Acheron stood blankly in the noisy crowd. The pedestrians around her "consciously" gave her a wide berth, forming an eerie pocket of emptiness around her.
Her gaze was fixed on the resplendent advertisement hanging by the roadside, her thoughts unknown.
"It's really you..."
Suddenly, a man's voice from behind pulled Acheron from her reverie. She turned to face the speaker, and a hint of surprise colored her face when she saw it was Fu Zhu.
"It is you."
After that, the two simply stared at each other, neither speaking a word.
"Um..."
Firefly, not knowing why the two had suddenly fallen silent, couldn't help but speak up, asking Fu Zhu, "Fu Zhu, do you know this lady?"
"Yes, we've met once before." Fu Zhu nodded. Acheron's appearance back then had ruined a perfectly good plan of his, so of course, the impression she left was deep.
Once the silence was broken, Acheron was the next to speak. "Why have you suddenly sought me out?"
Fu Zhu crossed his arms, sizing her up with great interest. "Why would an Envoy of Nihility impersonate a Galaxy Ranger? And you even got discovered by The Family. What on earth did you do to make Sunday shamelessly resort to underhanded tactics and send me to drive you out?"
Although Fu Zhu's words were loaded with information, Acheron's expression remained placid. She shook her head slightly, denying his claims.
"I have done nothing. But in this world of the beautiful dream, my mere presence here is a 'threat' to The Family. Those who walk the Path of Nihility inadvertently affect the matters around them, to say nothing of a gradually collapsing dream world."
After explaining to Fu Zhu why The Family had their eyes on her, she asked again, "So... are you here to fulfill your agreement with The Family and expel me?"
As she spoke, Acheron's right hand was already resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist. She could sense that the man before her was not someone she could fell with a single slash. He was an unprecedentedly powerful foe.
Firefly, noticing Acheron's hand, immediately placed the SoulGlad she was holding on the ground and likewise gripped the transformation device she kept in her pocket.
"No, quite the opposite."
Fu Zhu suddenly broke into a laugh, a particularly brilliant one.
"Compared to that sanctimonious, backstabbing Sunday, I much prefer someone as frank as you. Since The Family dared to use dirty tricks, then they should be prepared for my retaliation. They want you to leave, so I insist on having you stay."
Fu Zhu's words surprised Acheron. The hand resting on her hilt relaxed.
"You are... surprisingly... petty?"
Several black lines instantly appeared on Fu Zhu's face. "What you said is true, but it sounds a bit harsh."
"My apologies."
Acheron bowed slightly with great earnestness. "I am a rather direct person."
"It's fine. I am, in fact, that kind of person. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. In Steve's dictionary, the phrase 'overnight grudge' simply does not exist."
"Thank you for your understanding."
---o---
Having met the person he was looking for, Fu Zhu prepared to leave. He wasn't going to get into a conflict with Acheron as Sunday had designed. Instead, he would let Acheron stay in Penacony and wait for The Family to confront her themselves.
Although he had heard that the people of The Family could summon an Incarnation of Xipe, Acheron was, at the very least, an Envoy of Nihility. She would definitely be more than a handful for them. At that time, he could make a grand re-entrance and properly mock Sunday.
"Well then, I'll be off. See you around."
Fu Zhu turned and gave the still-standing Firefly a light pat on her little head. "Let's go, Firefly."
"Oh, oh, okay."
Firefly quickly bent down to pick up her SoulGlad and turned to leave with Fu Zhu.
After taking just a few steps, they discovered a small tail following behind them.
Fu Zhu turned his head with a puzzled look to see Acheron trailing behind them. "Is there something you need?"
Acheron nodded with some embarrassment. "My apologies, I'm rather directionally challenged and don't know the way. May I follow you for the time being?"
Fu Zhu opened his mouth, speechless. He glanced at Firefly beside him, then back at Acheron, and finally nodded with a sigh of resignation.
"Fine. One follower is the same as two. Just don't get in my way."
"Thank you."
With that matter settled, Fu Zhu planned to go meet up with his companions. It would be a good chance to let Trailblazer see Firefly, lest she suddenly decide to walk the Path of The Hunt and come after the "killer" he had impersonated.
Although Firefly had said she couldn't meet Trailblazer for the time being because of her "script," that was Elio's script. Fu Zhu didn't care about that.
Elio wanted to write a script? Then he would have to follow Fu Zhu's pace, not constrain him and make him act according to the script.
Fu Zhu, leading Firefly and Acheron, walked forward while pulling his phone from his pocket to call Trailblazer. Although Himeko and the others had sent him messages explaining what they were doing, they hadn't said where they were. He could only call and ask.
The moment the call connected, before Fu Zhu could even say a word, Trailblazer's voice on the other end started with a bang.
"Holy shit!"
Hearing his little sister open with a curse, Fu Zhu frowned in displeasure.
"Little sis, we are Nameless, not bandits. Can you have some class? You're a beautiful young lady, after all. If you keep this up, I'm seriously going to consider asking Screwllum to give you some etiquette lessons."
After a long lecture, Fu Zhu noticed that the other end had gone silent. In a situation like this, Trailblazer would normally argue with him. Why was she so quiet today? Could something have happened?
Fu Zhu immediately grew anxious and quickly asked, "Xing, did something happen? Speak up!"
"...Um, big bro, aren't you the one something happened to?"
"What?"
Fu Zhu was confused. He had just replied to her message not a dozen minutes ago. How could something have "happened" to him so suddenly?
Just as Fu Zhu was trying to make sense of the situation, Trailblazer hung up and immediately started a video call. Fu Zhu quickly accepted.
The moment Trailblazer saw her living, breathing big brother appear on the video call, she breathed a sigh of relief. But then her expression immediately turned wary as she questioned him, "Quick! Tell me ten embarrassing things only my big bro would know, so I can confirm you're really my big bro!"
Although Fu Zhu didn't understand what was going on, he still replied with annoyance, "You like to kick your blankets off when you sleep. When you first got on the Express, you didn't even tidy your room and just slept in a cardboard box..."
"Stop, stop, stop! I believe you're my big bro! But why are you listing my embarrassing stories! Not your own, big bro!"
Fu Zhu sighed speechlessly, then asked with annoyance, "Stop messing around. Why did you say something happened to me just now? What's going on?"
Seeing Fu Zhu's reaction, Trailblazer looked at him with a strange expression.
"Just after we received your message, big bro... that serial killer struck again. The victim this time was... you, big bro."
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