Silver Wolf stared up at Sylvia with utter disbelief.
"Seriously? This is the 'specialty game' you were talking about?"
Seeing this, Sylvia quickly grabbed her hand with a cheerful grin and steered her toward the table.
Qingque, catching Sylvia's look, immediately handed the dice to Silver Wolf.
"Hey, friend! This is the hottest entertainment craze sweeping the Luofu! How about we try just one round? Just one, to see what it's like?"
To be fair, Silver Wolf wasn't completely uninterested.
It was just that the game was nothing like what she'd imagined, making her itch to bonk Sylvia on the head with her Prometheus.
So, swayed by Qingque's enthusiastic persuasion, Silver Wolf stayed at the table, and the three of them began their game of mahjong.
Silver Wolf got into it even more than Sylvia had expected.
And Qingque, finally able to play the Celestial Jade she'd been missing for so long, remained exhilarated for hours.
She even polished off all the snacks she'd brought herself, plus the ones Sylvia had prepared.
Clearly, the combined tea and treats from the two of them had been a bit… excessive.
If Silver Wolf hadn't had to leave at a certain time to get back to her gaming grind, Qingque would probably have insisted on battling it out until dawn.
By then, she definitely wouldn't have been feeling so stuffed.
But as it was, Qingque had to leave holding her stomach and leaning against the wall for support.
Even then, before heading out, she didn't forget to remind Sylvia once more to absolutely, without fail, rescue her from the Divination Commission tomorrow so they could play cards again.
It was the classic case of someone who'd been pent up for too long finally getting a chance to let loose.
Who knew if the girl would even be able to sleep tonight.
Sylvia saw her out with an amused smile.
Silver Wolf hadn't left yet.
Returning to the living room, Sylvia looked at Silver Wolf sprawled on the sofa.
"Aren't you heading back?"
"It's just a projection. I can grind my games anywhere."
Silver Wolf cracked an eye open to glance at her. "Speaking of which, you really made a huge splash yesterday. I reckon a fair number of factions already know something major went down on the Xianzhou Luofu."
"That fast?"
"Duh. That giant sword scar is something even a blind person could sense."
Silver Wolf shot Sylvia a deadpan look. The thing was practically a new landmark in the Exalting Sanctum now.
Did this woman even realize what this meant for the Xianzhou Alliance?
A bunch of factions were already speculating about what trouble the Luofu had run into. Chances were, the other Xianzhou ships would be sending inquiries soon too.
"So, did you accomplish what you came to the Xianzhou for?"
Silver Wolf asked curiously.
They only knew Sylvia's goal for staying on the Xianzhou was related to that Emanator of Destruction, but the specifics of what she'd do were left vague in Elio's script.
Sylvia sat down beside Silver Wolf, picking up her half-finished Immortal's Delight tea, and nodded.
"Mostly done. Why? Eager for me to head to The Blue?"
"Tch— Go or don't go, whatever. I'm just giving you a heads-up."
With that, Silver Wolf's projection dissolved into streams of data and vanished into the air.
And Sylvia really did start thinking about the trip to The Blue.
A visit to Herta Space Station was definitely on the list.
Whether it was the little rich girl, Herta herself, or even Ruan Mei, whom she might run into later… if she could get draw opportunities from these capable individuals…
Sylvia was quite looking forward to what good stuff she might pull.
--+--
Come evening, Acheron returned, as expected.
The moment she got back, she checked if Sylvia had taken her medicine on time during the day.
Then she headed to the bathroom to start preparing today's medicinal bath.
While getting the bath ready, Acheron even managed to whip up dinner.
This feeling of being taken care of was… rather novel for Sylvia.
"Once we finish dinner, the medicinal bath should be just about ready. Rest for a bit, then you can go soak."
At the dining table, Acheron's gaze bore into Sylvia, her expression hinting at something unspoken.
Sylvia found it odd. Nibbling on her chopsticks, she glanced at Acheron, blinked a few times in thought, then said, "Thank you, Mei. Sorry for all the trouble. Luckily, I'm recovering well today, so you won't have to stand guard while I'm soaking."
"…"
The words visibly gave Acheron pause, if only for a fleeting moment. It was so quick, one might not even notice unless they were paying close attention.
But Sylvia's eyes hadn't left Acheron, so she caught that instant of unnatural hesitation.
Now it clicked.
So that's what she was waiting for!
Well, well, well. To think you were such a Mei, Acheron.
Seems you really do have some special tastes, huh?
Sylvia narrowed her eyes slightly, but Acheron simply acted as if nothing had happened.
She even tried to overturn Sylvia's decision.
"You've only recovered for a day. Even if you look like you can walk and run, the real injuries aren't healed yet. I think having someone watch over you is safer." Her tone was perfectly natural.
"Once you've recovered a bit more, Sylvia, the supervision won't be necessary."
Not only was it delivered smoothly, she even left herself a clear way out, suggesting the proposal was made purely out of concern for Sylvia's health and safety.
Utterly selfless.
But Sylvia clearly wasn't buying it.
"…Recovering to this point is good enough. I'm just taking a medicinal bath, not going into a fight."
Yet Acheron shook her head with utmost seriousness, explaining, "You can't think of it so simply. You can barely even muster your strength for combat right now, which proves your body was severely damaged. The surface-level normalcy is likely only because the power of Permanence is propping you up."
As she spoke, Acheron even furrowed her brows, her gaze seeming to pierce through Sylvia's clothes to peer inside her body.
"But your Permanence isn't strong enough. The repair process isn't just slow, it's also unstable. I'm worried symptoms similar to those of the Vidyadhara might appear."
"The Vidyadhara… You mean the rebirth process?"
"Mhm. We know far too little about the power of Permanence. Can you guarantee that a 'hibernation — molting' stage won't occur?"
"…"
Alright, Sylvia couldn't guarantee it. The Path of Permanence was indeed one of the more mysterious Paths.
After all, its Aeon had vanished so inexplicably, making it hard to grasp where exactly this 'Permanence' had gotten to.
While Sylvia felt her current state probably wouldn't trigger such a mechanism, if it came to a guarantee… she really couldn't give one.
She'd basically cheated her way onto the Path of Permanence herself. When it came to understanding it, she might not even grasp it as deeply as Acheron did.
Seeing Sylvia fall silent, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touched the corner of Acheron's lips before she gave a light cough.
"Ahem… Therefore, I believe that until your body recovers to a certain degree, having supervision during your medicinal baths is necessary."
"…"
Sylvia had a strong feeling Acheron was up to no good, but her reasons were just too darn legitimate, leaving Sylvia at a loss for where to even begin refuting them.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.