Done shopping for groceries, just as Lucian and Fu Xuan arrived at the gate to the courtyard of his temporary residence, they happened to run into Jingliu and Luocha standing together by the gate.
"Master?"
As soon as Jingliu saw Lucian, she imdiately walked up to him.
"Master, there's sothing I need to tell you. It's about—"
Just as Jingliu was about to say it out loud, Lucian raised a finger and pressed it against her lips.
"I already know. No need to say more."
Lucian spoke with a faint smile, then turned his gaze toward Luocha—a handso young blond man with refined features, carrying a finely crafted white coffin on his back.
He, of course, knew what was inside that coffin—it was a divine body fragnt of the Aeon of Propagation, Tayzzyronth.
Needless to say, with just that fragnt, he could use the Godly Bandage to easily resurrect the Aeon of Propagation, but he obviously would never do such a thing.
If he truly revived the Aeon of Propagation, he would instantly beco the second most wanted enemy in the entire world of Honkai Star Rail.
He was, after all, still young—he had no way of shouldering such a burden.
"Your matter's ti hasn't co yet. Be patient." Lucian said calmly to the silent Luocha.
He had no intention of letting news of the Propagation spread for now.
He had only just revealed his ability to resurrect the dead using their body ashes, so if the remains of the Aeon of Propagation were to beco known, it would inevitably stir unease in the Xianzhou Alliance.
Especially for those who were paranoid, they would definitely beco wary of him, which made things troubleso.
"Very well. If you say so, then I'll do as you say." Luocha replied briefly, offering a small smile, then turned to leave.
He noticed the look in Lucian's eyes carried deeper aning.
Lucian clearly knew what was inside his coffin, yet he remained calm and composed, as though everything was firmly under his control.
'Perhaps Jingliu's judgnt isn't wrong...' Luocha walked off, doubts still lingering. 'He might have another, simpler plan of his own...'
Seeing Luocha's retreating figure, Jingliu beca uneasy.
"Master, you're just letting him go?" Jingliu whispered into Lucian's ear. "What if he goes to find Ruan i? You know, she's a genius in biology—her ideas can be dangerous."
"Don't worry. Ruan i is my friend." Lucian leaned in as well, whispering back.
Upon hearing this, Jingliu froze as she realized that her master truly had friends everywhere—or rather, 'female friends' everywhere.
Just like that, the plan to kill Yaoshi now lay completely within Lucian's control.
"Excuse , can you two not whisper silently like that?"
Fu Xuan chid in, standing with her hands on her hips, making her small fra look rather comical beside Lucian and Jingliu.
Just monts ago, she had carefully been sizing up Jingliu, the forr Sword Champion of the Xianzhou Luofu.
Seeing how Jingliu was now behaving ekly like a cat before Lucian, and how close they were when conversing, it was no wonder he was willing to spend so much energy to revive her victims and erase her cri.
"Alright, let's go in for dinner."
Lucian smiled and led the two won into the western courtyard of his temporary residence.
===
As night fell, Jing Yuan and Teng Xiao visited Lucian's residence together, but the mont Jing Yuan saw Jingliu sitting before the dining table, flashes of the past raced through his mind—especially the ti he had struck her down with the Lightning-Lord.
Now that he thought about it, he suddenly felt a little awkward and embarrassed.
"Welco back..." Jing Yuan smiled at Jingliu. "So, should I still be calling you Master now?"
"General Jing Yuan, the bond of master and disciple between us ended the mont I was mara-struck." Jingliu shot him a cold glance. "I am no longer your master, nor am I the Sword Champion of the Luofu. From now on, we're only friends."
Indeed, her holand had returned, Baiheng had returned, and Lucian was by her side, so she no longer had any need to cling to that tragic fate.
"You taught that once soone falls to mara, they are no longer kin, and rcy cannot be shown..." Jing Yuan said helplessly. "I did as you taught ."
"Yes, for that, you deserve praise." Jingliu nodded calmly. "Just so you know, I never held that against you."
Even though she said that, the mory of Jing Yuan summoning the Lightning-Lord and nearly striking her dead still left a trace of resentnt.
It couldn't be helped.
If she had died then, there would be no happiness today.
Upon hearing Jingliu's words, Jing Yuan sighed in relief, chuckled, raised his cup, and drained it in one gulp.
Truth be told, those words were what he had wanted to hear all this ti.
Theory was one thing, but actually striking his own master down had always weighed heavily on his mind.
Now that she didn't really bla him, he could finally let go.
Feeling relieved, Jing Yuan raised his cup again and toasted Lucian three tis.
Baiheng, Jingliu, and Teng Xiao—their tragedies had always been Jing Yuan's regrets, but now that Lucian had undone those regrets, a toast was due.
Unfortunately, two people were still missing.
"Alright, what's done is done!" Teng Xiao, unable to stand the heavy mood, imdiately downed a jar of wine to lighten the atmosphere. "Tomorrow will be better! Drink up, drink up!"
"Cheers!" Baiheng raised her cup, gulped it down, then began chattering and telling stories with everyone.
Jingliu stayed silent, gazing absentmindedly at Lucian's side profile as she felt as though she were still living in the dream that had changed her life.
Fu Xuan, on the other hand, kept pestering Lucian with questions.
"Lucian, how else can your bandage be used?"
"What's its limit?"
"So of my ancient books are incomplete—can it restore them to full versions?"
Jingliu, seeing the pure curiosity in Fu Xuan's eyes, simply let her chatter away with Lucian, not feeling jealous at all.
It was only natural.
Such a short body and a small chest—a childlike body like that obviously posed no competition.
And so, the group chatted the night away with a festive atmosphere until dawn broke without them realizing.
However...
"Oh, there's a trending topic... Master Diviner Fu Xuan and General Lucian's Scandal?!" Baiheng said with a smile, but then let out a startled cry as she read the trending topic.
Upon hearing that, everyone imdiately tensed up.
"What?" Fu Xuan could hardly believe her ears.
How could she even have a scandal?
Weren't the people who made the scandal afraid of being divined and punished by her?
Fu Xuan pulled out her phone-type jade abacus and checked the trending feed.
Sure enough, it was indeed a scandal about her.
[Master Diviner Fu Xuan is a face-obsessed woman with impossibly high standards, and to this day, only General Lucian qualifies.]
[Our Master Diviner has finally stepped into spring, finding her beloved. Attached is a smiling photo of her.]
[Shocking! Xianzhou Cangcheng sacrifices its general's looks just to get on Xianzhou Luofu's good side!]
Reading one absurd headline after another, Fu Xuan's face eventually turned dark.
"Unbelievable..." Fu Xuan muttered in a low voice. "A bunch of bored fools dare to spread fake rumors about ? I'll find each one of you and make you regret ever doing it."
In the next mont, she imdiately released a statent online to clarify.
[I, Master Diviner Fu Xuan, hereby declare that my relationship with General Lucian is clean and proper, nothing more than normal political relations, with absolutely no romantic involvent. As for those who spread such lies, I will track you down one by one. Bear the consequences.]
Just as Fu Xuan posted this clarification, Jing Yuan spoke up.
"Diviner Fu, I an, look at this photo—your smile here really doesn't look normal." Jing Yuan, grinning mischievously, pointed at the picture on his phone. "Could it be you really..."
What he showed on his phone was a photo of Fu Xuan walking with Lucian side-by-side, hand covering her mouth in a smile, captured by who knew who.
"General, I devote myself to studying divination—don't you know that?" Fu Xuan's expression was stern, her tone serious. "Don't join in the nonsense and tarnish my na."
"Alright, I'm just joking." Jing Yuan raised his hands in surrender. "I'll post a statent too, help clear things up for you."
He knew the line he shouldn't cross, so with just a casual joke, he let it go.
As he prepared his own statent as the Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Luofu, Fu Xuan turned to look at Jingliu and Baiheng.
By now, she already knew how deeply the two were connected to Lucian—they were no different than his lovers.
In other words, this kind of rumor could easily cause them to misunderstand, so it had to be cleared up as soon as possible.
"Rest assured, I'm only curious about Lucian's power and origins. He helped resolve my problem, and I'm grateful for that, but I only consider him a friend, nothing more." Fu Xuan solemnly explained. "I vow I have absolutely no romantic feelings on my part. As the Master Diviner of the Luofu's Divination Commission, I vow it! If I ever try to steal your man, may I never grow taller for the rest of my life!"
Jingliu and Baiheng were naturally sensible enough not to misunderstand.
"No worries—we don't doubt you." Baiheng said with a smile. "Honestly, there's no need for such a vicious vow, y'know."
Jingliu, although not speaking, showed her agreent with a nod.
Lucian, anwhile, stayed silent at the side, not paying attention to their conversation—because a voice had suddenly echoed in his mind.
[DING! Script cooldown complete. You can now activate the script again.]
[Script: 1]
Considering that he now had no pressing matter requiring him to save the script activation, like when he dealt with Nous before, Lucian decided to activate the script right away, since the more conceptual abilities he possessed, the better his safety would be in this dangerous world.
'Activate the script.'
[Random character script starting...]
[Fu Xuan]
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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