Chapter 478: Fairness

Bai Lu blinked.

She blinked again.

Then—

"Eh?!"

She let out a startled cry, sprang up from the chair, and her dragon horn almost slammed into the counter shelf.

"W‑who are you?! How did you appear?! Someone, there's an assassin—no, a ghost—no—"

Xing hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no! We're not bad people! We are…"

She hadn't finished speaking—

"Ding!"

The scene in front of them changed again.

Bai Lu's voice came from afar: "…Where are the people?! Why are they gone?! Must be an illusion… Haven't been sleeping well lately…"

Xing: "…"

Walther: "…"

Sai Fei Er stood beside them, grinning, and said: "That just now was Miss Bai Lu of the Dan Ding Department, the dragon girl! Isn't she cute?"

Walther took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.

He realized that the number of deep breaths he took today already exceeded the total of the previous month.

"Miss Sai Fei Er," he tried to keep his tone steady, "we're really in a hurry…"

"Ding!"

Jinren Alley.

A bustling market street, crowds bustling, various snack stalls and grocery shops.

In the distance, someone performed acrobatics, surrounded by a circle of spectators.

Sai Fei Er leaned against the railing, her Tail swinging leisurely, looking at the two in front of her:

"How's it going? How was this trip? Good, right? Scale Abyss Realm, Tai Bu Si, Di Heng Si, Imprisoned Prison, Dan Ding Department, and now Jinren Alley—after a round of fun, does it feel especially worth it?"

She paused briefly, then extended her hand:

"A total of ten million Credit Points! Thank you for your patronage!"

Walther's mouth corner twitched.

Xing's mouth corner twitched as well.

"Ten million?"

Xing couldn't help but say, "You just took us wandering around, and it costs ten million?"

"It's not just wandering around,"

Sai Fei Er corrected, "It's a Spatial Jump Experience Tour! One of a kind! Others who want to try can't even experience it! This price is already very fair!"

Xing: "…Fair?"

"Yeah, fair."

Sai Fei Er nodded as if it were obvious, "If I didn't find you likable, I wouldn't have wanted to take you."

Walther pushed his glasses, about to say something—

"Boom—!!!"

A huge noise came from afar.

The three turned their heads at the same time.

On the distant horizon, a massive tree was growing wildly.

Its branches reached toward the sky, the trunk was astonishingly thick, and in the blink of an eye it shot up dozens of meters, still spreading upward!

Green light swirled among the canopy, emitting an ancient and massive aura.

The surrounding streets instantly fell into chaos.

Pedestrians screamed and fled in all directions, vendors dropped their stalls and ran, and faint shouts from the Cloud Cavalry could be heard in the distance.

Sai Fei Er's eyes lit up, pointing at the tree:

"Oh! This! This is a Giant Tree! It's one of Luofu's famous sights!"

She introduced enthusiastically, "How is it? Spectacular, right? You can't see this anytime—today's luck is really good!"

Walther stared at her: "Is this also part of your tour guide duties?"

"No, no~" Sai Fei Er waved her hand, "I don't know about this. It grew on its own, has nothing to do with me~"

A clamor of noisy sounds came from afar.

"Ahhh! Su Shang! That tree! Why did that tree suddenly sprout!!"

"I see it! Stop shouting! I'm watching!"

"Both of you stop shouting! Run!"

The silhouettes of three girls ran past from not far away.

Leading the pack was Gui Naifen, who ran while shouting back, her face a mix of shock and excitement.

Behind her ran Su Shang, also with a bewildered expression.

Beside them was another girl who looked a lot like Su Shang but wasn't her, she was curiously examining the giant tree, seeming to be pondering something.

The three ran past Xing and the others, completely unaware of the three people standing by the railing.

Walther saw the scene and felt a dull ache in his temples.

He rubbed his forehead and turned to look at Sai Fei Er.

"Miss Sai Fei Er,"

His tone was unprecedentedly grave: "You've seen the situation. We need to hurry to the Shen Ce Fu and meet General Jingyuan to find out exactly what happened. Can you do it?"

Sai Fei Er blinked.

"Yes."

"Then it's troublesome—"

She reached out again: "Pay first."

"The situation is urgent…"

"Ten million credit points."

"We can do it later—"

"Hand over the money and receive the goods simultaneously."

Walther took a deep breath.

He had lived so many years and seen all kinds of people, but he had never encountered someone so troublesome before.

He decided to change his strategy.

"Miss Sai Fei Er,"

He spoke as sincerely as he could: "Since you're on the Xianzhou, you must have some feelings for this place. This matter is of great importance; if mishandled, the whole Luofu could fall into crisis. In this situation, could you please, for the sake of Luofu's safety, let us go to the Shen Ce Fu first?"

Sai Fei Er tilted her head to listen to him finish.

Then she broke into a bright smile.

"Uncle, you're morally blackmailing me?"

Walther: "……"

"I've only been in Luofu a few days; I don't have any feelings for it yet." Sai Fei Er said matter-of-factly, "Moral blackmail doesn't work on me."

Walther froze for a moment.

"Aren't you a local?"

"Yeah." Sai Fei Er nodded, "Someone who's been here a few days still counts as a local."

Walther: "…………"

He realized he couldn't refute it.

Xing watched from the side, unable to resist giving Sai Fei Er a thumbs-up in his heart.

(Wow, this cat…)

In the end, Walther still gave in.

He pulled out his phone and opened the payment screen.

"How much?"

"Ten million."

"Too expensive, five million."

"Nine million."

"Six million."

"Eight million."

"Seven million."

"Deal!"

Sai Fei Er handed over the payment QR code with a grin.

Walther scanned the code expressionlessly and paid seven million credit points.

Sai Fei Er watched the numbers come in, her eyes shining like stars: "Thanks, boss! You're generous! Boss, get rich!"

Walther: "……Can we go now?"

"Of course!" Sai Fei Er flicked a gold coin, "Have a pleasant trip!"

"Ding—!"

The next second—

Walther and Xing's view before them shifted again.

This time they stood before a massive building's gate.

Two Cloud Cavalry guards stood at the entrance.

Walther looked up at the plaque on the gate—

Shen Ce Fu.

He let out a long breath.

At last, we've arrived.

Behind them came Sai Fei Er's voice, fading into the distance:

"Thanks for your patronage! Hope to see you again—!"

Walther turned his head.

The street was empty; where was that cat-eared girl's shadow?

The two exchanged a glance.

"……Uncle Yang."

"Hmm."

"Have we been scammed?"

"…I guess so."

They stepped forward and communicated with the guards.

After the guard verified the identity, he opened the door.

The two stepped into Shen Ce Fu.