Lan sat where They were, posture perfectly straight, as if nothing had affected Them.
Jing Yuan stood up, unsure whether he should stop him.
It wasn't until his Aeon's collar became increasingly disheveled that he gave a light cough.
Akivili happened to let go, turned to look at him, and asked, "What's going on? Did something happen to your Imbibitor Lunae too? That shouldn't be possible, right?"
Jing Yuan froze for half a second.
What did he mean, our Imbibitor Lunae too?
He smiled and said, "Of course not. You're joking."
Jing Yuan listed, one by one, all the contributions made by the Nameless Dan Heng.
Only then did Akivili suddenly realize, what did this have to do with the High Elder?
This was clearly Zero's problem.
Akivili waved a hand and casually said, "That's true. You have your close friend. How could anything happen?"
Hearing that, Jing Yuan vaguely formed a guess.
He opened his mouth, about to ask for more details, when Akivili rolled up his sleeves and strode toward the exit aggressively. Waving goodbye without turning around, he shouted,
"Alright, I'm leaving. I'm going to teach him a lesson!"
Lan lowered Their eyes and picked up the gift bag Akivili had left behind.
Jing Yuan sat back down and waited quietly.
The Aeon slowly took a captain's hat out of the bag.
The brim was covered in dried blood.
Its owner had accidentally dropped it onto the ground, staining it with the blood there.
Jing Yuan closed his eyes briefly.
Why had the god mentioned Xuling?
Why had They personally gone there?
Because... It was Zero's blood.
Jing Yuan said nothing and examined it carefully.
That amount of blood... Calling it bloodstains wasn't accurate.
A pool of blood would be more fitting.
That fellow had most likely cut through an artery.
Jing Yuan looked toward the Aeon.
Some indescribable emotion flashed through Those calm, undisturbed eyes.
Holding the hat, Lan looked at it for a while before putting it back and taking out a pair of gloves.
The palms and knuckles were mottled with blood.
Looking more closely, there were also several cuts sliced into them.
It seemed that Akivili had worn these gloves and tightly gripped some blood-covered sharp weapon.
He hadn't pressed on that person's wound.
He hadn't administered any first aid.
Instead, he had held the knife that person had given him.
Akivili had arrived one step too late.
After reaching that conclusion, Lan returned the gloves to the bag.
Since becoming an Aeon, the number of times They had truly experienced emotion could be counted on one hand.
Akivili and Matthias had personally witnessed that person's departure.
If it had been them, their emotions surely wouldn't have remained as calm as Lan's.
Lan could not experience emotions more deeply.
Nor did They wish to tear open the old scars of those who knew the truth.
Yes.
That person was still alive.
He would always bring miracles to the Xianzhou.
After he left, those who remained endured pain like their muscles being torn away and bones stripped apart, leaning on one another as they licked their wounds.
Fortunately, a miracle had once again descended upon them.
He created another miracle.
He reversed life and death.
He refused to use the power Lan had separated out.
He refused to become an Emanator of the Aeon.
He didn't care about life or death.
He didn't care about the suffering and pain he had experienced in the past.
If anyone asked, he would only brush it off with a few simple words.
But the pain he and everyone else had experienced had truly existed.
It could never be erased.
He really had died once.
That fact would not change because of his attitude.
Lan looked at the gift bag.
This hat and this pair of gloves belonged only in the Forest of Utmost Loyalty in Xuling.
They lowered Their head and swept Their gaze across the table.
Akivili wasn't a qualified guest.
He had only drunk half his tea, and had casually left the tasting cup where it was.
Lan put away the tasting cup and poured the remaining tea into the tea tray.
Then They lifted the lid, glanced at the tea leaves, and asked Jing Yuan, "Would you like another cup?"
Jing Yuan didn't react for a moment.
Lan added, "The tea leaves are rare. It would be a waste to throw them away."
Without showing it, Jing Yuan pinched his thigh.
He was actually going to drink tea brewed by the Reignbow Arbiter?
Jing Yuan nodded repeatedly, his eyes fixed on the Aeon's every movement.
Previously, he had accompanied the former Luofu General Teng Xiao in reviewing the entire history of the Xianzhou from beginning to end.
Before becoming an Aeon, the god had only spent a few years with Zero.
Were they superior and subordinate?
Or teacher and student?
Jing Yuan leaned more toward the latter.
If they hadn't shared a close relationship built on mutual trust, why would the Reignbow Arbiter have responded?
Jing Yuan carefully recalled the details of the Aeon brewing tea on both occasions and reached a conclusion.
This technique...
At a glance, it was obvious Zero had taught it.
Their methods of brewing tea were extremely similar.
Rather than brewing tea, it felt more like a performance full of beauty and strength.
Not long afterward, the Aeon poured the freshly brewed tea into a fairness pitcher, then picked it up and poured Jing Yuan another cup.
Jing Yuan held up the tasting cup.
Tea personally poured by the Reignbow Arbiter...
If he didn't drink it, wouldn't that be terribly rude?
Jing Yuan drank half the cup, and Lan immediately refilled it.
This repeated several times.
After Jing Yuan had downed several cups in a row, Lan realized something was wrong and set down the fairness pitcher.
In Yaoqing, when receiving guests, one always watched the guest's cup and refilled it.
Jing Yuan was from the Luofu.
Could customs really differ from place to place?
Lan pondered for a moment, then began explaining all the finer points of brewing tea.
These were details that couldn't be learned at the academy and weren't recorded in books.
Jing Yuan praised Their vast knowledge.
Lan didn't respond and simply continued explaining.
Drinking tea was one of that person's few hobbies.
Only when sitting at a tea table could he rest for a while.
He didn't need to cast aside his emotions.
He didn't need to keep his nerves taut every moment.
He only needed to quietly brew a pot of tea.
Out of the corner of Their eye, Lan glanced at the sky and estimated the time.
———
At the Marshal's residence on the Yaoqing, he would be teasing the pet Chaoyan had left behind.
———
At the Marshal's residence in Xuling, Hua would be playing with Chaoyan and that person's pet.
At this very moment... What was he doing?
Beside Them, Jing Yuan listened with great interest, asking questions from time to time.
Sometimes Lan answered.
Sometimes They admitted They couldn't and told Jing Yuan to ask Zero instead.
After a while, They asked, "How has he... been recently?"
"He's working at the research institute now. He says it's one day on, one day off, but even on his days off he's still studying." Jing Yuan paused for a moment before choosing his words carefully. "Yesterday, he took his master and the Elation to another world."
Jing Yuan had many guesses he wanted to confirm.
The Aeon saw through his thoughts and answered briefly, "There is no him in parallel worlds."
Otherwise, he would have started fighting Me already.
For some reason, Jing Yuan fell silent.
Lan paid it no mind and casually discarded the tea leaves.
They had once been a well-trained guard, and later held an important post in the General's residence. They had long grown accustomed to cleaning up after Themself and Their subordinates, so gathering up the tea set on the table came naturally.
The Aeon stood up and looked around, placing both hands on either side of the tea tray.
Seeing the god apparently looking for a place to wash the tea set, Jing Yuan shot up from his seat.
Smiling, he pressed a hand onto the tea tray.
"Oh my, how could I trouble You with that? I'll do it myself."