Noldrei had no idea about the sacrifice March 7th was making for her memories.
Nor did he know that even after paying such a price, she still might not get them back.
Right now, he was with another friend, the occasional clack-clack of shuffling tiles echoing from inside the mahjong parlor.
"No way, you're coming to see me before you leave? If I didn't know any better, I'd think I owed you a ton of money."
Qingque's complaints naturally fell on deaf ears; even Noldrei paid them no mind.
"I had to come say hi before I left, see if you've gotten a promotion and a raise. Lucky at the tables lately, lucky in your career too?"
Noldrei's teasing annoyed Qingque. She rolled her eyes at him. "That's not the kind of luck I want. Look at how lucky the Master Diviner is! Isn't she luckier than me? Besides, I'm not lucky in my career. I'm still just a gofer, I only filled in at the Divination Commission for two days."
Qingque found the whole thing absurd. How did a lowly diviner like her end up as the acting Master Diviner?
Even promotions were supposed to follow a process. What was the difference between what happened to her and just being launched into the sky?
Luckily, the Master Diviner was back now, so Qingque didn't have to worry about someone in the Commission wanting to eat her alive.
"That's not a good job. Every time I change positions, I do a divination for myself. I already know exactly which post suits me best. Don't even think about making it my life. It's just a job… Mahjong!"
Qingque's eyes lit up. With a push of her hands, she displayed her dominance at the table.
After collecting her winnings from around the table, the little lady concluded her day of happiness.
She walked up to Noldrei and looked up at him. "Alright, spit it out. You wouldn't show up for no reason. What did you want to tell me before you leave?"
Qingque had a feeling Noldrei wasn't the easygoing type. She'd sensed it the first time they met, and after working with him for two days, she was even more certain.
This kind of person was trouble, especially for a slacker like her. He was trouble wrapped in trouble.
Noldrei shook his head. "It's nothing, really. I just wanted to see the effect of those alchemical recipes on the Xianzhou. I figured since I was out anyway, I might as well come find you, since you're guaranteed to be slacking off."
Qingque's face scrunched up like a ball of dough. That was the last thing she wanted to hear.
"I learned a lot during my two days as a leader. One of those things is that if someone comes to you and gets straight to the point, it's definitely not something I want to agree to. You'd better tell me clearly, or I'm running!"
Qingque had no desire to end up like the Master Diviner. She had seen with her own eyes how Fu Xuan sat before the Matrix of Prescience, lost in thought and hesitation. She had never witnessed such a peculiar sight before.
This time, Qingque's eyes had truly been opened. The Master Diviner was even hesitating to perform a divination. One could only imagine what a blow she had suffered at Noldrei's hands.
Qingque didn't think she had the Master Diviner's resilience. Besides, she was just a kid, barely over 1.4 meters tall. How could she possibly hang out with a malicious outsider like Noldrei?
"Qingque, I really don't have any ill intentions toward you," Noldrei explained, feeling wrongly accused.
"Don't! Don't say that! Don't you feel guilty saying that? Dan Shu was…"
Qingque suddenly clamped her mouth shut. She remembered that Dan Shu's name was now basically taboo on the Xianzhou.
She glared at Noldrei, her hands on her hips. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Look how many people are on the streets…"
Qingque pointed, and on the side of the road, a member of the Alchemy Commission in a strange new outfit appeared.
"May the World-Honored One, with great compassion, hear and observe!"
The person chanted from the scripture Noldrei had written for the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, their faith in the future of the Pure Land Sect unwavering.
"See? He's become like this. There are a lot of guys preaching on the Xianzhou now. You… You tell me you have no ill intentions? Do you know what it's like to run into these people every time I walk down the street?"
"They're always trying to lead me to some 'Pure Land.' A lot of the elderly people on the Xianzhou are especially looking forward to this Pure Land Sect."
"If I grow old with no job security and no motivation in life, I might just end up like them."
Qingque's complaints were quite reasonable. After all, she was a vibrant young girl. Why would she want to be bound by the strict rules of the Pure Land Sect, even if Noldrei had deliberately set them to weed out peripheral followers?
Noldrei hadn't expected such a situation on the Xianzhou. He asked thoughtfully, "So, you're saying that the Xianzhou people fear suddenly turning Mara-Struck in their old age more than they fear death itself?"
"Huh? You're asking me that…" Qingque didn't know how to answer right away.
She scratched her head. "I guess that's kind of it. We Xianzhou people seem long-lived and undying, but we also seem to fear the threat of the Mara-Struck more. After all, when you're dead, you're just dead. But if you turn Mara-Struck, you could end up hurting the people around you."
"You can probably guess just by thinking about it. Imagine you're about to die, and then you suddenly hurt your friends and family because you've turned Mara-Struck. How much regret and sadness would you feel? The way I see it, rather than turning into a monster, I'd rather just carry a timed bomb on me at all times. The moment I feel like I'm about to turn, I'd definitely set it off. I'd probably die with a lot more peace of mind that way."
Qingque sighed deeply. She had lived a long time and seen many similar things. The Mara-Struck condition was especially common for those who worked on the front lines, or in high-pressure, high-intensity environments.
Thinking about it, Qingque felt that her happy-go-lucky slacker mentality might just delay her turning Mara-Struck by a few hundred years.
"It won't come to that," Noldrei comforted her. "Maybe by then, there will be a way to solve the Xianzhou's Mara-Struck problem. If not, you can just go look for it out in the universe. It's not like there aren't more possibilities elsewhere."
Hearing this, Qingque became even more wary. "Do you talk to other girls like this often?"
Noldrei shook his head. "Don't worry, I talk to guys like this too."
Qingque was aghast. "Wow, you really do sound like a creep."
Noldrei patted the young girl's head. "You don't have to be so tense. I do have something I need your help with. It's not that troublesome."
Qingque's face immediately fell into a pout. "But you just said it was nothing! Otherwise, I never would have left my game to come out here with you."