Yingxing, '???'
When the two had settled their "cooperation" in just a few words, the completely clueless Yingxing was utterly lost, having no idea what they were even talking about.
Yingxing's head was full of question marks, "You two just mentioned Jingliu? What exactly are you talking about?"
Jing Yuan and Dan Feng exchanged glances, then sighed at the same time.
This iron-obsessed craftsman had unknowingly provoked Jingliu right at the dinner table.
If they didn't tell Yingxing the truth, it would probably only make things worse later.
Not wanting to scare his friend, Jing Yuan decided to ease him into it, step by step, guiding him to discover the truth himself.
But Dan Feng was the decisive type, his words had to be shocking, or not said at all.
"Jingliu likes Zero."
The Dragon Lord, afraid Yingxing wouldn't recognize the name, added, "That person we ate with today."
Yingxing's eyes slowly widened, his mouth opening and closing, but not a single word came out.
His blacksmith's brain, stuffed only with forging materials, tried desperately to search for useful information, but this explosive news short-circuited everything.
The impact of hearing Jingliu had someone she liked hit Yingxing as hard as if an ancient emperor had suddenly revived and announced he'd conquer the universe.
What difference was there between that and the Xianzhou Alliance suddenly renaming itself the Xianzhou Empire?
He thought and thought, and after a long while finally squeezed out one sentence, "As for the wedding gift money, how much money are we supposed to give?"
At that, Jing Yuan and Dan Feng both fell silent.
Jing Yuan, 'Isn't that way too far ahead?! The two of them don't even have a thing going yet…'
Dan Feng, 'I have no idea either, my master never taught me this, they just always had things prepared beforehand.'
The pampered Dragon Lord thought for a moment, then quoted such a staggering number that any normal person would have fainted on the spot.
Yingxing, being a short-lived species, only half-understood the customs of the Xianzhou.
For the long-lived races, love and marriage were rare, so even in the massive Artisanship Commission, Yingxing had never picked up much knowledge about such matters.
He was dumbstruck by the figure. As someone obsessed with forging, often unable to wait for material approval and paying out of pocket himself, he quickly did the math on his wages…
At his current rate of working at a loss, with only a few scraps left each month, he'd probably only save enough by the time he retired.
He suspected the Dragon Lord was bluffing, but then thought, well, Xianzhou folk lived long lives, saved for ages, maybe it really was that much.
Yingxing asked awkwardly, "That much? How about I just give a weapon instead, and call it even?"
One dragon and one human, one dared to say it, the other dared to believe it. Right then and there, they started seriously discussing wedding money.
As the only one among the three with a normal worldview and actual common sense, Jing Yuan finally forced himself to speak, "…Isn't there a chance they're not even at the marriage-and-gift-money stage yet?"
Hearing this, Yingxing instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
Great, at least for now, he didn't have to worry about impossible wedding expenses.
Curiously, he asked Dan Feng and Jing Yuan, "So, are they dating then?"
Dan Feng hadn't expected that out of the five of them, the one who seemed least likely to fall in love, Jingliu, would be the first to have someone in her heart.
The Dragon Lord was extremely confident, replying with emotion, "Not yet. But it won't be long before they're together."
Jing Yuan slowly typed out a question mark.
Was it him who wasn't normal, or these two?
The youngest of the three, Jing Yuan finally snapped, "Has it occurred to you that love requires a gradual process, and before that, the two need to actually like each other?"
Yingxing stammered, "Huh? Jingliu, she… it's one-sided?"
Dan Feng answered as if it were the most natural thing, "So what? Jing Yuan and I will handle it."
Yingxing bluntly said, "You two? One of you is a Vidyadhara who's reincarnated who-knows-how-many times without ever dating, the other is a kid not even twenty. What could you possibly know? You'd be better off asking Baiheng!"
The three of them simultaneously turned to look at the drunk Baiheng sprawled on the floor. Then, just as synchronously, they sighed.
Dan Feng summoned the iron will that made procrastinators weep, and declared on the spot, "Swift battle, swift victory. Tonight, we go to Jing Yuan's place."
So the three of them, dragging along one currently disconnected foxian, arrived at Jing Yuan's private residence.
After settling the drunkard, the three gathered together to brainstorm.
But none of them knew the first thing about romance. After staring at each other blankly for a while, high-intensity net-surfer Jing Yuan suggested, "We could search the forums."
Dan Feng fell into thought, "Would the posts on forums really have any reference value for Jingliu?"
Yingxing hesitated, "Should we search for 'girl chasing boy' guides?"
The three went silent.
No matter how you looked at it, Jingliu copying a "girl chases boy" strategy was impossible.
Dan Feng cleared his throat, then placed his jade device in the middle, "Let's just take a look first."
They clicked into a post, and immediately saw words like "act cute," "show weakness," and the like. All three felt as if struck by lightning.
One dragon and one blacksmith, completely clueless, felt it was wrong, but still forced themselves to keep reading.
Yingxing even pulled out his jade device to take notes.
They tried to understand, but they just couldn't.
Watching Dan Feng's and Yingxing's increasingly vacant expressions, Jing Yuan finally blurted, "This absolutely won't work."
Yingxing said dryly, "Maybe… try another keyword?"
Dan Feng had a revelation, and typed in, "boy chasing girl."
Jing Yuan, "…"
Once Master finds out about this assist that everyone but her already knows, she's definitely going to beat the three of them senseless.
But even if it meant a beating, they had to try.
As Dan Feng said, Jingliu would never take the initiative.
As Swordmaster, she had long grown used to Xianzhou people who, once fallen to the demonic shadow, disowned their own kin.
Even after taking Jing Yuan as a disciple and generously teaching him swordsmanship, she always maintained a certain distance.
He hadn't understood why, until he heard her instruct him on slaying the shadow-possessed, then he finally realized.
In the eyes of others, the Swordmaster was strong. But she too had a softer side. That distance she kept was, perhaps, for the sake of one day being able to return his sword strikes with no hesitation.
If she kept even a disciple at arm's length, then if she had someone closer… she would only act even colder.
Jing Yuan knew very well, his Master would never make the first move.
'But the person Master liked… how to put it…'
It wasn't that Zero was bad, but in certain ways, he and Master were too alike, both the type who wouldn't easily close the distance with others.
Most importantly… how was he supposed to address him in the future? Master-in-law?
And before he could recover, something even more crushing happened.
Zero messaged him, saying his Master was amazing.
Jing Yuan, 'Wait, is that what I think it means…? Is this really something a Xianzhou youth under twenty should know?!'
After a few more messages from Zero, Jing Yuan finally learned the whole story, leaving him dumbfounded.
Of course, it was Master.
With helpless resignation, Jing Yuan muttered, "After drinking, Master sparred swords with Zero for three hours straight."
Yingxing gasped, "That tavern's alcohol really has a kick!"
Dan Feng was thoughtful, "To withstand three hours under Jingliu's blade… I wonder who was stronger, him or her. Jing Yuan, I want to spar with him myself, can you ask for me?"
Jing Yuan's gaze turned dark as he looked at Yingxing and Dan Feng.
Yingxing quietly deleted his notes on "girl chases boy" strategies from his jade device.
Seeing that, Dan Feng immediately returned to the main task, burying himself back in forum posts.
The three burned midnight oil, yet still couldn't come up with a workable plan for Jingliu. The two most stubborn men refused to admit defeat, and with their endless back-and-forth, the "strategy" morphed into something unrecognizable.
Looking at Yingxing's notes, "shower her with celestials," "hero saves the beauty," "show off sword skills," "give weapons", Jing Yuan, "…"
'What a wildly satisfying assist indeed.'
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