianzhou. It'd be better to talk about when the Celestial Jade tournament in Aurum Alley is starting. I'm a bit tight on cash this month."
"According to the grapevine, this year's tournament might be canceled."
"What? Is your source reliable? Pong."
"Of course. My second uncle's cousin's third aunt's son works in the Realm-Keeping Commission. How could it not be true?"
"Oh. Huh... Mahjong."
Qingque pushed her tiles forward, revealing a beautiful winning hand.
However, her colleagues looked as if they had seen a ghost and scattered in a panic.
"Hey, what are you running for? It's just a little money, don't tell me you're going to skip out on your... debt... huh?"
Qingque felt an invisible pressure from behind her, as if a chaotic black aura was swelling, writhing like tentacles.
Qingque froze. Her head turned with the jerky motion of a broken robot, and the Grand Diviner's gloomy face came into view...
That night.
As soon as Qingque got home, she collapsed onto her bed.
"Every step in life is like drawing a tile—so thrilling and exciting~ Getting caught playing tiles by the Grand Diviner, and she didn't even fire me."
"But in the end, she just gave me the most tedious Jade Abacus calibration work?"
"Sigh, I don't know why she's so focused on a lowly diviner like me. She even asked if I was dissatisfied with her. My workload has more than doubled since the Grand Diviner arrived. I wouldn't say I'm dissatisfied, I just hope you get promoted soon, Grand Diviner. Ah, wait, isn't the next step up General?"
Qingque shook her head.
"Forget it. What's done is done. Time for sleep. Bringing work stress home is a very bad deal."
Qingque closed her eyes and slowly drifted off.
But it felt as if she opened them again the very next second.
"Huh? Where is this... a private school? No, it's a classroom, right?"
There were neat rows of desks, and on the blackboard at the front were introductory math formulas.
Qingque had seen something similar in a book titled Herta's Memoirs (Not an Autobiography). It seemed her homeworld had similar facilities.