Chapter 1947: NO.567: The next one is you

NO. 567: The next one is you.

The bond that is hard to sever, hard to abandon, and mutually torturous—placed in Ludaofu Xiangzheng's life, how could it be merely that one segment?

Rather, it would be most ironic for this exclamation to come from the Symbol of Speed itself.

But the emperor would not sigh in this way.

Luna would not resent this either.

Then what about Ludaofu Xiangzheng?

"If we don't bring it up, I probably wouldn't think about it."

She said that.

A single sentence brought an old friend's soft exclamation, and also brought the trainer's calm gaze.

"In other words, your subconscious does not harbor this logic, so there's no question of self-awareness."

"…Although upon careful thought it shouldn't be, it indeed is this way," Ludaofu Xiangzheng admitted, "but whenever you bring up this topic, I still reach a conclusion of approval…"

"This means your views are no different from ours; the difference lies only in your not thinking…" Having said that, after a brief silence, Aomo raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, slightly furrowed his brow, and asked, "Is the reason you're prevented from thinking fatigue?"

"Huh?"

"I wasn't asking in the slightest," Qianming, who merely tossed out a filler word like a mood squad, was set aside as Ludaofu Xiangzheng seized Aomo's conclusion that went beyond mere analysis, saying, "I too… indeed find it hard to deny."

"The usual understanding in this situation is that the burden is too heavy," Aomo said, "but I don't think the you who could endure back then would fail to bear the present."

"…" Qianming remained silent on this.

Although she very much wanted to speak up for Ludaofu Xiangzheng as an old friend, she could neither accept Aomo's understanding nor defend Ludaofu Xiangzheng.

Ever since she realized the objective fact that Ludaofu Xiangzheng was 'holding back' and connected it to the idea that her own obsession might instead be binding him, she could no longer lightly speak of understanding.

Even though the professional competence she had cultivated in her detective career would still operate unconsciously, she unconsciously tried to uncover the crux.

Yet the sense of failure and betrayal stemming from the huge gap in that long-held understanding was just as intense.

Strong enough that she could gain even more understanding from the words of 'the confused authority.'

She herself could not see clearly.

The more she immersed herself, the stronger her subjective impression became, and the more she would fall into an inescapable bewilderment before the starkly opposite factual discrepancy.

That bewilderment was so intense that it constituted interference with Qianming's representative self—the more she worried about the other, the more she was out of state, simultaneously leading to the trainer's observation of a long-term lack of adjustment.

Merely the onset of indecisiveness in the ever-believing Ludaofu Xiangzheng could affect oneself as if one's Dao heart were cracked—this leaves onlookers only unable to understand.

Unable to comprehend why Qianming's representative could be crushed by such a thing, or why she would be so fragile.

Such onlookers, naturally, also cannot understand what lay in Qianming's representative's heart, which had been obsessed for an entire year with defeating Ludaofu Xiangzheng and studying him, and what kind of recognition and trust she held.

Recognizing her strength, trusting her fortitude—because she witnessed the other's bearing of that unknown heavy pressure—Qianming's representative could fully regard everything Ludaofu Xiangzheng displayed, and admire it, without falling into madness under the years‑old bone‑deep obsession.

She had neither let go nor admitted defeat, yet she indeed acknowledged the other's all‑round strength, and thus came that precious tale: despite repeated defeats and battles, the two remained extremely close friends, not like Witch Beast and Bar Beast. X.

Thus, the two became the sole two stars of that year.

This bond made them intimately close, and when one star dimmed, the other would also subsequently waver.

At such a time, Aomo should instead be relieved that Chengtian Bairen and the Sirius Symbol, although they each paid attention to Ludaofu Xiangzheng's condition, did not have a connection deep enough to become entwined like vines, and thus did not show a domino‑like chain collapse.

Even as a childhood friend's Sirius Symbol, he was still holding his condition in reserve for his own battle.

But when waiting for the last tiny moment of that pre‑race private space with the trainer, he still couldn't help wanting to ask for help, to speak of another horse girl in what should have been solely his own time.

Attempting to deny that he was like a helpless puppy Sirius, he only revealed a hint of softness beneath his claws in that brief moment.

Such an appropriate display is naturally good, but if the root cause is not properly dealt with, he will largely end up on Qianming's path.

It is practically like a super‑gravity mass that, if left unattended, gradually swells until it drags the whole team down—truly something that leaves the trainer unable to log off at all.

So the Demon took action and resolved the problem that same day.

Frankly speaking, this problem is easily solved, as long as the issue is clarified and a direction indicated.

Ludaofu Xiangzheng was once called an autonomous horse girl, able to settle most problems without the trainer needing to act much, and that past also shaped her present.

Even if there were mental hidden dangers or mask confusion, she could still discern right from wrong.

She simply did not want to.

Literally, not thinking about it.

Therefore it needs to be clarified.

To shatter the illusory wall that stands before her, and point her toward a proper, righteous path.

Then the rest, she will walk herself.

Such a simple principle, yet Qianming's representative cannot enact it. For she can no longer maintain consistent confidence in the proposition 'understanding of Ludaofu Xiangzheng,' her formerly believed image now diverges, and the mixed feelings in her heart also affect her judgment.

Having lost the mental anchor that served as a reference, all her deductions and thoughts will become rootless duckweed.

Thus, the one most qualified became instead the one most incapable, and she waited alongside her.

Waiting for a third party who has never entered this karmic bond, yet can still confidently and correctly make judgments, to appear.

"You are fully capable of bearing all this, but after bearing it, what then? You haven't thought about that."

That third party said thus.

"This is a mixed mentality; to call it merely fatigue would be biased."

"In fact, there should also be laziness and arrogance, for whenever you lean toward that judgment, you are in effect making the decision for them, as if they would, just as you imagine, step onto a better path, while you thereby avoid further thought and linger in the present—this comfortable zone where, despite the bewilderment, you need not take the next step."

"..."

"If you think it's wrong, then you must speak up."

"... No, there's nothing wrong."

"If that's the case, you also ought to know what to do."

"Hmm."

Only this succinct reply shows Ludaofu Xiangzheng clearly having a plan in mind, while, in contrast, Qianming's representative, who had observed the whole process, let out a long sigh of relief.

It felt as if the unsettled thoughts floating in her heart finally had a conclusion, bringing relief; the mind that had just barely regained a bit of judgment and confidence as an anchor hadn't even had time to fully savor it, when the youth's gaze that was immediately directed at her made her heart skip a beat.

A horse-girl as free as the wind is not incapable of being stirred, but that stirring usually falls on an offhand word or deed; whereas a gaze like this, tightly seizing the moment, only brings rare fluster to the other.

Some people's hearts are that impermeable, yet they still cannot avoid the vulnerability that comes with being human.

The usual composure left no trace; the knack for casually changing topics also required some reaction to the situation, and before that——

The demon's one glance, a dark slit that could see through a person, immediately encompassed her.

"Qianming." He spoke.

It was not the usual pretentious address of 'Miss Qianming' or 'Miss Qianming the Representative,' but an intimate form of address that ought to shake his judgment as a fan.

That was also the title used when he was a trainer.

The spoken words, however, felt like a punishment.

"Now it's your turn."

Or rather, an interrogation.

(End of chapter)