The excuses the Xianzhou officials gave were enough to fool a few ordinary bystanders—but everyone else… they knew better.
And when Dan Heng heard the words "old acquaintance," his expression subtly shifted.
Dammit—those memories were elbowing him in the head again.
The only relief was that the man in front of him did not immediately charge at him swinging a sword like a lunatic…
But then "Yingxing" murmured something that made Dan Heng freeze in terror:
"Five names… three prices…"
He didn't continue, yet Dan Heng was already drenched in cold sweat.
What exactly was the relationship between this man and Blade?
And why… why was he acting like this?
He wasn't supposed to be like this!
"Hey! Quiet-gourd, you okay?"
Sushang frowned and came over, putting a hand to Dan Heng's forehead.
"…I'm fine."
"Just… remembered something."
"Wait—where's Yingxing?"
Dan Heng snapped back to his senses—
but "Yingxing" was gone.
"Yingxing? Who's that?"
Sushang frowned and turned to ask Luocha.
"I have never heard that name," Luocha replied, eyes showing genuine confusion.
Dan Heng's sweat poured even harder.
He was absolutely sure—there was someone standing with them a moment ago.
"Q-quiet gour— Dan Heng, did you… did you run into a ghost?"
Seeing him pale, and remembering what he had just said, Sushang's imagination ran wild.
She paled too.
"No, no! Ptoo! Broad daylight— how could there be ghosts? L-let's just keep moving!"
Dan Heng, now slightly calmer, stared at her strangely.
So… she was actually afraid of ghosts?
The three continued forward, though the unease in Dan Heng's chest only grew.
But the immediate priority was finding the others…
They boarded a Star Skiff and departed.
Once they were gone, Yingxing's silhouette appeared at their last spot.
With a shimmer, he changed back into Xun Yu.
"Good, very good. Everything's going according to plan."
"Where's your dad, kid?"
"I don't have a dad."
"Then—your mom?"
"I don't have a mom either."
"..."
Bailu's answer made March 7's brain blue-screen.
She really wanted to slap herself—She messed up again…
Due to an accident, their Star Skiff had landed in Aurum Alley.
After exchanging information with local residents, they noticed a commotion nearby.
Pushing through the crowd, they saw a Cloud Knight with golden branches sprouting from his body.
Clearly, he had succumbed to mara-struck condition.
Before anyone could act, a tiny dragon girl dashed forward—short legs moving at lightning speed—and knocked him out cold with a tail slap.
Then more mara-struck enemies surrounded her…
Naturally, the Express crew rushed in to save the little dragon girl.
Once everything was handled, March 7 started wondering why such a tiny Bailu was out here practicing medicine…
Everyone knew: you can't judge a Xianzhou person's age by appearance.
A tiny childlike person might actually be several hundred years old…
March 7 had not yet processed this fact—
so she ended up saying something she absolutely shouldn't have.
click—click—
Xun Yu snapped photos of March 7's mortified expression.
"Pff—HAHAHA! March, don't feel too guilty—hahaha!"
Seeing this famous scene with his own eyes, Xun Yu truly couldn't hold back.
Her little gestures, her panicked guilty face…
It was comedy gold.
March 7 shot him a suspicious look.
Xun Yu ignored it and walked over to Bailu.
"Here—look at this. That's a Vidyadhara trait."
"H-hey! Don't touch there…!"
Feeling her horns touched, Bailu trembled, her ears turning red.
"Ahem—accident. Pure accident."
Ignoring the disgusted looks from March 7 and Stelle, Xun Yu calmly pulled his hand away.
"The Vidyadhara reincarnate by themselves. They don't need fathers or mothers."
"And you're on the Xianzhou—you really shouldn't judge by appearances."
With an elderlike tone, Xun Yu patted March 7's shoulder.
She rolled her eyes at him.
But his explanation did help reduce her crushing guilt.
"This big brother is right. I've been studying medicine ever since I swam out of my hatching pool! I'm a fully registered doctor under the Alchemy Commission!"
Bailu lifted her head proudly.
Her tiny body paired with her "little adult" posture made her look adorably serious.
"Lately the Luofu's been dangerous. If you—"
"If we're free, we should stay put, right? Too bad, the General gave us a mission. We'll be running all over the place."
Before Bailu could finish, March 7 sighed and completed the sentence for her.
"Well… if big brother and big sister get hurt, I can treat you for free! And since you saved me, I'll even give your medicine an extra 20% discount!"
Hearing Jing Yuan's name, Bailu silently handed out invisible "Good Person" cards to them all.
"A-ahem! Enough chatting! We shouldn't delay treatment!"
Before finishing her thought, Bailu's little legs carried her to the unconscious Cloud Knight.
"The Vidyadhara… I've only ever read about them. They say they're of dragon lineage. Seeing it in person really proves the point."
Welt observed while Bailu worked.
"So, Xun Yu—did you find anything?"
"Of course."
Xun Yu produced a thick stack of papers.
"The Medicine King's Secret Sect hideouts?"
"Let me see—hiss! Why are there so many? The Luofu's practically a sieve!"
March 7 leaned in and gasped.
"Xun Yu… is this information reliable?"
"Absolutely."
He hadn't visited each place personally—
but if he wanted, the entire Luofu's movements would unfold before him.
This document was something he threw together on the spot.
"But there's just so much… how did you find all this so fast?"
March 7 asked.
Stelle and Welt were curious as well.
Xun Yu smirked.
"Come on—what era do you think this is? You still expect people to scout hideouts manually?"
"Ta-da! High-Tech Exploration Dog—Aha Edition."
"Isn't that the robot dog you used on Jarilo-VI to bite Sampo?"
Stelle scratched her chin, recalling Sampo's screaming.
"That one was Aha-Type I. This one's Type II—specialized for intelligence gathering."
Xun Yu explained with a shrug.
"Wait… isn't Aha the Aeon of Elation?"
____________________________________________________________
TL note:
I'm still contemplating if medicine king meant sanctus mediscus so yeah