That voice—
No, seriously. I just tossed a random pull, and it hit gold?
Under the moonlight, Bai Heng snapped her head up, staring across the table in disbelief.
The face was still that "Pure Beauty Knight, Dian Dao."
The ridiculous seven-colored hair. The glassy, jewel-like eyes.
But the voice… that cadence… that infuriatingly familiar laziness threaded through every syllable—
It wasn't Dian Dao's voice.
It was his.
A voice she'd buried so deep in her chest that she'd nearly convinced herself she'd never hear it again.
An Emanator of Destruction.
Qingzhou.
Wei Qing lifted his cup toward her in a casual toast.
"Well? Surprise?"
It really was him.
The runaway general. The Alliance's most wanted. The walking disaster that had turned the Luofu into a paranoid machine.
Shock blew a clean hole through Bai Heng's thoughts. For a heartbeat, her mind went blank—so blank she forgot to move.
Wei Qing's gaze flicked to her hand still hovering near her blades.
"What, it's only been a few decades and you can't recognize an old friend's voice anymore?"
His smile was mild.
"But judging by that grip… you don't look very welcoming."
Bai Heng dragged in a breath and forced herself to steady.
Slowly, she loosened her fingers from the short blades. Her eyes searched his face for anything—a crack, a seam, a trace of disguise.
Nothing.
That rainbow-haired face was absurd, but the look in his eyes was painfully familiar.
"Welcoming?" Bai Heng pulled a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Do you even know what you are right now?"
"If I yell right now—just one shout—how far do you think you'll get inside the Luofu?"
Wei Qing set his cup down.
"You can try."
His voice remained calm.
"Let's see whether you call people faster… or I make you quiet faster."
Bai Heng's stomach sank.
She didn't doubt him for a second.
If he wanted it, she could become a "missing person" before the next breath.
For a long moment, she stared at him. Then her shoulders drooped—like the tension finally found somewhere to collapse.
She grabbed the liquor pot, refilled her cup, and downed it in one go, as if alcohol could crush the tidal wave inside her chest.
"…So," Bai Heng put the cup down, voice rougher now.
"What the hell do you want?"
"Did you really come back just to watch the show?"
"Or are you here for… the Stellaron?"
She fixed her eyes on him, refusing to miss even the smallest shift of expression.
Wei Qing didn't answer directly.
Instead, he asked, almost amused:
"What do you think?"
"The Luofu staged a whole circus this big… it's obviously meant for me."
"We are waiting for you," Bai Heng admitted without flinching.
"Since you know that—why are you still here?"
Wei Qing swirled the last bit of liquor in his cup.
"People miss home."
He sounded almost lazy about it.
"I came back to look around. See how the Luofu changed. See how old friends are doing."
He tilted his head, smirking faintly.
"But I'll give you this—your security's improved."
"You're using the Divination Commission's grand array as an airport scanner now."
"Really… impressive."
Bai Heng heard the mockery under his praise and snorted.
"Yeah. Super weird how we got 'impressive.'"
"Hard to guess who we have to thank for that."
"A mess?" Wei Qing raised a brow, as if genuinely surprised.
"I thought I left pretty cleanly."
"Cleanly?" Bai Heng almost laughed—except it came out like a sharp, bitter exhale.
"You call that clean?"
"Do you have any idea what the Luofu looked like after you left?"
Wei Qing didn't respond.
And Bai Heng realized—if it were Jingliu, Dan Feng, or almost anyone else sitting here tonight, the conversation would've already become blood.
But with Bai Heng, the knife always came after the words.
Silence stretched between them. Then, suddenly—
"…Why did you run?" Bai Heng asked.
Her fox eyes—usually bright with jokes—were stripped down to something frighteningly direct.
And under that seriousness, something fragile.
Wei Qing met her gaze.
He'd asked himself that question countless times, answered it in countless ways, to countless people.
This time, he said:
"No reason."
Bai Heng froze.
Her brows tightened. "No reason? That's it?"
"Was it because of Finality? Herta told us. Was that real?"
Wei Qing didn't deny it.
"Half true, half false."
He paused, then added, flatly:
"But the choice to leave was mine."
Bai Heng's jaw tightened.
"So that's it?"
"That's why you joined Destruction—why you became a Stellaron Hunter?"
"To stay alive, you can throw away everything? Even stand against the entire universe?"
"Wei—" she started, then corrected herself with a hard edge.
"Qingzhou."
Wei Qing's voice remained calm.
"I was an Emanator long before I arrived on the Luofu."
"Strictly speaking… we were never on the same side."
Bai Heng's eyes flared.
"Then what was all of it?"
"Our friendship?"
"Our years?"
"Was it all fake?"
Her voice shook—not with hatred for a traitor, but the raw, ugly pain of being abandoned without warning.
Wei Qing didn't dodge it.
"It probably felt terrible."
He looked at her steadily.
"I'm sorry, Bai Heng."
"Sorry?" Bai Heng's voice snapped upward.
"What does 'sorry' do?"
"One apology fixes what you left behind?"
"Do you know what Jingliu turned into during that time?"
"Do you know why Yingxing's hair went white?"
"Do you know what Dan Feng—what Jing Yuan—what they…"
She stopped mid-sentence, as if she'd hit something too sharp inside herself.
She turned away, grabbed the liquor again, and drank—fast, desperate.
Wei Qing listened without interrupting.
He knew his departure had caused an earthquake.
But hearing it from her mouth—feeling it land in real time—was different.
When she finally faced him again, her eyes were red around the edges, but she refused to let anything fall.
"…You're a bastard," Bai Heng concluded hoarsely.
Wei Qing nodded once, almost gentle.
"Yeah."
"I'll own that."
Bai Heng had no comeback.
The silence that followed was strange—half reunion, half standoff, with a canyon of blood and history between them.
After a long time, Bai Heng exhaled.
"You've changed, Wei Qing."
"People change," Wei Qing said quietly.
Then, with a faint, crooked smile:
"You changed too."
"More… steady?"
He sounded like he was searching for the right word.
Bai Heng rolled her eyes, but the old flavor slipped through.
"Steady my ass. I'm just more tired."
"Because none of you ever let me have peace."
The words came out too naturally, too familiar—like for a second the past tried to come back.
Then she hardened again, snapping the moment shut.
"Enough reminiscing."
She straightened, voice turning clean and cold.
"Qingzhou."
"You have two choices."
Her hand hovered near her communicator.
"Either kill me…"
"…or I call someone. Right now."
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 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 138)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 27
Transmigrated as Sukuna 27
Checking In in Demon Slayer 32
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