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Baiming was genuinely shaken by the story Jingliu had left behind.
She hesitated for a long while, but eventually, she opened the dialogue box and sent Jingliu a message of greeting, followed by a sincere apology and heartfelt gratitude.
This girl, honestly...
Baiming sighed.
She then sent "I'm safe" messages to everyone else on her contact list.
A moment later, Ruan Mei and Screwllum replied. Their messages were simple, grounded greetings, followed by inquiries as to whether Baiming was free to meet up—to catch up on recent events and perhaps engage in a bit of intellectual brainstorming.
Acheron hadn't replied yet; she was likely still keeping watch at the gates of IX.
Jingliu, however, replied much faster than expected.
[Jingliu: Excuse me, is this Madam Baiming?]
[Anonymous: ?]
[Anonymous: Who is this?]
[Jingliu: Allow me to introduce myself. I am Elio, the leader of the Stellaron Hunters.]
[Jingliu: My apologies, I have no intention of prying into your privacy, but Miss Jingliu is often in a poor state of mind, so she entrusted me to keep this phone for her.]
[Anonymous: So Jingliu really did join the Stellaron Hunters?]
[Anonymous: Yes. I promised her that if she helped me, she would be able to find you the very moment you returned.]
[Anonymous: ...]
Baiming stared at the text. Elio must have seen such a future, using that specific promise as bait to recruit Jingliu.
[Anonymous: You saw the future, didn't you?]
Then came a very long "The other party is typing..." status.
[Jingliu: Yes. Although, because of your presence, the future has become increasingly difficult to observe, which causes me a fair amount of distress.]
[Anonymous: Where is Jingliu? I want to see her.]
[Jingliu: I will send you the coordinates. However, please be mentally prepared.]
[Anonymous: ?]
[Anonymous: If you've done anything to Jingliu, I don't care if you can predict the future or not—I will hunt you down.]
[Jingliu: You misunderstand. It is not "prepared" in that sense... Regardless, you will understand once you arrive.]
[Anonymous: See you tomorrow.]
Looking at Elio's responses, Baiming decided to grant him a preliminary level of trust based on her impressions from the game.
But what did "mentally prepared" mean?
Did she really need a scriptwriter to remind her about the nature of Mara-struck? Or was it preparation for something positive? Did Elio have some kind of miracle cure?
Even Blade's madness was only tamed by Kafka's Spirit Whisper; what could Elio possibly do? It couldn't be that simply having her—the "anchor"—show up would fix everything, right? If Mara were that easy to cure, it wouldn't have tormented the Xianzhou Alliance for thousands of years.
She looked at the star chart address Elio had sent and closed the dialogue box for now.
Baiming planned to see Acheron first.
However, she realized that while in her Nexus state, she couldn't actively make contact with Nihility. "Noah" was exercising remote control, protecting all the Giants of Light with an absolute barrier. Unless Acheron slashed her twice or she charged directly into the IX's immediate radius, it would be difficult for a Giant of Light to be tainted by Nihility.
Left with no choice, Baiming initiated the roleplay as Jingliu and deactivated her transformation.
Once she allowed her connection with the Light to weaken, she was finally able to sink into the shadows of Nihility.
It was the same familiar wasteland and black sea.
A thin drizzle fell from the sky.
Acheron sat by the shore, holding a paper umbrella, motionless.
It wasn't until "Jingliu" drew near that she suddenly looked up.
"Acheron, sorry to keep you waiting."
"Jingliu" smiled and waved at Acheron.
Hearing those words, Acheron reached out blankly and grasped her palm. Feeling the tactile warmth in her hand, Acheron finally confirmed it.
It really was Baiming.
Acheron gave a firm tug, pulling Baiming to her side, a moving smile appearing on her face. "Long time no see. Welcome back, Baiming. Why have you changed into a Xianzhou girl this time?"
"Yeah, well, roleplaying as a genius was honestly too exhausting. I originally planned to go to the Xianzhou to relax for a bit, but who knew the Arbitrator would come knocking on my door?"
"Jingliu" sat down beside Acheron and let out a long sigh.
Acheron shifted her body closer, her shoulder pressing against "Jingliu's." "And are you relaxed now?"
"A few hundred years ago, I probably could have been. Now? Well, I plan to check on what exactly happened to Jingliu first... Her situation is a bit worrying."
Thinking about the current fates of those five people, "Jingliu" couldn't help but sigh again. She rambled on, giving a brief account of what had happened to the High-Cloud Quintet.
Acheron, having listened to the story, sighed for some reason. "That young girl's obsession runs quite deep... What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything! You were there during the Xianzhou period, weren't you? It was just some sparring and practice."
"Jingliu" shook her head vigorously. She really hadn't done anything, which made her all the more confused as to why the real Jingliu had chosen her as a rational anchor.
"Heh~"
Acheron gave a light laugh, though it was unclear if she believed her. "And what about you? Madam Herta said you strayed into the range of a black hole—is that true?"
"It's true, but it wasn't a mistake. I was played by Equilibrium. Luckily Aha fished me out in time, or I would have been several more centuries late."
"Jingliu" explained the circumstances to Acheron.
Although it had helped her avoid assassination by the Lord of Silence, if she had truly stayed to finish that fight, she probably would have missed the main storyline entirely. Thinking of this, she silently thanked Aha in her heart. Aha might love a good laugh, but they could be quite reliable when it counted!
Acheron listened, a subtle smile playing on her lips. "I didn't expect it to be because of something like that. That is truly... one of a kind."
"You're telling me."
"Jingliu" shook her head. Plus, that Arbitrator had left a chessboard in her hands, and she had no idea what it was for.
After staying with Acheron for half a day, "Jingliu" departed and arrived at the Xianzhou Luofu.
She intended to ask Jing Yuan for information. Teng Xiao had already retired and was likely Mara-struck by now. Neither Jingliu nor Baiheng were around, and she didn't have a contact method for Jing Yuan himself.
After some thought, "Jingliu" decided to simply walk into the Luofu port wearing this face.
The Cloud Knights on guard were terrified.
The Sword Champion of the Luofu from centuries ago—now an interstellar criminal—Jingliu had returned to the Luofu. What was she here for? To cut the Luofu down? If she hadn't looked so perfectly rational, the Cloud Knights would have swarmed her already.
"Go contact Jing Yuan. Tell him the name 'Baiming' and he'll understand. If a real fight breaks out, Jing Yuan is the only one who can stop me anyway."
Looking at the wary Cloud Knights surrounding her, "Jingliu" spoke with absolute, smiling confidence.
Not only was Jingliu's own martial prowess formidable, but with the added power of Elation and Destruction, how could ordinary Cloud Knights possibly stand in her way?
The surrounding Cloud Knights were also well aware of the situation. At the very least, the recent news of Jingliu confronting a Giant of Light and walking away was still fresh in the minds of the Xianzhou people.
Thus, they very decisively contacted Jing Yuan.
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