Chapter 479: Chaos

Fu Xuan stands by the window, brow tightly knit.

Outside, the massive Giant Tree is wildly growing, its branches reaching the sky, emitting an eerie green glow.

From afar, vague sounds of chaos drift, the Cloud Cavalry's shouts rise and fall.

(Giant Tree Rebirth… Medicine King Secret Transmission riots… Construction Office lost contact…)

Fu Xuan rubs the middle of their brow, feeling the temples throb.

(How come these petty matters all arrive one after another?!)

Footsteps come from behind.

Fu Xuan turns around.

Walther and Xing stand in the hall, looking at them.

Fu Xuan is slightly startled.

(Qingque… quite efficient? Brought the person here so quickly?)

They silently record a "merit" for Qingque in their mind.

"Both of you, welcome."

Fu Xuan speaks, voice cold and authoritative, "I am Fu Xuan of the Tai Bu Si, temporarily standing in for the General to handle Luofu affairs."

Walther nods slightly: "I've heard of you. I am Walther, and this is Xing."

Xing looks at Fu Xuan, blinking.

(Fen Mao… shorty… actually looks good.)

Fu Xuan notices their gaze, the corner of their eye twitches slightly, but says nothing.

"Divination Master Fu,"

Walther gets straight to the point, "May I ask where General Jingyuan is now? What is happening with the Giant Tree Rebirth outside?"

Fu Xuan's expression grows solemn.

"Jing Yuan… is ill, temporarily unable to attend to matters. Luofu affairs are currently being handled by me."

They pause, "As for the Giant Tree outside, it is still under investigation. The Construction Office has lost contact, the Medicine King Secret Transmission has incited riots across regions—these events, one after another…"

While speaking, they suddenly recall something, looking behind the two.

"By the way, Qingque? Didn't she go to look for you two?"

Walther and Xing exchange a glance.

"Qingque?"

Walther furrows his brow slightly, "We have not seen that Diviner girl."

"What?" Fu Xuan's tone rises, "She didn't find you?"

"No."

Walther shakes his head, "We came to the Shen Ce Fu of our own accord because we saw the situation outside."

Fu Xuan is stunned.

Then they close their eyes.

After a moment, they open their eyes wide, and squeeze a sentence between their teeth:

"That guy… started slacking off again!!!"

At that moment—

A transmission comes in.

"General! The Construction Office is completely out of contact! The Giant Tree continues to grow! The Medicine King Secret Transmission is inciting riots in multiple zones! Requesting orders!"

Fu Xuan takes a deep breath.

Another transmission arrives: "General! Heavenly Ship Office reports an unknown entity approaching the Star Chariot Sea! Suspected to be—"

Before the words finish, alarms sound.

Fu Xuan rubs their temples, feeling the head throb more.

Walther steps forward: "Divination Master Fu, the Star Dome Train is willing to provide assistance. Please command."

Fu Xuan looks at him, then at Xing.

After a moment, they nod.

"Fine. The Construction Office's situation is most urgent; you go there to investigate, see what happened. Act cautiously."

Walther nods: "Understood."

He turns, and together with Xing walks outward.

At the doorway, Fu Xuan's shout comes from behind:

"Qingque—!!! Come back to me—!!! Otherwise you'll just wait—!!!"

The voice is extremely penetrating, shaking the roof.

Walther and Xing exchange a glance.

"…Yang Shu."

"Hmm."

"That one called Qingque seems to have met misfortune."

"…Hmm."

The two silently exit Shen Ce Fu, heading toward the Construction Office.

Behind them, Fu Xuan's angry roar still echoes.

In the distance, the Giant Tree grows wildly.

Meanwhile, Qingque sits in the gambling hall, draws a good hand, grinning broadly.

"Damn!"

San Yue Qi's eyelashes twitched lightly.

Consciousness rose slowly from the deep water, becoming clearer bit by bit.

The first thing felt was the face—burning hot, as if pierced by countless needles.

Then the mouth—numb and spicy, the tongue seemed to have lost sensation.

Finally the nose—every breath filled with the sting of chili.

"Um…"

She struggled to open her eyes, and saw an unfamiliar ceiling—wooden beams, a chandelier, a lampshade.

(Where… is this?)

Her brain rebooted slowly.

(Right, Lin and I came to eat noodles… then… then…)

Then what happened? She couldn't recall.

San Yue Qi forced her neck to turn, looking to the side.

Lin sat on the chair beside her, head tilted back against the backrest, eyes tightly closed, a dried red‑oil stain still on her face, sleeping quite peacefully.

"Lin! Lin!" San Yue Qi reached out and nudged her.

"Um…" Lin's brows furrowed, slowly opening her eyes.

Her first reaction was to reach for her own face, then she scrunched her whole face into a knot.

"So spicy… so numb… what's going on…"

Lin covered her face, expression painful.

San Yue Qi also touched her own face, her hand stained with some dried red oil.

The two exchanged a glance.

Then, in unison:

"Yan Feng Qili!!!"

Lin sprang to her feet, but her leg gave way and she almost fell, steadying herself by grabbing the table.

She looked around; the shop was empty, no one else besides the two of them.

"That bastard! He definitely did this!"

Lin gritted her teeth, both ponytails slightly lifted by Rage, "He deliberately drugged us! Then… then…"

She couldn't recall what happened next.

San Yue Qi was also straining to remember.

They entered the shop, sat down, ordered noodles, and then… the noodles arrived, they began eating… then…

Then everything went blank.

"Clockboy!"

San Yue Qi called in her mind, "What just happened? How did we faint?"

A faint rustle came from her pocket, and Clockboy's voice rang in her mind:

"Tick! You two are in trouble! That expressionless man, while you were eating noodles, kept staring at you! Tick! Then as you ate, your faces plunged into the bowl with a splash! Tick tick! I thought you were going to drown in the noodle broth!"

San Yue Qi: "…and then?"

"Then that man walked over, gave you a glance, and left the shop! Tick! He never came back! I thought you were going to stay buried forever! Tick!"

San Yue Qi's heart tightened: "Then how did we wake up? Who helped us up?"

"Tick! Later a gray‑haired customer came! She saw you lying there, walked over, lifted both of your heads out of the bowl and set them against the chair back! Tick! She also took a rag and wiped your faces! Though not very clean, at least she stopped you from staying soaked in the broth! Tick!"

San Yue Qi was stunned for a moment.

Gray‑haired?

"... and she carried away the remaining noodles for both of you, ate them all! Three big bowls! All gone! Tick! That gray‑haired one really can eat!"

A figure instantly flashed in San Yue Qi's mind.

"It's Xing!"