Dan Feng originally thought that Jingliu would choose to press the advantage and keep questioning him.
But unexpectedly, the other party was extremely sharp; the moment she sensed that he couldn't say it out loud, she stopped making things difficult for him. In the end, she only asked two more questions that had nothing to do with the former Marshal's identity.
It was… truly beyond his expectations.
Dan Feng was surprised, but once he remembered that the other person was Jingliu, he no longer found it strange.
Because this was Jingliu.
This was the Jingliu who, after taking Jing Yuan as a disciple, had always kept her distance from him.
She didn't want to get too close to Jing Yuan, worried that when she fell into the Mara-state, her disciple wouldn't be able to bring himself to end her life.
For someone like her to break her own principles and pursue someone who, on the surface, had a massive age gap with her… it was enough to show just how deep Jingliu's feelings for that person ran.
If the male and female leads in storybooks needed eighty to ninety percent affection before stepping into marriage… then when Dan Feng's friend Jingliu made up her mind to pursue Zero, she had probably already surpassed that threshold.
So, even though she knew her beloved carried many secrets, Jingliu didn't press Dan Feng. She only asked two questions.
How is he doing?
Is he very tired?
To Dan Feng, this was too simple to answer.
When he previously reviewed Zero's file and combined it with all known information, he had already more or less pieced together the outline of the man's life.
No illness, no disaster, peaceful and smooth.
If one had to dig out some hardship from Zero's past… perhaps the only thing was that he had to write more homework than others.
When he was born, the "Reignbow Arbiter" descended upon Luofu, causing him and the other newborns of the Xianzhou to receive a lot of attention.
Other than the dozens of extra workbooks he had to fill out, overall, he had lived much more freely than in his previous life.
Of course, with the former Marshal's abilities, even if he had no memories, he would still be one in a million, no, someone you couldn't find even among tens of millions.
Don't be fooled by how he was currently just a diviner of the Divination Commission, not very eye-catching in Luofu.
But he was still a diviner of the Xianzhou Luofu.
In the earliest days of the Xianzhou Alliance, aside from the ship Daiyu, which self-destructed while fighting the Abundance-spawned "flesh-seers," the other Xianzhou ships were all perfectly fine.
Not to mention, the Alliance also had countless planets, and the people of those planets were equally qualified to apply to the Luofu's Six Commissions.
For the former Marshal to stand out from such a massive pool of competitors, and even enter the Divination Commission with the lowest passing score, wasn't that enough to prove his ability?
Compared with Jingliu's and Dan Feng's own experiences, his couldn't even be called tiring.
One was a Cloud Knight who trained with a sword at four every morning.
One was a dragon lord who spent lifetimes sealing the Ambrosial Arbor.
With Cloud Knights protecting him, how could Zero ever live poorly? How could he ever feel burdened?
Dan Feng could have simply said that he lived lightly and freely. That way, he wouldn't reveal the former Marshal's identity, nor would he raise Jingliu's suspicions.
But the dragon lord couldn't stop himself from recalling all of the man's deeds from his previous life.
Dan Feng fell silent for a moment, abandoned the carefully prepared answer he'd planned, and sighed, "How could he not be tired?"
He lifted his head and looked at Jingliu, whose expression had frozen instantly, and couldn't help adding one more sentence, "I can only say that he had a very close relationship with the Marshal."
Jingliu didn't say anything else. She nodded and walked toward the main gate of the residence.
Dan Feng suddenly realized something and hurriedly stopped her, "Wait, wouldn't it be a bit improper for you to leave from the front gate?"
In the middle of the night, Jingliu walking out of his front door, wasn't that strange?
Jingliu turned to look at the tall wall.
Seeing this, Dan Feng's mouth twitched, "…Fine. You should just use the front gate. If you climb the wall to leave, that's even more improper."
Originally, nothing was going on between them, but if Jingliu climbed the wall, wouldn't that look even weirder?
Jingliu, "…"
When Dan Feng said leaving through the main gate was improper, she had deliberately stopped and prepared to climb the wall.
She felt she was already giving the dragon lord plenty of face.
But then he said climbing the wall was even more inappropriate and told her to use the gate.
Before, she, Baiheng, Jing Yuan, and Yingxing would climb over the wall from time to time to visit him.
For the sake of Dan Feng voluntarily sharing inside information with her, Jingliu reluctantly took his advice and left through the front door.
Dan Feng watched Jingliu leave and finally let out a breath.
He cautiously pulled out his jade communicator, confirmed that Zero hadn't sent him any messages, then returned to his room and lit a sleep-aiding incense.
After waking from a good sleep, Dan Feng went to the Alchemy Commission as usual.
The dragon lord believed that what happened yesterday had to be mentioned to Zero.
He absolutely had no romantic feelings toward Jingliu.
Besides Dan Feng, both Jing Yuan and Yingxing also had absolutely no thoughts toward Jingliu beyond normal friendship.
Jing Yuan had grown up under the care of him, Yingxing, Jingliu, and Baiheng. Everyone treated Jing Yuan as a junior.
As for Yingxing, his mind was filled only with forging and schematics; he'd probably spend his whole life with that hammer of his.
Dan Feng kept a serious expression, carefully choosing every word, hoping to use the most tactful phrasing possible to tell Zero that Jingliu had come looking for him in the middle of the night.
After considering it over and over, he decided not to mention the time, only the content.
He couldn't hide it anyway, so he might as well be honest.
He could hide half and reveal half to Jingliu, but he couldn't play such tricks on the former Marshal.
Besides, the man had promised not to deceive Jingliu. Dan Feng had merely told her part of the truth in advance.
Zero wouldn't be angry.
Soon, the former Marshal, currently holding a leisurely post in the Divination Commission, replied.
[Zero: Oh]
Dan Feng was surprised.
Then he thought about it and guessed that Zero wouldn't be jealous.
He was the former Marshal, after all, what storms had he not weathered?
And besides, he could command even Aeons. Why would he worry about a human?
[Zero: Thanks to you, my seniority has dropped]
Seeing this, Dan Feng began replaying his own wording, guessing what Jingliu must have thought.
A friend would assume Zero had close ties with the upper ranks of the Xianzhou.
And with that extra line Dan Feng added at the end, which directly mentioned the current Marshal, combined with Zero's present age…
Dan Feng, "…"
He really had caused the former Marshal's seniority to drop.
With those words, Jingliu would probably think Zero was the Marshal's child?
Because he was the Marshal's child, the upper ranks of the Xianzhou had high expectations of him, burdening him with pressures someone his age shouldn't bear.
The Marshal would never use his own status for favoritism, nor would he give his child special treatment.
Maybe the Marshal wanted to train his successor by letting him live independently, only for him not to be chosen in the end.
And because of this, the dragon lord had heard of someone named Zero.
Dan Feng forced himself to change the subject and speak in defense of Yingxing and Jing Yuan so Zero wouldn't misunderstand.
Sure enough, once Zero saw his messages, he didn't bring up the seniority issue again, and instead earnestly lectured Dan Feng about proper views on relationships.
Dan Feng, "..."
A former Marshal with unstable mental condition… was lecturing him on dating advice.
The dragon lord's mind was filled with thoughts about respecting one's partner… never interfering with their friendships, and so on.
Dan Feng felt extremely conflicted. After quickly ending the conversation with Zero, he received new messages from other Ming-dragon lords.
They had formed a group chat early in the morning, and one dragon lord said his psychological test results showed severe issues.
The Marshal and the General, concerned about that dragon lord's mental state, had sent him away from the front lines to rest in the rear.
As they chatted, they mentioned Lord Imbibitor Lunae and asked about Dan Feng's recent condition.
He typed his reply.
[Imbibitor Lunae: I'm fine]
Dan Feng thought to himself, 'I am the Lord Imbibitor Lunae.'
He was the one who understood the power of the dragon lords better than any of his predecessors.
Other dragon lords could only balance the Dragonkeeper, but he, he could suppress him with ease.
He had accomplished things none of the previous Imbibitor Lunae lords had managed.
How could he possibly have problems?
Dan Feng glanced at the message General Tengxiao had sent.
As expected, it was about the psychological test the others had mentioned.
Dan Feng thought again, how could he possibly have problems?
The dragon lord stood up, casually handed his jade communicator to the assistant who had recently joined the Alchemy Commission, and said, "Do the test for me. Count it as overtime."
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