The noise was left behind, and only Phainon was at the entrance of the Ground Division.
He turned, preparing to leave.
A clear voice called out to him from the side.
"This… Esteemed Sir, please wait!"
Phainon turned his head.
A petite young girl with long brown hair was staring at him expectantly.
Qingque?
"Is something wrong?" Phainon's voice was flat.
"Oh, I'm Qingque!" The girl immediately familiarized herself and leaned in, "I divined a hexagram for myself this morning before going out, and it was a great omen! The hexagram said I would meet an Esteemed Sir today, and I didn't expect to see you as soon as I stepped out!"
Phainon looked down at her, his eyes as still as an ancient well, "So, I am your Esteemed Sir?"
"Exactly!" Qingque's eyes instantly lit up. She pointed to a Qiongyu card table not far away, where two people were scratching their heads, looking utterly desperate.
"See that! Three short one, no, two short four! This is a human tragedy!"
"As long as the two of us join, we can make up a table and save those two from their plight. What a great deed of merit!"
Phainon did not answer immediately.
Time was running out.
He should have set off immediately for his next destination.
But… he glanced at his system panel.
"Joy Collected: 8945"
While undercover in the The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, he had accumulated quite a bit.
Using the authority of "Joy" to play a game of… Qiongyu cards?
It wasn't impossible.
Since Qingque had appeared, it was only reasonable to let her work some overtime.
"I don't want to play," he replied softly.
"Don't be like that!" Qingque wagged her finger, coaxing, "Esteemed Sir, you don't know! One person's joy is not as good as everyone's joy. If we two join, it's not one times the happiness, but four times the happiness! Why not?"
"I don't know how," Phainon said indifferently, "If I lose, you'll take responsibility."
"Don't worry!" Qingque patted her chest loudly, taking full responsibility, "With me, the God of Cards, you're guaranteed to win! Oh, by the way, I still don't know your esteemed name?"
Phainon nodded slightly, "Reddish brown."
—
An hour later.
At the card table, the atmosphere was dead silent.
The two card partners opposite Qingque had pale faces, as if they had lost a parent.
And Qingque, she stared blankly at the card table, her mouth slightly agape, as if her soul had long departed.
Why?
Why did this happen?
Her proud card-counting skills were completely useless in front of this man named "Reddish brown"!
She could calculate how many "Wan" cards were left in the discard pile, but he always managed to draw the exact card she wanted most.
She thought he was a novice, but his every discard was like a precise chess piece, landing on the board and directly cutting off all her escape routes.
This wasn't playing cards.
It was more like the "Changle Tianjun" playing on his behalf!
The most outrageous was the last round.
She had already declared a ready hand, just one card away from a self-drawn all-of-one-suit.
There were only two cards left in the discard pile.
She was 100% sure the card was among them!
But this man just calmly drew a card, and then—
A self-drawn win after a kong.
A decisive kill.
Phainon gently placed the last card on the table, his voice still flat.
"All of one suit, pairs, self-drawn win after a kong, last card drawn."
"Full house."
He took out his phone, and the QR code for payment on the screen glowed with cold indifference.
"You two, one owes me 178,000 credit points. I don't like odd numbers, so let's round it up, I'll take 180,000 from you."
The two were on the verge of tears, their hands trembling as they completed the transfer, then scrambled away from the sorrowful table.
Phainon's gaze fell upon Qingque.
"Miss Qingque, it's your turn."
"My… my salary this month… hasn't been paid yet…" Qingque's eyes were pitiful.
"Oh?" Phainon put away his phone and slowly stood up, "It seems the work at the Divination Commission… is very leisurely?"
Qingque shuddered, shaking her head frantically, "No, no, no! We're very busy! Extremely busy!"
"Is that so?" Phainon looked at her indifferently,
"Then I'm relieved. I'm sure the Divination Master will be very happy to commend such an… outstanding employee who can steal leisure from their busy schedule and still create additional tax revenue for the Luofu."
There was no threat in his words.
But every word was like a small hammer, striking Qingque's weak spot.
Qingque completely deflated, her head bowed, like a defeated little sparrow.
"Just tell me, what do you want to let me go?"
"Take me to the Divination Commission's library," Phainon's voice was without a ripple, "I need to find some things, consider it working off my debt."
...In the Divination Commission's library, ancient books were piled up like mountains.
Thud—
Qingque laboriously carried over a large stack of heavy classics.
She looked at the man sitting among the books, reading ten lines at a glance, and finally couldn't help but ask:
"Reddish brown… no, Mr. Phainon, what exactly are you looking for?"
Just looking at the titles of those books made her scalp tingle.
"On the Collapse of the Aeon Concept," "A Study of the Fall of the Swarm Disaster Ancestor," "The Relative Paradox of the Sky-Mending Diviner"… Phainon didn't look up, his gaze quickly sweeping across the pages.
"The IPC's data is unreliable; Qlipoth is practically credited with creating the universe in their accounts. The Xianzhou's records are more neutral."
"So… you're looking at these for…?" Qingque, with her high intelligence, naturally guessed the underlying meaning.
Phainon finished the last page and slowly closed the book.
He looked up and said softly, "I'm confirming the method to kill an Aeon."
The ancient book in Qingque's hand dropped to the ground with a thud.
"Kill… kill an Aeon?"
"Didn't Qlipoth already do it?" Phainon retorted.
"But… Aeons are a philosophical concept! They're not…"
"I don't have that much time to discuss philosophy with Them."
Phainon interrupted her, slowly stood up, and walked out from among the stacks of books.
He stopped at the doorway, turned his head, and said to Qingque, who was still frozen in place.
"Thank you, Miss Qingque."
"If there's ever another card game like this, remember to call me."
As his voice faded, his figure had already disappeared into the shadows of the library.
—
Central Starskiff Haven, Evernight Tea House.
Mr. Xiyan's storytelling was reaching their climax.
"…It is said that the black-robed swordsman, alone, stormed the dragon's lair! With a swing of his greatsword, he roared: 'Minion of Destruction, I will hack you to a thousand pieces!'"
Clang—!
The gavel struck down.
"To know what happens next, listen to the next installment!"
Audience.
One second, a round of applause, the next, curses at the storyteller.
Phainon sat quietly in the corner, oblivious to the surrounding commotion, just looking at the clear tea in his cup.
Just then, a voice sounded in his ear,
"In Amphoreus, you are the executioner. In Herta Space Station, you are the intruder. In Belobog, you are the mysterious person. Now in the Luofu, you have become a hero."
"So, Stelle, will you become Amphoreus's tomorrow?"
Phainon slightly turned his gaze.
A golden phantom had appeared in the seat beside him.
"You appeared in Scalegorge Waterscape, so are you the authority of Joy, or just my dying hallucination?" Phainon asked.
The golden figure chuckled, "Neither. I originate from Erudition."
"Don't worry, we'll meet very soon."
Coincidentally, an audience member passed between the two, their figure blocking the golden phantom.
When he looked again, the seat was empty.
Phainon retracted his gaze and gently exhaled,
"Time to set off."
"Next stop, Penacony."