Reconstruction on the Xianzhou Luofu was finally gaining traction, and Changle Tian was starting to sound like itself again—loud, crowded, alive.
Huo Linfei slipped through the поток of people, searching for any trace of Black Swan.
Then something at a street corner snagged his attention.
A blond man was half-kneeling on the ground, one hand outstretched. A soft—almost comforting—green light flowed from his palm… yet it carried an instinctive wrongness. The light covered a wounded child's leg, and a gash deep enough to show bone began to knit together at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The power of Abundance.
And what made Huo Linfei's pupils contract wasn't just the energy—
It was that face.
Otto Apocalypse.
The shadow of Honkai Impact 3rd surged up in his mind. Combined with everything he'd suffered—and the disgust he'd developed for anything tied to Abundance—rage and suspicion drowned out his reason.
"Spawn of evil! Get away from that kid!"
Crimson Ability Energy wrapped his right fist. Huo Linfei moved like a flash, driving a punch straight for the man's face—an attack fueled by pure reflexive hatred for the "Otto" he remembered.
But just as his knuckles were about to land, a clean sword-light arrived after his strike—and still beat it.
Clang!
A plain, ancient-looking longsword snapped into place, perfectly intercepting his fist.
Huo Linfei's heart lurched. He forced his power down at the last instant.
Only then did he see who was holding the blade.
A young woman with a sharp, heroic air—Li Sushang.
She planted herself in front of the blond man, brows drawn tight with anger.
"Who are you? And why would you attack a healer for no reason?!"
Huo Linfei broke into a cold sweat.
Good thing he pulled it back—otherwise it would've been another all-day vacation with the Diheng Commission.
And yet the moment his gaze slid past her, landed on that "Otto" face again, the words came out before he could stop them.
"Huh? Are we doing Shenzhou Sword Chronicle now? Otto—what kind of scheme is this again?!"
The blond man—Luocha—rose calmly. His expression held a tired, gentle helplessness. He patted Sushang's shoulder, signaling her to ease up.
"It's fine."
Then he turned to Huo Linfei and offered a perfectly polite bow.
"Sir, I believe you've mistaken me for someone else. I am Luocha—merely a traveling merchant and physician. That child was injured, so I did what little I could."
His eyes were clear. The aura around him was Abundance—unmistakably so—but it lacked the nauseating hypocrisy and mania Huo Linfei associated with it.
Huo Linfei blinked. He focused, tested the feeling again.
Similar… but not the same.
More… pure. More natural.
Did I really hit the wrong guy?
Embarrassment hit him like a delayed punch. He scratched the back of his head.
"Uh… sorry. You just look way too much like a… yeah. An 'old acquaintance.'"
He put extra weight on old acquaintance, and his tone turned complicated.
Luocha only smiled, unbothered.
"No harm done. The universe is vast; similar faces are hardly unheard of."
Right then, a soft chuckle drifted in from the side.
Black Swan—somehow already leaning against a broken wall—idly played with a flickering Memory Light Cone, watching Huo Linfei with a smile that was far too amused.
"Well, well. You wake up and you're already throwing punches? Looks like you've recovered nicely."
She'd clearly been there the whole time.
Just… enjoying the show.
Huo Linfei: "…"
To make amends, Huo Linfei forced himself to invite Luocha and Sushang to tea at Nightless Marquis, the most famous shop in Xingcha Sea.
Unexpectedly, Luocha didn't refuse. He simply offered a mild smile.
"Then I'll accept."
Sushang, meanwhile, looked around with open curiosity—Luofu's scenery clearly fascinated her.
The three of them had barely stepped inside when someone shouted in bright excitement:
"Huo Linfei! Over here—over here!"
By the window, March 7th was waving hard enough to draw stares. Beside her, Stelle calmly chewed on Qiongshi bird skewers, while several empty cups of Immortal's Joy Tea sat piled on the table like trophies.
"You're here too?" Huo Linfei led Luocha and Sushang over.
"Of course!" March 7th grinned. "During reconstruction, slacking off with milk tea is basically a required activity!"
Her gaze darted over the newcomers. "And who are these two?"
"Luocha—a traveling merchant doctor. Li Sushang—a rookie Cloud Knight from the Yaoqing," Huo Linfei said, keeping it brief and very deliberately leaving out the earlier disaster.
Everyone traded a few words—
Then a sharp crack rang through the hall as the storyteller slapped the clapper block.
"Honored guests! Today we speak of eight hundred years ago—of the age when the High Cloud Quintet roamed the star-sea, blades sweeping clean the scourge of Abundance!"
Huo Linfei's hand paused mid-lift with his cup.
"Near the end of the Second War against the Abundance-born, the fiend Shuhu marched personally with a vast host. The Luofu stood upon a knife's edge! And at that moment—a mysterious hero descended from nowhere—!"
The storyteller snapped open his fan.
On it was a blurry illustration of a warrior in crimson armor.
"This hero wore scarlet gem-mail, commanded strange flame arts, and called himself a 'Super Beast warrior'! In the alley battles of Changle Tian, in three exchanges, he smashed the Borisin war-chief Hulei until his soul scattered!"
The tea house erupted with cheers.
March 7th poked Huo Linfei and whispered, "Uh… that's totally you, isn't it?"
Huo Linfei lowered his head and took a long pull from his milk tea.
"…Listen to the story. Just listen."
The storyteller's tone surged higher, voice thundering.
"But his most legendary battle—was deep within Scalegorge Waterscape! There, Shuhu had already fused with the Ambrosial Arbor, becoming an undying calamity. The High Cloud Quintet fought bitterly—yet could not prevail! And then this crimson-armored hero called down a blazing black sun, and with a single strike he reduced that Emanator of Abundance to ash!"
Stelle's head lifted sharply.
"A black sun?"
Huo Linfei stared at the ceiling.
"…Exaggeration. Artistic license."
The storyteller suddenly sighed, dropping his voice.
"After the war, the hero was granted the title 'Kirin Guard'… yet vanished without a trace on the night of the victory celebration. And some say…"
He leaned forward, voice lowered to a conspiratorial hush.
"…the evil power inside him turned on him. He even slaughtered a close companion of the High Cloud Quintet—then fled into the star-sea, never to be seen again!"
Instantly, the hall filled with argument—some praising the hero's deeds, others condemning his brutality.
Luocha let out a quiet laugh, fingertips circling the rim of his cup.
"A tragic figure. Power enough to slay gods… yet unable to restrain himself. It seems foreign strength is, in the end, a seed of disaster."
His tone remained gentle, but there was a chill threaded beneath it.
"Especially when it is… connected to the plague of immortality."
Sushang frowned.
"My master always says—power itself is neither righteous nor wicked."
"And yet the one who wields power possesses a heart," Luocha replied with a smile. "If the heart is tainted, divine might becomes a demon's shackle."
As he spoke, his gaze flicked—lightly, almost casually—toward Huo Linfei.
The storyteller regained his momentum.
"Still—praise or blame aside—the Kirin Guard hastened the end of the war. With Shuhu executed, the Abundance-born fell into chaos, and General Teng Xiao swept them away in one decisive campaign!"
Everyone listened, enraptured.
Everyone except Huo Linfei, who stared at the foam drifting across the surface of his milk tea.
This is starting to feel like public execution…
March 7th leaned close and whispered, "I bet he had a reason!"
Stelle cut in calmly, "Sounds like something you'd do."
Huo Linfei: "…Thanks. I think?"
Luocha dabbed his lips with elegant ease, interest sharpening in his eyes.
"Looks like even the histories of the Xianzhou are not books to be believed without question. A figure like that… if fate allows, I'd quite like to meet him."
Up on the second-floor corridor, Black Swan appeared beside a column as if she'd always been there. She lifted her cup toward Huo Linfei in a silent toast.
Her lips shaped soundlessly:
"Not bad, right? I did a little… touch-up to the script."
Huo Linfei: "…"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 120)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 95)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 85)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter85)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter81)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter60)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter66)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 40
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 50
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