"You know," Yu Xian glanced at Qingque again—or rather, at the precious Diyuan Jade abacus she was holding so carefully in her hands.
Then he couldn't help but laugh. He instantly understood why Qingque had come to see him.
"My little birdie, were you in such a hurry to find me today just to show me those abacus?"
As soon as he said this, it was as if he had flipped a switch. Qingque's big eyes lit up, and her expression—once a mix of embarrassment and anticipation—instantly turned into a bright, silly smile. She nodded quickly.
"Of course! This is serious business!"
Qingque spoke with unusual seriousness.
"Things have been really uneasy lately. Just walking down the street, you can see ruffians causing trouble—and even within the Ten-Lords Commission, things aren't peaceful. Honestly, it's all the Lord Magistrate's fault. Why did she have to bring up succession with you? Now everyone's restless."
"I... I was worried about you!" she continued earnestly. "So, I took some time these past few days to do a few divinations for you—to see your fortune, good or bad. That way, you can seek good luck and avoid harm, right?"
As she spoke, Qingque's furrowed willow-leaf brows finally relaxed. Taking a few quick steps forward, she held the jade abacus up to Yu Xian.
The Diyuan Jade abacus was smooth and flawless, each bead carved with a small, colorfully painted fish so lifelike it almost seemed to swim. Though its shape wasn't exact, in spirit and expression, it looked almost exactly like Qingque herself.
"Hehe, today's result is also Great Good Fortune!" she said proudly.
But before Yu Xian could study it further, Qingque pulled the abacus back with a grin.
"You know, today's omen really startled me! Guess what it said? That you'll encounter the Denizens of Abundance today!"
Her eyes sparkled as she said it, brimming with excitement.
Yu Xian raised an eyebrow, amused. "If I'm going to encounter the Denizens of Abundance, how could that possibly be Great Good Fortune? Qingque, you're not trying to fool me, are you?"
He chuckled, though inwardly his expression darkened in thought.
Qingque didn't notice. She giggled and waved her hand.
"Hehe, I was shocked too at first! But after looking closer, I realized those Denizens are just a bunch of fools. They won't be able to hurt you at all. In fact, you'll defeat them single-handedly—"
Now completely absorbed in her own words, Qingque's tone grew livelier as she went on.
"Then, when you hand them all over to the Cloud Knights, you'll be rewarded handsomely! I even divined that General Jing Yuan himself will come to see you. You'll be the great hero of the entire Luofu!"
"A great hero, huh... Heh..."
Yu Xian smiled faintly. Qingque beamed even brighter.
"When that happens," she said with a grin, "we're definitely celebrating—with a few rounds of tiles!"
---
The Luofu, Aurum Alley
After cutting down the last assassin, Yu Xian's strength finally gave out. He collapsed to his knees.
Clutching his chest, he tried in vain to stop the bleeding from the gaping hole torn through him by the wildly growing branches—one of the Denizens's cursed spells. Blood poured endlessly down his dust-covered clothes, pooling on the shattered ground beneath him.
Heh... heh...
Yu Xian leaned weakly against the wall of a ruined shop, forcing a faint laugh.
Back when Qingque told him he would encounter the Denizens of Abundance—
When she said he'd meet Jing Yuan and become a hero—
He had already known what the "crisis" of this simulation would be.
Denizens of Abundance.
And perhaps others who had grown wary of him.
Together, they would move against him—to kill him.
He had guessed it. But even so... he lost.
The situation was far more complicated than Qingque's divination had foretold—and far more dangerous than he had imagined.
The Denizens of Abundance weren't simple opponents. They hadn't come to kill him outright. Instead, they unleashed chaos in a crowded marketplace, forcing him to act and protect civilians.
With hostages everywhere, the enemy became much harder to fight. Even with Yu Xian's power as a Masked Fool, it took everything he had to subdue them one by one. But—
Yu Xian looked down at the wound in his abdomen—a simple stab, small compared to the hole in his chest. Yet it was that "minor" injury that sealed his defeat.
He had beaten the Denizens' front-line fighters.
But he failed to evade the hidden strike—a joint ambush by the Divination Commission and the Vidyadhara.
Cough... cough...
A Vidyadhara assassin, cloaked by Cloudhymn magic, and others shielded by spells that masked them from all divination...
Yu Xian had seen them clearly at last.
Among them weren't just strangers.
He had recognized several Long Live species—employees of the Divination Commission.
The Divination Commission... Diviners...
Perhaps they had been colluding with traitors all along.
Or perhaps, upon hearing that Fu Xuan intended to entrust him with an important task, they'd simply decided he was in their way.
But now, Yu Xian no longer had the strength to think.
His vision dimmed, colors fading into gray. He couldn't tell if he was dying or dreaming.
He just thought—
"I hope... Qingque is alright..."
His thoughts drifted, untethered... rising into darkness.
Sight vanished.
Then smell.
Then the cold, the pain, the metallic taste of blood.
He heard someone crying.
"No... please don't..."
"I beg you..."
His fingers twitched weakly. He couldn't tell whose voice it was.
So be it...
He smiled faintly to himself.
Whatever happened next was beyond him.
The perfect ending had slipped away once again.
All he had gained was another nightmare.
The pain... faded.
Time to sleep.
---
If Yu Xian had been willing to abandon the hostages that day—
If he had treated those simulated civilians as mere illusions—
The outcome would have been different.
He would have survived.
He could have slain his enemies and returned a hero, praised and rewarded.
But Yu Xian couldn't bring himself to abandon the innocent.
Not even in a world that wasn't real.
For him, joy was not a privilege reserved for heroes or fools.
Joy belonged to all living beings—
To the countless, fragile, ordinary people who still dared to smile.
That was what Yu Xian believed.
So when he saw the civilians crying, terrified under the claws of the Denizens,
how could he ever turn away?
"I should have ignored it... waited for the Cloud Knights to arrive... but they were crying so desperately... I just couldn't..."
"The perfect ending... becoming an Emanator... Next time, I'll definitely..."
"Qingque... I'm sorry... Please... wait for me one more day..."
-------
A/n: While I am a new translator, I have a Patreon! While it may be a bit empty right now both this and the other book on my page has advanced chapters posted on patreon.
patreon.com/deadlygoober