"Stop shouting, you two... Get out!"
The arcade owner grabbed the little boy with one hand and the little girl with the other, tossing them out the back door.
Then he quickly locked the door.
"What do we do? Sister Bai has been taken by the assassins?"
The little girl was on the verge of tears.
"We should report it to the Cloud Knights."
"Waaah... By the ti the Cloud Knights arrive, Sister Bai might already be gone..."
The little girl burst into tears.
The little boy suddenly covered her mouth.
With a grave expression, he said, "Quiet—"
"Look over there!"
The back door was in a secluded spot.
At the end of the wall.
Was a dead-end alley.
A white mist suddenly erged there.
Faintly, figures appeared.
Like mirages seen in a ga.
The little girl quickly wiped her tears.
They approached the end.
Stealthily climbed the wall.
Then,
Both were horrified.
They had to cover their mouths with one hand, afraid they might scream in fright.
They actually saw... Bailu and her maid Huanxi there!
In the narrow alley.
One figure after another began to erge from the mist.
Bailu also seed to sense sothing was wrong, placing a hand on the gourd at her waist.
She said to the person beside her, "Huanxi, sothing feels off here."
"It seems we've walked into a trap!"
"Sigh..."
Huanxi sighed.
"Miss Bailu, how could I ever deserve such trust from you? Even at this mont, you haven't doubted at all?"
"It truly stirs a sense of pity deep within my heart."
"Don't worry, when it's ti to [set off], I'll do my best to minimize Miss Bailu's suffering."
"Huanxi, you...!?"
Bailu was stunned.
How could soone who seed so concerned for her in the story actually be in cahoots with these assassins?
What a pity.
Bailu hadn't finished reading the plot of [The Dragon Returns Ho], so she didn't know that Huanxi would eventually reveal her true intentions in the end.
Instinctively, she turned to flee.
But the only exit was a dead end.
Bailu had already been intercepted by two assassins.
Moreover, it seed they had used the Cloud Chanting technique, making everything happening here invisible to the outside world.
Bailu clenched her teeth tightly.
A look of unwillingness appeared on her face.
"Damn it!... Am I really going to fall here this ti..."
"There are still so many delicious foods and fun things I haven't experienced yet..."
Huanxi walked up to Bailu.
She revealed two daggers.
"Don't worry, Lady Bailu, it will be quick, and there will be no pain..."
Bailu instinctively closed her eyes.
Too afraid to look.
At that mont.
A man appeared out of thin air like a ghost.
He stood in front of Bailu.
Huanxi was stunned.
Because the dagger in her hand seed to have gained a consciousness of its own, reversing and plunging into her own chest.
She fell down with a look of shock on her face.
Just as she had said earlier.
It was quick, and there was no pain...
At the sa ti.
All the other assassins were also instantly betrayed by their own weapons!
They died by their own weapons!
"Thud..."
"Thud..."
One by one, the bodies fell powerlessly.
The expected pain did not co.
Bailu, holding her head, timidly opened her eyes a crack.
She saw a man appearing before her like a divine savior.
Her eyes widened in shock.
She was astonished to find.
That all the assassins around her had suddenly died!
Her small mouth ford an exaggerated "O" shape!
She had no idea what had just happened!
For a mont, her mouth went dry, and she didn't know how to react.
And this scene.
Was only witnessed by two children.
The man had suddenly appeared.
With just a snap of his fingers.
All the enemies were dead!
The little boy's eyes sparkled with admiration: "So, so strong!"
"I will never forget this figure for the rest of my life!"
The little girl: "Sister Bailu... is saved?"
"Oh my, it's like a dream...!"
"This is even more dramatic than the ga's storyline..."
...
Alchemy Commission.
After Jing Yuan left.
Now, only Dan Heng, Jingliu, and Blade were left to watch the storyline.
Since both Jingliu and Blade had appeared in the Honkai: Star Rail storyline, and their identities were special.
So changes had been made to their appearances.
For example, Jingliu let her hair down, wore a blue inner outfit, and draped a white coat over it.
Blade, at Jing Yuan's request, had changed into a suit.
Although it was difficult to conceal his unique aura, at least it wouldn't imdiately make Honkai: Star Rail players recognize him as Blade.
Dan Heng, to avoid trouble, had also returned to his usual state, wearing a black coat.
At this mont.
In the Clouds Leave No Trace mission, he and Jingliu arrived at Stargazer Navalia.
Yanqing was there to receive them.
Yanqing asked in confusion, "If you want to see the Starskiffs, you can just look up by the Jade Gate. Why co all the way here?"
Jingliu, however, turned the question around: "Little brother, have you heard of the foxian pilot Baiheng?"
"Baiheng... Baiheng... that na seems familiar..."
[Baiheng...]
After selecting this option.
The screen's filter suddenly changed to a yellowish, nostalgic style.
A line of text popped up on the screen.
[The na feels as unfamiliar to you as a passing breeze, stirring no emotions. Yet, for so reason, a voice echoes in your ears.]
"Let the noble High Elder command the clouds and rain, drowning the enemy forces. We, the supporting cast, can just watch from the sky, right?"
Jingliu and Blade were montarily stunned.
It was indeed Baiheng's voice.
If it had been before, hearing this na and this voice might have triggered their Mara affliction on the spot.
But as the story progressed layer by layer, it seed to have given this wound ample ti to heal.
When it was reopened, it had already scarred over.
Though the nostalgia and heartache remained, at least it wasn't as agonizing as before, driving them to madness.
Even.
Jingliu sighed, "If only Baiheng could beco a playable character in this ga..."
Blade: "..."
In the story, Jingliu continued, "Imbibitor Lunae, if you rember anything, feel free to share."
"She... seems to have been Imbibitor Lunae's comrade."
Jingliu added, "A comrade, and a friend. Imbibitor Lunae's, and ours."
"Ah well... it's all in the past. The reason we ca to Stargazer Navalia was simply to pay our respects to her."
"To send a Starskiff representing the departed into the stars. I left in such a hurry back then, unable to bid her farewell, and I still regret it to this day. Before leaving Luofu, I wanted to settle this matter of the heart."
As they activated the Starskiff production line.
Yanqing suddenly spoke up, "Ah, I rember now. The na Baiheng—I've read about her in a book."
"Though I don't read much in my daily life, during my strategic training, the General forced to read quite a few ancient texts from the archives. I recall one titled The Marvelous Voyages of the Starskiff Across the Seas, and the author was this very na."
"The writing was witty, with nine out of ten pages detailing the author's frequent Starskiff crashes and narrow escapes in different worlds, interspersed with records of local species and ecosystems."
"At the ti, I thought, soone who keeps crashing Starskiffs... can they really be called a pilot? But then again, she always managed to turn danger into safety and survive unscathed. Her luck was truly astonishing."
Jingliu: "Indeed, her luck was always astonishingly bad. Whenever she piloted a Starskiff into battle, it was either an unexpected turn of events where she was swallowed by a giant beast of the Abundance, or she crashed deep in enemy territory."
"Few Starskiffs she handled ever returned to port intact. The Sky-Faring Commission secretly called her the Starskiff Killer."
"Her jinxed mouth was also infamous. The misfortunes she casually predicted would almost always co true. Over ti, few in the Cloud Knights dared to accompany her on missions."
"Yet, when it ca to survival... her luck was astonishingly good. No matter the peril, she always managed to escape unscathed."
"Luck is also a form of strength... I hope this ship, built specifically for the Starskiff Killer, can return to the stars just like her."
Dan Heng's emotions were complicated.
Unlike Jingliu and Blade, who had endured the tornt of countless mories.
This was his first direct encounter with the story of that foxian pilot from the past.
These experiences, sotis feeling like first-person, sotis like third-person, stirred ripples in his heart.
"Jing Yuan... why hasn't he returned yet...?"
"I'll go check."
Dan Heng spoke up.
Jingliu paused the story.
"I'll wait for you," she said.
Dan Heng nodded.
He stood up and headed in the direction Jing Yuan had left.
On one hand, he genuinely needed so ti to sort out his emotions.
On the other hand, Jing Yuan had been gone for quite a while. Unless sothing urgent had co up, it was unlikely he would have disappeared without even saying goodbye.
Dan Heng walked into the alley.
Due to the recent crackdown on the Disciples of Sanctus dicus, the Alchemy Commission was still under strict security asures. As a result, it was rare to see anyone outside the safe zones.
The alley he entered now was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
For so reason.
Dan Heng felt that the terrain seed sowhat different from what he rembered.
Five minutes later.
He stopped in his tracks.
His cold gaze turned to the side.
"Who's there!"
White mist suddenly filled the entire alley.
The surroundings seed to blur, as if subrged in seawater, gradually fading away.
When the transformation ended.
Dan Heng realized he was no longer within the boundaries of the Alchemy Commission. Unknowingly, he had arrived at a desolate beach.
And around him.
Figures erged from the mist.
One after another.
There were more than ten of them.
The aura emanating from each individual was not to be underestimated.
The mist enveloped the beach, isolating a space that was difficult for the outside world to detect.
"Imbibitor Lunae... no, I should call you Dan Heng... right?"
An elderly man stared at Dan Heng as he spoke.
"You took away the power of the High Elder, you took away the art of dragon transformation, do you really think you can end well?"
"Since you don't rember, consider this body as compensation to us."
Dan Heng sighed slightly.
Through the ga's storyline, he, Jingliu, and Blade had co together again.
They had gained a bit more understanding and tolerance for each other, even showing signs of burying the hatchet.
But these Preceptors still clung to the High Elder, to the legacy of The Permanence.
Fortunately.
Dan Heng had also been ntally prepared.
A flash of blue light enveloped his body.
Transforming into the form of Imbibitor Lunae Dan Heng.
"I didn't want to use this power..."
"Hehe, do you think we don't know about the ga 'Star Rail'? We are well aware of your abilities!"
Dan Heng's gaze slightly darkened.
This ti, the other party had co prepared.
Even,
It was likely an all-out assault!
This ti, it was inevitable to settle things with these Preceptors!
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