Little Sparrow pressed her hands together against her cheeks, fantasizing about a beautiful future.
"I've already thought it all out. I'll use this money to open a mahjong parlor, then hire a few workers. I'll live off the interest every day and start a new life of reaping without sowing. Hnghehehe~~"
Sushang's eye twitched. "This isn't the same person as the Miss Qingque from earlier at all, is it?"
Fu Xuan averted her gaze, her expression somewhat unnatural.
"Ah, what a pity. This seat said quite a few absurd things earlier and already doesn't remember a single word."
"Speaking of which, Qingque, why are you still here? Shouldn't you be on duty at the book repository right now?"
"Ah?!"
Qingque's little face completely wilted. She pouted pitifully.
"The Master Diviner's word is worth a thousand gold. How can you go back on it?"
Fu Xuan said righteously: "Of course I can. After all, life always has choices. This is something you taught me. Even Mister Leon taught me darker choices, didn't he?"
Seeing her expression, Qingque let out a slightly regretful sigh.
Even her bestie's words were being used as an excuse. The beautiful life she had been fantasizing about had died before it was even born.
"Sigh. I really can't argue with you. You rest for a while first. I'll go… I mean, I'll go work."
Fu Xuan forced herself to stay energetic and inspected the surroundings.
Fortunately, Xiyan had not caused any greater chaos. It did not take long before the Divination Commission barely restored order and resumed normal operations.
Only then did Fu Xuan finally disperse the aura of authority she carried as a superior.
"I did so many absurd things. I've truly lost all face."
Stelle, who loved watching chaos, said pointedly: "Good thing that besides Qingque, no one else saw it."
Fu Xuan's pupils shifted. "This seat will have to think carefully about how to seal everyone's mouths…"
"Master Diviner wouldn't be thinking of…" Guinaifen grew nervous.
Fu Xuan rarely showed a trace of a smile. "It was just a joke. Don't be nervous."
Huohuo: "Heliobus are best at seizing people's weaknesses and exploiting them. Everyone has weaknesses. This isn't Master Diviner Fu's fault."
"That's right. Master Diviner Fu is just a victim. There's no need to blame yourself too much." Sushang comforted her.
Fu Xuan slightly bowed. "Although it's a bit rude, the Divination Commission has suffered this calamity. This seat still needs to preside over the overall situation, so I'll take my leave first."
"Wait a moment, Master Diviner. There's one more thing." Guinaifen called out to her.
"What else is there?"
"It's like this…"
Guinaifen explained the cause and effect of this operation in detail.
Fu Xuan nodded lightly.
"It wouldn't sound good if word got out that this seat was possessed by a Heliobus. This seat doesn't mind how you spin the story, as long as you hide the names and identities."
"No problem!" Guinaifen patted her chest.
Fu Xuan: "This seat still has a pile of official duties to handle. Today's kindness, please allow this seat to repay it another day."
Huohuo politely bowed. "Then we won't disturb you further. Next, we should also return to Fyxestroll Garden and seal Xiyan away."
...
Fyxestroll Garden.
The group arrived at the sealing array's array point and discovered someone was already there. They did not seem surprised at all by their arrival.
"It seems your operation went quite smoothly."
"G-General?! Why are you here?" Huohuo immediately became nervous and even started to stammer.
Sushang and Guinaifen were also somewhat nervous.
The two members of the Astral Express group were very calm. They greeted him one after another in their own casual ways.
Jing Yuan said with a smile: "The recent events in Fyxestroll Garden could be considered major or minor. As the General, I naturally had to come and confirm whether there are any lingering concerns."
Stelle: "What is the General's conclusion?"
"…This seat naturally gives full trust to everyone's ability to handle matters."
A meaningful glint flashed through Jing Yuan's eyes, yet his expression remained calm.
"When I was browsing the Luofu Miscellany, I saw the strange anecdotes you published. They were extremely interesting."
Stelle: "It seems the General already knows everything that happened in the Divination Commission."
Jing Yuan said lightly: "As the saying goes, those skilled in change do not divine."
"Divining fortune and misfortune for the Xianzhou year after year will inevitably give rise to many heart demons, which Heliobus can exploit."
"It's fortunate that with your help, Lady Fu has safely overcome this calamity."
Stelle asked curiously: "Then how does the General view destiny?"
Jing Yuan said freely: "Whether it's storytelling or illusion plays, the endings of all known stories are predetermined. One cannot give up enjoying these stories because of that, can they?"
"Life and destiny follow the same principle. Regardless of whether the ending is predetermined, it is still worth living through."
"I understand what the General means." Stelle shrugged.
The General's Tai Chi was played beautifully. Known stories? Unknown stories are just like a person's destiny—you never know what might happen in the next second.
Jing Yuan: "Miss Hanya is waiting for you at the Demon-Suppressing Tower. Jing Yuan won't disturb you any further."
The group did not think much of it and headed straight for the Demon-Suppressing Tower to meet Hanya.
They had not walked far when Stelle suddenly realized something was off.
The most familiar footsteps were missing.
She turned her head in confusion. As expected, there was no familiar tall figure.
When had Leon disappeared?
Her movement caught Guinaifen's attention. Following her reaction, she also noticed someone was missing and nearly suffered PTSD.
"Eek! Where's Leon?! There are so many Judges in Fyxestroll Garden right now, and the General just left not long ago. It's not possible that… that… ghosts appeared again, right?"
A few black lines appeared on Stelle's forehead. She lightly patted the former's shoulder.
"Our high-level expert in the Express crew naturally has the demeanor of a high-level expert. Appearing and disappearing without a trace is his basic operation. Calm down a little, little Guizi."
"…Oh, right. I lost my composure. Haha…"
[It really is true. He comes and goes without a trace. He also appeared by chance when they went to the Divination Commission this time.]
[You actually believe it was a coincidence? If the array in Fyxestroll Garden suddenly broke right now and Grandpa was in danger, Father would probably appear in less than half a second.]
[Jing Yuan probably went to slack off secretly again. Leon probably went to slack off with Jing Yuan.]
[To be honest, these two usually have personalities like brothers.]
[Ship it.]
[Ship it. We can ship it.]
"Indeed, we can ship it, but don't stir up drama. Respect other people's preferred spiritual food. Don't go around ky-ing."
Ah Xian gave the danmaku a few reminders to prevent drama.
There was no helping it. Leon's popularity among the player base was truly high. His various settings also belonged to the all-loving type—
Meaning he didn't specifically serve any particular direction of the audience. He was basically universally accepted.
Except for a very small number of extremely unorthodox CP shippers, most people shipped the pairings that had quite a bit of interaction in the story.
For example, Jing Yuan, who was also very popular, or the protagonist, or Raiden Mei who only existed in the past, and so on.
However, due to the previous game Honkai Impact 3rd and the name reason, shipping Leon with Raiden Mei easily met resistance from some Honkai Impact 3rd players.
But for those who don't ship CPs and for solo stans, these were all boring drama.
"I ship Leon with who? Good question. We are loyal father-daughter shippers, not father-son, okay."
"While going through the story, I've always been immersing myself as Stelle."