Thanks for Gam-Gam and Travis Mclennon for becoming as Supporters!
===BREAK===
Bailu stared at the entire row of trash cans on the shelves, and her indecision instantly flared up.
Those trash cans, each not much smaller than herself, truly put her in a bind. She sucked on her finger as her watery, shining eyes darted around restlessly. Worry mixed with a slightly pitiful expression, making her utterly heart-melting.
If trash cans possessed intelligence, they might very well have been moved by her delicate, helpless look.
Unfortunately, the heart of a metal trash can was just like its silver-gray shell—upright and unyielding, showing not the slightest mercy.
Thus, both can and person fell into a silent standoff.
As for Aventurine, once he had settled into the sofa in the lounge area, he stopped speaking entirely.
Sylvester looked at Aventurine's posture—head tilted back, eyes closed in apparent meditation—and felt an indescribable sense of dissonance compared to his usual playful, grinning demeanor.
Did he… break mentally? That shouldn't be the case.
He was merely beaten to it by Bailu. With his attitude of "respecting elderly professors and caring for young Stellaron spirits," his so-called virtue of respecting elders and cherishing the young, he shouldn't be breaking down over something this minor.
Did he… attain enlightenment?
What should that expression on his face even be called? Ethereal? That was probably it.
Or, more directly, it looked like Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
He really did look enlightened—but what kind of enlightenment could one possibly gain from competing with a child over trash cans?
Was he planning to join Stelle's Trash Can Kingdom and become the chief financial officer under the Trash Can King's throne?
Honestly, that wouldn't be bad. The Trash Can Kingdom's first major expansion step would finally be realized—aside from the king, there would finally be a second person.
As the saying goes, one begets two, two begets three, three begets all things. Stelle would only be two steps away from ruling the universe.
Watching Aventurine's abnormal state, Sylvester felt utterly baffled and began brainstorming wildly.
Just as he was puzzling over it, he heard a set of lazy, unsteady footsteps drifting in from outside the door.
He turned toward the newcomer and greeted, "Good morning."
After glancing at the clock, he nodded and said solemnly, "Only three minutes late today. That deserves encouragement."
Qingque yawned, her eyes barely open to a slit as thin as a strand of hair—just enough to ensure she wouldn't walk straight into a wall.
After hearing Sylvester's words, not only did she feel no shame, she actually felt proud. She raised a hand and said modestly, "Eh~~ that's nothing. Since I work for the Divination Commission, I naturally have to live up to the salary Lord Fu Xuan pays me."
"It's just that my clones have absolutely no sense of civility."
At the mention of her clones, Qingque looked as though she had endless grievances bottled up. Determined to vent, she abandoned her comfortable position leaning against the sofa back.
With her eyes closed, facing Sylvester's imagined direction, she said gloomily, "It's bad enough that clone techniques consume so much energy. On top of that, they're jealous that I, the main body, get to lie in bed playing games while they have to work themselves to the bone. So, they staged a collective rebellion and forced me into signing a surrender agreement! They said I had to take on part of the workload, or they'd 'turn themselves in' to the Master Diviner and drag everyone down with them."
After finishing this long complaint, Qingque seemed to lose all her energy. Her exhausted body twisted and wobbled, and after barely lasting the time, it took to finish one sentence, she collapsed onto the sofa.
Even then, she wasn't immediately conquered by the soft, comfortable cushion. With her last shred of dignity, she struggled and said, "So I picked the most relaxed job of all—coming here to keep records."
She wagged her finger, brimming with confidence. "Heh, those tiny clones really think they can take advantage of their main body? What a delusion."
"Tsk… mm…"
Sylvester clicked his tongue, looking at Qingque with utter speechlessness.
Other people's main bodies and clones clearly distinguished priorities, sharing hardship and fortune alike. Yet with Qingque, she had somehow started a battle of wits with herself.
Looking at the two people in the lounge—one silently "enlightening," the other half-asleep—Sylvester felt himself being infected. He couldn't help but yawn as well.
He quickly shook his head to clear his mind, then shifted his gaze toward the little dragonkin by the shelves.
Compared to those two, Bailu was brimming with energy.
She ran back and forth among the trash cans, knocking and tapping them. Occasionally, she even took advantage of her height and crawled into the shelves. In short, she used every possible physical method to try and identify differences between the trash cans.
Unfortunately, even after panting heavily from exhaustion, she still found nothing.
With no other choice, Bailu finally stopped, half aggrieved and half annoyed, and said, "Waa~ These trash cans are just too mean!"
"The second one to your left will definitely not be a green can." Just as Bailu was fretting, Aventurine's voice reached her ears.
Sylvester turned his head, looking at him with some surprise.
Leaving aside the fact that Aventurine had no way to sense the Curio inside a trash can, the mere fact that he was willing to give a good can to someone else was already rare enough. In a sense, the two of them were competitors right now.
Just yesterday, when Jingliu relied on her luck to open a can, Aventurine had been incredibly envious. Why the sudden change of heart today? Was this really enlightenment?
"Really?"
Bailu didn't think that far. She was simply amazed that Aventurine could know what was inside a trash can.
After all her efforts yielding nothing, how did he manage it? That was incredible!
She hurriedly confirmed, "Y-you're not just saying that randomly, right?"
"Of course it's real. This is my belief."
Aventurine's expression hadn't changed at all from before. He didn't even open his eyes, remaining utterly ethereal.
In a low yet resolute voice, he said, "I've already understood. The biggest reason I've repeatedly hit walls here is because I was too fixated on the result, abandoning the process of wagering to seek truth. That's why the Mother Goddess temporarily withdrew HER gaze from me. So now, I must savor the process of the wager even more—even if it means deliberately creating an opponent."
Oh, so he's just bored, huh? Sylvester thought to himself.
Still, regardless of his motives, he was helping Bailu, so there was no reason to stop him.
As for whether Aventurine's guess was correct… hmph, it could only be said that any conjecture had a chance of being right.
Bailu, meanwhile, felt utterly lost after hearing that speech. Whatever "before," whatever "Mother Goddess"—it was all far too hard to understand. Is this really Xianzhou speech?
"Uh, I don't really get it, but at least I have a target now."
Since she had no better ideas anyway, she might as well do as he said.
Bailu reached out and pulled open the trash can Aventurine had pointed out.
Then—a beam of blue light actually burst forth!
"Wow!" Bailu's face lit up with delight, her mouth opening wide before she hurriedly covered her eyes.
That blond guy is such a good person, she thought secretly. I have to ask him for advice again next time!
When the light faded, a cylindrical object had appeared in Bailu's soft, pale hands.
Judging by its appearance, it looked like… a lamp?
Her small hands flipped it around rapidly as she examined it carefully, quickly discovering a single button.
She squinted her eyes, then pressed it.
To her surprise, as it emitted blue and red lights, it also let out a series of piercing explosive sounds!
Bailu jolted in fright, nearly dropping the Curio she had just obtained.
Even worse off was Qingque in the lounge area.
Already half-asleep, she was so startled by the sudden noise that it felt as if the top of her head was about to fly off.
She leapt straight up on the spot, shouting, "Master Diviner, I wasn't slacking off!"
Her scalp tingling and her brain buzzing, Qingque couldn't tell whether she was dreaming or awake. Instinctively, she thought Fu Xuan had caught her again.
As a result, she immediately pounced on Bailu with a full-blown tiger pounce to the ground.
===BREAK===
Like the story and want more chapters?
Join and support me by joining my Patreon!
[email protected]/SiRoasa