"Shangshang! Are you done with work? When did you get back?"
The reddish-orange-ponytail girl put down her gong and mallet, ran happily over to Moon Shade, beaming, and grabbed her hands.
"Why didn't you message me!"
Guinaifen, also known as Guinevere, was originally the youngest daughter of the Duke Protector of Camelot. Her family was shattered and she was left to wander after an invasion by the Antimatter Legion.
Her older brother was forced to become a space pirate to support his siblings, only robbing merchant vessels and never raiding homes. For this, some called him a roguish hero who helped the poor.
Later, he had the good fortune of robbing a merchant ship from the Xianzhou, which led to his gang being wiped out. The Xianzhou Alliance, taking pity on their circumstances, pardoned his death sentence and invited his entire family to live on the Xianzhou.
To make a living, Guinaifen became a proud acrobat and streamer. During one street livestream, she ran into some thugs who had ill intentions toward her.
Fortunately, a swordswoman descended from the sky and gave the thugs a sound beating.
Heh, and who might this bold swordswoman be?
None other than the ever-charitable Sushang, known on the Luofu as the 'Timely Rain'!
Her partner in crime... ahem, her bestie!
At the time, Guinaifen was stuck in a creative rut. Traditional acrobatics like the lion dance, cylinder balancing, and fire breathing were long outdated on the Xianzhou Luofu.
In any of the 360 trades, one must keep up with the times. Innovation is the only way to survive.
Guinaifen began to activate her world-shaking intellect, pondering how to innovate her act and create stunts the masses would love to see.
'Eating noodles while doing a handstand,' 'whistling while brushing teeth,' 'smashing a boulder on the chest,' and so on. But she couldn't perform the boulder-smashing trick alone; she needed a partner.
And that's when Guinaifen naturally thought of her newly-acquainted bestie, Sushang!
"I..."
Stared at by Guinaifen's bright eyes, Moon Shade quickly considered how to respond. Should she put on an awkward performance?
"Aiya, we can talk later! I just got the crowd warmed up, and the stream is still live. Can't leave the fam hanging."
Guinaifen took Moon Shade's hand and, to Bailu's subtle expression, walked toward the center of the performance area.
"You came at the perfect time! A lot of the fam have been asking about you."
Guinaifen pointed to the phone on its tripod. The density of the bullet comments on the screen had surged with Sushang's arrival.
[Xianzhou Guizi Eats What Today: Go Sushang, go!]
[Jing Yuan Stan: First time seeing her, cute, I'm a stan, let's get married!]
[GrandmaFan GrandmaFan: She's here, she's here, the real streamer is finally back! The assistant can step down!]
[Shangshang Stan: Why does today's Shangshang feel a bit off? She seems... too clever by half.]
"The fam is tired of seeing me eat noodles while doing a handstand. They said if I'm out of ideas, I can always smash a boulder on my chest."
Guinaifen cleared off a long table cluttered with acrobatic props, wiped it clean with a cloth, and then spread a performance cloth over it.
"Since the fam wants to see it, we've gotta deliver."
She lifted an iron-headed sledgehammer from a box with both hands and rested the handle firmly on her shoulder.
Full of bravado, Guinaifen gave Moon Shade a thumbs-up and a confident wink:
"Today, I, Little Guizi, and Shangshang, shall once again become the 'Unmatched Duo of the Luofu,' the ultimate partners in crime!"
[Uh... smashing a boulder on her chest?]
In the background of the body, Li Sushang, who shared Moon Shade's five senses, heard Guinaifen's words and felt a strange mix of emotions.
At first, she had been happy to see the acrobatics show. Back when she roamed the jianghu, she had always loved lively scenes. Besides listening to storytellers and watching plays, watching acrobatics was a small hobby of hers.
She had even performed on stage herself, earning the crowd's applause just by showing off a few of her martial arts skills.
But... smashing a boulder on her chest? She had never tried that.
From the current situation, it was obvious this acrobat girl knew 'her'.
[Moon Shade, are we going to perform?]
"Emmmm..."
To be honest, Moon Shade was quite interested in the whole boulder-smashing thing. Even though she'd be the one getting smashed, if she were to perform, she would definitely have to add her own flair to it!
The reason she acted hesitant and conflicted was mainly to maintain her persona in Li Sushang's eyes. At the very least, she couldn't appear too excited.
[Optional Quest:
Option 1: Little Guizi, taste my backstab! As a Cloud Knight, arrest Guinaifen for busking, and in front of her livestream audience, give her an ideological lecture to promote Cloud Knight culture.
Option 2: Eighty! Eighty! Eighty! Cooperate with Guinaifen's performance. Smash it! Let her smash it with all her might!]
[Reward: Complete either option to receive Crystals x20.]
Oho~?
There's a reward!
"I'm in, I'm in!"
With a reward on the line, what's there to even think about?!
Moon Shade instantly snapped into 'Sushang' mode, her boisterous antics making the audience chuckle. The livestream chat filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
After a high-five with Little Guizi, Moon Shade deftly lay down on the long table.
This surprised Guinaifen a bit. Why was Shangshang so proactive today? The last time she'd asked her to help with the boulder-smashing trick, it had taken a lot of convincing.
Oh well, whatever. As long as the actor is in position!
First, she draped a red cloth over Shangshang, then placed a granite slab, a good ten-plus centimeters thick, on her bestie's chest.
The red cloth was to keep Shangshang's clothes from getting dirty.
Lowering her gaze, Moon Shade could clearly see her 'big darlings' being squashed into two pale, snowy ovals.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, no wonder this world's Sushang is lacking. It must be from all the smashing by Guinaifen.
She smashed her from a big pillow into a small one!
"Hey, hey, hey, here we gooo!"
"Let me introduce our surprise guest for the new fam members today! The genius rookie of the Cloud Knights—Miss Sushang! Come on, fam, spam 'Welcome, Miss Sushang' in the chat~"
Guinaifen aimed the phone at the brown-haired girl pinned under the large rock and grinned:
"Fam, double-tap that screen and hit that follow button! Today, Shangshang and I will perform 'smashing a boulder on a maiden's chest' for you all!"
Watching the bullet comments explode, Guinaifen nodded in satisfaction, set up her phone, adjusted the angle, and lifted the hammer—bigger than her own head—high into the air with both hands.
Bailu stared blankly, still unable to process the contrast between this Sushang and the Li Sushang from before.
"Three... two..."
The surrounding audience fell silent the moment Guinaifen started her countdown. Moon Shade's lips curled into a smirk as she smiled at the livestream.
This body, possessing the Heart of Taixu, had perfect control over Honkai energy. Its compatibility with Honkai energy was comparable to or even surpassed that of an ordinary Herrscher, and its fine control over energy far exceeded a Herrscher's.
[I'm counting on you, my other self.]
Moon Shade called out to Li Sushang in her mind.
Li Sushang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she mobilized her power all the same.
The Ki of Taixu is formless.
Moon Shade filled the space between her body and the slab with the formless Ki, and also enveloped the granite slab itself.
"One... Here we go!"
The countdown finished, and Guinaifen swung the great hammer down.
BANG!
The hammer smashed heavily onto the granite slab, but no cheers erupted. The bullet comments in the livestream also slowed down.
Because it didn't break!
"Eh?"
Guinaifen, holding the hammer, was also stunned.
Why didn't it break?
She looked at the brown-haired girl, whose head was the only thing visible.
"Shangshang, how do you feel?"
"Huh? I don't feel anything."
Moon Shade maintained 'Sushang's' look of pure idiocy, appearing completely dazed and oblivious.
Guinaifen was puzzled. She had used a lot of strength, and she'd paid attention to her technique when swinging. It shouldn't have failed to break, right?
"Haha, an accident, that was just an accident. Let's try again."
With no time to think, Guinaifen swung the hammer again, raising it high and bringing it down with force.
THUD!
The scene remained silent, but the livestream's bullet comments were multiplying.
Guinaifen looked again at Sushang's dopy expression, completely bewildered.
What's going on?
Is there something wrong with the granite block?
Impossible!
All the blocks are the same.
"Little Guizi, use more force. I can take it."
As if thinking her bestie was holding back, causing the atmosphere to stall, and wanting to help her salvage the mood, Moon Shade nodded at Guinaifen.
Her bestie had said so herself, even offering herself up to save the show. Guinaifen was deeply moved and raised the iron hammer once more.
On the third strike, Guinaifen abandoned technique for pure strength. Still didn't break~
On the fourth strike, using the strength of her core to lift the hammer, Guinaifen's pretty face flushed red from the effort, and she gritted her teeth.
Whether it was the live audience or the viewers on the stream, everyone could see that Little Guizi was really giving it her all!
It was even clearer in person; veins were popping on her delicate hands.
She swung down with immense, heavy force!
The audience's eyes widened. Little Guizi was going for broke!
And yet...
BOOM!
It still didn't break.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Amidst the sound of the 'Eighty! Eighty! Eighty!' sledgehammer, the curve of Moon Shade's lips deepened.
The system quest only said to cooperate with Guinaifen's performance and let her smash it; it never said she had to let her break the stone.
Ahem, of course, Moon Shade's original intention wasn't to deliberately embarrass Little Guizi. She was just using this method to make a deeper impression on her.
This time, during the boulder-smashing performance, she used so much strength and still couldn't break it, leaving her in an awkward position.
Next time, to avoid making a fool of herself in public again, Guinaifen would definitely use more force on the very first swing.
And the person performing 'boulder smashes chest' with Little Guizi next time definitely won't be Moon Shade.
Hopefully Sushang will be fine~
Just as Moon Shade was sending thoughts and prayers to Sushang in her mind.
On a street not far from the acrobatics performance, a cool and graceful figure was strolling along.
Her gradient ice-white hair cascaded down to her waist like moonlight so bright it was almost faded. An off-the-shoulder neckline revealed the porcelain hollow of her collarbones, where a teardrop-shaped glass pendant hung. Cloud patterns snaked up from her waist, bursting across a light-colored, petal-shaped blouse.
Over-the-knee boots hugged her slender calves, and the silver rings at the top, which bit into her snowy-white thighs, were engraved with the pattern of an epiphyllum.
Most striking of all, the woman's eyes were covered by a black eye mask with a silver moon pattern. Was she blind?
"This is... sword intent?"
As she passed the street corner, the icy beauty's steps suddenly halted. Her willow-like eyebrows twitched, and she turned and walked toward the gathering crowd.
At the same time, the shadows in a corner of the street rippled like a lake's surface where a stone has been cast, and a figure emerged from within.
"Hm?"
The moment his foot stepped out of the shadows, Caelus noticed the figure exuding a cool aura.
"What is she doing here?"
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