"What kind of wind is blowing today? Miss Ruan Mei, are you here for something—or did your experiment already move on to Phase Two?"
Two days had passed since the Qiongguan Array's first trial. The Luofu was as noisy and bustling as ever.
Wei Qing stood at his own doorstep, greeting Ruan Mei outside the gate.
"Won't you invite me in to sit for a while?" she asked.
Her voice was as even as always—so flat you couldn't read a hint of emotion from it.
"Of course. Please." Wei Qing stepped aside and gestured her in.
Ruan Mei gave a slight nod and walked lightly into his residence.
They didn't go indoors. Instead, the two of them sat down in the courtyard.
"Tea?" Wei Qing asked. "Or something else?"
"No need to trouble yourself." Ruan Mei settled gracefully onto a stone stool, her gaze sweeping the courtyard without drawing attention to the movement. "A cup of plain water will do."
A moment later, Wei Qing returned from inside with a drink and set it in front of her, then sat opposite.
"Cough… I'm used to saying that. I forgot I don't actually keep water at home. Looks like I only have soda."
"…That's fine."
Ruan Mei's eyes paused on the bubbling drink for a brief moment. Then she produced a small box of pastries and placed it on the table.
"Try these. They're an experiment of mine—Xianzhou traditional pastries, something I worked on in my spare time." She slid the box toward him. "Consider it an apology of sorts for the accident during the last trial."
Inside were several delicate lotus-shaped cakes—soft pink petals layered one over another, carrying a faint, elegant fragrance of lotus.
Wei Qing raised a brow. "You make pastries too, Miss Ruan Mei? That's… unexpected."
"Life takes countless forms," Ruan Mei replied evenly. "Cooking is merely another kind of shaping and harmonizing."
Wei Qing didn't stand on ceremony. He picked one up and took a bite.
Sweet, but not cloying. Light, clean. He had to admit—it was better than most Xianzhou sweets he'd eaten.
And yet, at the same time…
Something felt off.
Oh, I see. Truth serum.
Even though it wouldn't work on him, Wei Qing still felt a profound, theatrical sadness.
So this was how it was. He treated all living beings with benevolence, and living beings repaid him with schemes.
Pain. Truly pain.
So the fantasy was fake after all—an elegant, aloof older sister who only treated him specially in private, and even cooked for him.
That kind of woman didn't exist.
"How is it?" the wicked Miss Ruan Mei asked.
"Memorable," Wei Qing praised with absolute sincerity. "If Miss Ruan Mei ever opened a pastry shop, half the chefs on the Luofu would be out of work."
The corner of Ruan Mei's lips lifted—just barely, the smallest hint of a smile.
"You flatter me. Then it seems the gift was appropriate."
She paused, then let the conversation slide naturally into its true purpose.
"Our preliminary analysis of the Qiongguan Array's data remnants is complete."
"Oh?" Wei Qing arched a brow. "And what did it prove—besides the fact that the Aeon of Elation loves crashing parties?"
Ruan Mei's lips curved upward again—so faint it was almost a single pixel of expression.
"It proved that your 'specialness' exceeds our original estimate. To draw attention from an Aeon directly—even if that Aeon is Aha—is not something an ordinary Emanator can accomplish."
She stopped, watching him closely before continuing.
"Herta and I extracted what we could from the residual data. Interesting thing—before Aha's power interfered, the Qiongguan Array appeared to capture more than one Path."
Wei Qing's expression didn't change. "More than one Path… meaning what, exactly?"
Ruan Mei chose her words with care. Her eyes stayed on him, as if she intended to catch even the smallest tremor in his face.
"Destruction. The Hunt." Her voice remained soft. "And even a trace—extremely faint, but unmistakable—of Abundance."
Those last two syllables left her mouth lightly, almost weightless.
Her gaze, however, sharpened like a blade and pinned Wei Qing in place.
As a genius obsessed with the essence of life, Ruan Mei had naturally studied Abundance long ago—a Path aligned too neatly with "life" to be ignored.
When she first arrived on the Luofu, she had requested access to research the Ambrosial Arbor. That hadn't been a whim. She truly was interested.
The Luofu had refused, of course.
And she didn't have the leverage to make them relent.
Wei Qing took a slow sip of his drink before replying, unhurried.
"Abundance?" he said mildly. "Miss Ruan Mei, that joke isn't funny. I'm a Cloud Knight blessed by the Reignbow Arbiter. How could I possibly carry Abundance's aura? If anything, it's probably just noise from Aha's meddling. The array was blown to pieces."
His reaction was so natural—so perfectly calibrated with the right amount of offended disbelief—that it almost felt rehearsed.
Ruan Mei studied him in silence for a few seconds.
"Perhaps." She didn't press further. Her tone stayed calm. "Aeonic power exceeds mortal understanding. Interference in data is common. It's just that the residual trace was… unusually distinctive."
Then, as if shifting back into polite conversation, she asked:
"Still, I am genuinely curious. Mr. Wei Qing—what did you see inside the Qiongguan Array? Is it truly inconvenient to say?"
Wei Qing sighed and set his drink down.
"…It's not exactly private. It's just… difficult to say out loud."
He looked away slightly, as though recalling something deeply embarrassing.
"But if Miss Ruan Mei is really that curious… I can tell you a little."
"Oh?" Ruan Mei's voice remained steady, but her eyes focused more sharply. "I'm listening."
Wei Qing's face arranged itself into a timely mix of awkwardness and helpless resignation.
"Actually… before I saw Aha, I saw another Aeon."
"Who?" Ruan Mei asked. She sounded composed, but her attention had clearly tightened.
Destruction? Abundance? She couldn't help thinking of the two other traces she'd seen in the trial.
Wei Qing drew in a breath, as if making a decision.
"I saw Nous."
Ruan Mei's hand—holding the drink—paused so slightly it was nearly imperceptible.
She froze.
"Nous?"
How was that possible?
If Nous truly descended and glanced at him… didn't that imply he might immediately qualify for the Genius Society?
"Nous…" Ruan Mei repeated, and for the first time her voice showed a visible ripple. "You're certain?"
Wei Qing nodded heavily, sincere to the point of solemn.
"I've never seen Nous before, but I'm sure I didn't mistake it."
"And then?" Ruan Mei asked.
"And then… it allowed me to ask one question."
Ruan Mei fell silent for a moment before she spoke again.
"One question…" Her curiosity slipped through despite herself, direct and almost impolite in its urgency. "What did you ask?"
Wei Qing inhaled as though the next sentence took an unreasonable amount of courage.
"This is what I asked."
He looked her straight in the eyes.
"Nous—Nous—who do you think is the most beautiful woman in this world?"
Join here to read ahead.
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TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter50)
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I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter50)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 10
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 10
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