"You are..."
Kiana stared at the tall figure ahead, holding an oil-paper umbrella with her back turned. She instinctively called out.
She felt she'd seen her somewhere before... Kiana wondered, but the next second she froze.
The woman slowly turned around, revealing a familiar face.
"Mei..."
No—she's Huang Quan!
Seeing that face, Kiana blurted the name, then quickly realized her mistake.
This wasn't her beloved Raiden Mei, but the Self-Annihilator who walks the Path of Nihility in memory.
Huang Quan, who wields Nihility against Nihility!
Though she's also called Mei, of course.
When Huang Quan heard the name Mei, her previously calm eyes trembled visibly.
Then she walked straight toward Kiana.
Sensing no hostility, Kiana didn't raise her guard.
Stopping before her, Huang Quan instinctively reached out to caress Kiana's cheek.
Her jet-black hair turned snow-white in an instant, her eyes became crimson, and a bloody tear slid down her cheek.
"I'm sorry..."
"Why are you saying sor—"
Before Kiana could finish, the surrounding scenery shattered.
Why did Huang Quan apologize to me?
Could there have been someone in the past on Naraku who looked exactly like me, and something happened between them...?
There wasn't much information on Huang Quan in memory, so Kiana had no idea what had just occurred.
No clue!
"Kiana, what are you spacing out for? The Headmaster and the others are already way ahead."
Up ahead, Raiden Mei looked back, waving at Kiana.
Hearing Mei call her, Kiana dropped the puzzle and ran toward her.
"Coming~"
Linking arms, the two hurried after the group, smiling.
After they left, Huang Quan stepped from the shadows, her calm gaze following them.
Once the pair vanished from sight, she disappeared as well... The group spent the evening touring Warahip, then departed one by one.
General Xuan Quan had left early; two years ago, during the great war between Fanghu and the Followers of Abundance, nearly a fifth of the city was destroyed by the Emperor's arrow of light, and it still recuperates under his watch.
Everyone else left the next morning.
Including Kiana's group of four.
Now, Fu Xuan sat at the imperial desk in Taiyin Mansion, buried in bamboo slips, her hands resting on her white-stockinged legs, her eyes dazed.
"Is... this right?"
Does this conform to the Zhou rites?!
How did she wake up to find Kiana had already skipped town with her crew?!
Last night Kiana had held her hand, strolled around, flattered her nonstop, shared all her favorite desserts, and fussed over her.
After such an evening, claiming she hadn't enjoyed herself would be a lie.
So this was what she'd been waiting for!
No wonder she'd occasionally caught Kiana's evasive glances tinged with guilt and reluctance.
It had all been planned last night!
Fu Xuan felt furious—then immediately aggrieved.
Her nose twitched, the corners of her eyes reddened; seeing no one else in Taiyin Mansion—
"Kiana! You shameless, thick-skinned villain!!! This seat will never forgive you!"
Clenching her fists, she shouted upward, tears clinging to her lashes, lips pouting enough to hang an oil bottle, then began another day's work.
At that moment Fu Xuan no longer wore her usual stern, unsmiling mask; she looked like a little girl bullied to tears.
What fate, what bosom friends forever—
All just tricks that scoundrel Kiana had used to coax her last night!
As she reviewed the next bamboo slip, she found a note tucked inside.
Frowning, Fu Xuan picked it up.
'Dear bestie Fu Xuan~ Help me run Warahip for two more days and I'll bring back your favorite desserts when I return! —Left by Kiana!'
"..."
Fu Xuan set the note down, dabbed her eyes, gave a soft hum, and resumed her usual composure.
Two days it is—don't you dare break your word!
Meanwhile, in the Divination Commission on the Luofu Xianzhou.
The petite Qingque sat in the Grand Diviner's chair, looking as if the sky had fallen.
"Does... this make sense? Why did the Grand Diviner stick me here...?"
Qingque wailed, on the verge of tears.
She'd thought that with the Grand Diviner away she could slack off to her heart's content... but guess what happened today? She'd just drawn a great hand in a game of Imperial Jade with her card buddies—
—when fellow clerks stormed in and dragged her back to the Divination Commission.
She'd assumed the Grand Diviner had returned and would explode at her for slacking.
But... "What kind of situation is this...?"
Qingque stretched her hands forward and slumped face-first onto the desk like a salted fish.
Not long ago her family had forced her to sit the civil-service exam.
She'd thought she'd landed a cushy, iron-clad job—only to stumble into a workplace that outworks itself to death!
But so what? Who was she?
The Queen of Slacking!
Such a brutal environment couldn't affect her lazy streak; she still squeezed in card games with friends every day.
She'd believed this easy life could last forever.
Until she was planted in this chair.
Already she foresaw a future with no end in sight!
Do well and the returning Grand Diviner would keep her on a tight leash.
Perform poorly and she might lose slacking privileges for good!
Sneak out for a break and the Grand Diviner's all-seeing eye would catch her red-handed.
Since she'd been forced to act as Grand Diviner, there was no retreat!
Wait—there was still a way!
Qingque suddenly flipped up like a salted fish re-fried.
"As expected of me—let's do it!"
She picked up her brush and began handling the Grand Diviner's duties in orderly fashion.
Too good was no good; too bad was also no good—so she'd aim for 'perfectly mediocre'!
That way she could keep happily slacking later!
The Diviners seated to either side, seeing Qingque finally working, breathed sighs of relief and used their jade signs to relay the news to Fu Xuan.
At first Qingque worked a bit slowly, but once familiar her speed rivaled Fu Xuan's own.
The two clerks supervising stared dumbstruck.
Thinking she was just scribbling nonsense, they went to check—only to find every matter handled with reasonable, if ordinary, solutions.
The plans were mediocre but effective.
At that moment both understood their Grand Diviner's profound intentions.
No wonder she'd assigned this slacking fiend to such vital work.
Truly, you can't judge a book by its cover... What Qingque didn't know was that once today's tale spread, ambitious Diviners would come asking her for advice, drastically cutting into her slacking time—