Well, here he goes again—causing trouble just for fun…
People had slowly grown used to it.
Xun Yu shook his head and returned to the Luofu.
He had messed around long enough; time to regroup with the others.
From what he could see, they were still trying to track down Kafka.
But Xun Yu already knew the script: even if the Astral Express crew stopped caring entirely—eating hotpot, singing karaoke—Kafka would still show up on her own.
But the story was just the story.
The moment he arrived, the script had already changed.
So instead of obediently searching for Kafka, Xun Yu wanted to create a different kind of entertainment.
His gaze lingered on Dan Heng, Welt, Blade, and Luocha.
Time to make trouble.
"From now on, I am Yingxing."
Xun Yu looked at the white-haired reflection in the mirror and nodded, satisfied.
Later he'd grab Blade and drag him over for a surprise visit to Dan Heng.
…No. If he brought Blade directly, the two would immediately start fighting.
That'd ruin the fun.
He should go alone first.
He threw several Abundance Spawn on Dan Heng's path.
Disguised as Yingxing, sword in hand, Xun Yu began fighting the monsters.
...
"Hey, Kafka, we've got a problem."
Silver Wolf's voice crackled through the earpiece.
Standing among the Cloud Knights under her Spirit Whisper control, Kafka paused.
"Oh? What did you find?"
On her end, Silver Wolf stared at the monitor—one black-haired Blade and one white-haired Blade.
"In short? I found two Blades. One with white hair, one with black."
Kafka blinked.
The white-haired Blade… she remembered something.
Her mind returned to what Elio told her before departure:
"This script contains several joyful variables—unwritten catalysts."
Interesting. So this was one of those "joyful variables"?
As for the white-haired Blade, she already had a guess.
The Stellaron Hunters had briefly crossed paths with him before.
During that encounter, Kafka had taken a scrap of clothing from him.
No one knew except her, Elio, and Xun Yu himself.
He was a variable—But in destiny, when is a variable not a kind of certainty?
Kafka didn't know why Elio needed that clothing fragment, but after that day, Xun Yu started appearing in Elio's script.
Elio never explained.
He only said the man's destiny intertwined with both the Astral Express and the Stellaron Hunters—and that he wouldn't be harmful.
"I get it. Ignore him."
"The Xianzhou arc is nearly finished. I'll need you to extract us afterward."
"All right, the Express is here."
Kafka stepped out of hiding, facing the confused group who had lost her trail.
"When a prey's trail suddenly vanishes, the hunter should be wary—"
"Because that's usually when the chase turns around."
"KAFKA!"
"Mom!"
"…?"
Everyone turned to stare at Stelle.
She grinned awkwardly.
Kafka's smile curled upward.
"These Cloud Knights aren't Mara-struck… what did you do to them?"
"'Tingyun'" flinched at Stelle calling Kafka "Mom,"
Then eyed the Cloud Knights beside Kafka.
Honestly, phantylia's impersonation of Tingyun wasn't far from the real thing…
"Just a little suggestion. I only asked them to listen. Stelle, you know better than anyone how that works."
Stelle wanted to retort, but March 7 yanked her back.
"Stelle, don't let that wicked woman fool you!"
My mom wouldn't fool me!
Stelle almost said it, but reconsidered.
"Stop this, Kafka. The Cloud Knights are everywhere."
Kafka gave Stelle a soft, affectionate look and shook her head.
"Not here. The Divination Commission is far, and that's disadvantageous for me. See you ahead."
Kafka walked off.
The controlled Cloud Knights blocked the team.
The Express trio exchanged looks—reaction immediate.
In seconds, the Cloud Knights were knocked unconscious.
"We're following."
Ahead, Kafka stopped as if waiting for them.
March 7 rushed in first.
Kafka hummed a tune while leading them along, unhurried.
When the timing matched the script, she stopped.
"Heh, finally here. Faster than expected."
As they surrounded her, Kafka closed her eyes.
She thought she'd chat more, but it didn't matter.
Once they reached the Array of Purification, she'd have plenty of time.
Bullets tore upward.
And from above, a pink figure descended.
"Petty tricks. Your movements were all within the Divination Eye's foresight."
Fu Xuan's third eye glimmered as she gracefully altered bullet trajectories, landing with elegance.
"Whoa!! A fairy!"
Stelle gasped—then, seeing her clearly:
"Whose kid is that?"
A kid?!
Fu Xuan staggered, fists tightening.
"Divination Commission charioteer, Fu Xuan. I am taking custody of the criminal now."
...
Dan Heng glanced at "Yingxing."
Fragments of memories kept striking his mind.
The silent figure overlapped more and more with a shadow from his past.
Sigh… another quiet gourd.
"Hey! You two! If you're in danger, shout 'help'! Don't stay silent!"
"And don't rush off to fight alone just because you're strong!"
Sushang walked ahead, looking left and right like an excitable tourist—not a Cloud Knight.
Luocha and "Yingxing" walked at Dan Heng's sides, making him uneasy.
"Right, I haven't asked—Ying… Yingxing, right? What brings you to the Luofu? Your clothes look kinda like the Zhuming style."
"Yingxing" hugged his sword and gazed into the distance.
"I'm here to see an old acquaintance."
"An acquaintance? Bad timing. The higher-ups say there's a bomb hidden on the Luofu."
"But with all these abominations and mara-struck showing up… I'd say something big is happening."
That's not right. You're not Sushang—she's never this sharp!
A flicker of surprise crossed "Yingxing's" eyes.
Though honestly, everything they'd seen so far already proved things were far from simple.
_____________________________________________________________
TL note:
If you haven't noticed already the style of my translating changed.
It's because I'm using chatgpt and fact checking things already unlike the last 36 chapters where I just brute forced my way into translating it.
If you find some things that are not supposed to be there then that's because I'm either too lazy to fact check it or I didn't notice it at all