[After the three had rested and regrouped, they set off together once more.]
[Along the way, Dan Heng discovered March 7th's Six-Phase Ice, realizing they might have battled someone.]
[Fortunately, this time, their luck held. They managed to avoid most monsters while also finding a starskiff, successfully leaving the area and heading towards the Starskiff Haven Central.]
[...]
[Meanwhile, Stelle, after receiving Dan Heng's text message, was about to put away her phone when suddenly a stranger sent her a message.]
["Greetings, all. The Master Diviner ordered me to wait for you. By my calculations, you should be arriving soon, right? I'm currently tied up with urgent matters and cannot get away. Please come find me at this location."]
[Attached was a picture of an address.]
["What does this mean? Just a picture—are we supposed to meet them at this place?" March 7th wondered excitedly. "Feels like a scene from a movie where kidnappers exchange contacts."]
[The group followed the environment shown in the picture and searched their way to the location.]
[They found what seemed to be a mahjong parlor, where four people were gathered around a table, happily playing cards.]
["Hurry up, Qingque! Waiting for you to make a move feels like we're about to attain ascension just sitting here!"]
["I heard even the Divination Commission's realm suffered a disaster. Qingque, how do you still have the heart to play cards?"]
[Several players chatted around the table.]
[Across the table, a petite young girl with light brown hair tied into two low ponytails shrugged. Her emerald-green eyes radiated a sense of utter relaxation:]
["Well, even if the sky falls in the Divination Commission, the Master Diviner will hold it up. Though she may not be tall, her abilities are second to none."]
["Besides, I'm not here just messing around—I'm following her orders, waiting for important guests. Time is precious, so this is called 'combining slacking with work.'"]
——
In a love hotel on the outskirts of Shinjuku, Tokyo.
While watching the Celestial Screen, Lu Mingfei enjoyed a hot pot filled with fatty beef, enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, radishes... the aroma was irresistible.
A few minutes ago, a sudden downpour had begun. On a bleak, stormy night like this, nothing was more comforting than eating hot pot in a warm room... unless, of course, a stunning girl in pajamas was sharing the meal with him.
Two pairs of chopsticks rose and fell rapidly, devouring the food like a whirlwind.
After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Mingfei sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, burping contentedly, while Zhu Li sat on the sofa, intently watching the Celestial Screen.
Rain pattered against the window, enveloping the world in a soft rustle. People returning home late hurried past under umbrellas, and the streets gradually emptied, leaving only traffic lights monotonously changing.
The room was too quiet, making him a bit uneasy. Lu Mingfei had no experience making conversation with girls, but thankfully, the Celestial Screen had appeared just in time, providing plenty of topics between him and this human-shaped nuclear weapon.
When Qingque appeared on the screen, the beautiful girl picked up a pen and began writing and drawing in her notebook.
"What are they playing?" Zhu Li wrote the question obediently in her small notebook and showed it to Lu Mingfei.
What should he say? Diyuan Qiongyu cards? But would she understand? Lu Mingfei could tell this card game shared similarities with his hometown's national pastime, and the rules were likely somewhat similar. After a moment of thought, he picked up the pen and wrote in the notebook: "This is mahjong."
"It looks like fun," Zhu Li responded in the notebook.
Lu Mingfei thought, Fun? It's more than just fun! Back in his hometown, countless people stayed up all night in this game. After all, it was a classic curated by their ancestors—simple yet addictive.
"Can Sakura teach me?" Zhu Li wrote again.
"I can, but mahjong requires four players. If we want to play, we'd need two more people. The rain is too heavy today, so maybe another time?"
"I can ask my brother to send two people over."
"Whoa, better let me handle it!" Lu Mingfei broke out in a cold sweat. He knew tens of thousands of people were searching for him throughout the city. As Tokyo's most wanted fugitive, inviting the police over would be like offering his neck for the chopping block.
But upon second thought, his only task now was to look after Zhu Li and preserve this human-shaped weapon in the short term. If he taught her mahjong, this monster girl might become沉迷ed and play for ten days or even half a month.
As for the other two players...
Lu Mingfei pulled out his phone from his pocket and sent a text to Caesar and Chu Zihang.
How could they play mahjong with just two people? Those two had to join in too!
——
["According to the photo, this should be the place—a mahjong parlor. What kind of trouble could we possibly find here?" March 7th couldn't comprehend it at all.]
["Huh? This hand isn't troublesome? What kind of awful draw did I get..." Qingque looked pained, like a player who'd just used Sparkle's ultimate and skill points but still failed to win, her blood pressure skyrocketing!]
[Thankfully, she managed to spare a fraction of her attention from the game and finally noticed the guests behind her.]
["Ah, haha... Greetings, you three! Just one look at your noble auras tells me you must be the Divination Commission's honored guests!"]
["You wouldn't want the Master Diviner to know you were playing cards, would you?" Stelle said with a mischievous smile.]
["Oh, sorry, sorry! I originally intended to wait for you... Ah, wait, peng!" Qingque swiftly claimed a tile, then turned back to the group: "But the area nearby was taken over by the Earthly Efficiency Commission—it was just too noisy... chi!"]
["I thought, meeting in such a noisy place would be... my turn, gang!!"]
[Qingque kept her head down, analyzing the game situation while continuing: "...wouldn't it spoil the mood? So I figured, why not make use of this leisure time while I... this hand... hu!!"]
[Stelle and March 7th were utterly dumbfounded.]
[Qingque revealed a satisfied smile: "Now that my wish here is fulfilled, I have no more attachments. Guests, please, let's set off."]
——
"Is this card game really that fun?"
Inside the Club High Energy, Caesar watched Qingque's obsession with playing cards on the Celestial Screen with great curiosity. A few years ago, he'd seen students playing cards at the academy but never learned how.
"Never played," Chu Zihang replied, his face as expressionless as ever. If it involved cutting people down with a sword, he was an expert—but playing cards... he couldn't even imagine himself shouting and gesturing wildly at a card table.
As they spoke, Chu Zihang's phone suddenly vibrated. He picked it up and glanced at it—a text from Lu Mingfei.
"What did he say?" Caesar leaned over, staring at the glowing screen. "Looking after a beautiful girl shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Nothing much. He wants to invite us to play mahjong," Chu Zihang said with a serious expression. "...with that monster girl."