Chapter 672: Imagination

The four Cloud Cavalry behind weren't doing any better.

The young officer at the front had sweaty palms, his grip on the sword hilt a little slippery; he quietly rubbed his hand against his armor, once, then again.

Another officer beside him glanced at him with his peripheral vision; their eyes met in the air, and each read the same thought in the other's gaze—'Isn't he just an ordinary diviner?'

What's with this aura?

Eight people, and not one of them dared to step forward first.

Qingque stood in the middle of the alley, her hands behind her back, expression calm, but she was thinking—'What are these people staring at me for?'

She had just raised her hand to touch her lower back when, before she could move, something suddenly fluttered down from the sky.

A small gray shadow swooped down from the narrow strip of sky above the alley, its wings flapping twice, and landed steadily on the hand she had extended—more precisely, on the finger she hadn't yet pulled back.

A sparrow.

It had gray-brown feathers, a round little head, black-bean-like eyes that darted about, its claws gripping Qingque's index finger as it tilted its head to glance at her, then let out a soft 'chip'.

Qingque froze.

She lowered her head, locking eyes with the sparrow.

The sparrow tilted its head again, the other way, its black-bean eyes reflecting Qingque's face, which was full of 'What's going on?'

"'Eh? That's quite a coincidence, isn't it?'"

Qingque muttered to herself, her head unconsciously tilting in the opposite direction from the sparrow's.

A strand of brown hair slipped from behind her ear and fell against her cheek, lending her round face an indescribable air of danger.

The faces of the eight Cloud Cavalry in the alley changed all at once.

Their gazes shifted from Qingque's face to the sparrow, then back to her face.

The veteran soldier's pupils contracted slightly, and the knuckles of his hand gripping the sword hilt turned white.

That sparrow.

Gray feathers, a round body, the posture of tilting its head to look at people—who on Luofu doesn't know that the Jingyuan General's Residence keeps a sparrow?

Whenever the general had free time, he liked to tease that bird, perching it on his finger and talking to it; sometimes, while handling duties at the Shen Ce Fu, the sparrow would perch on his shoulder and doze.

This wasn't a secret among the Cloud Cavalry; any officer who had stood duty had seen it.

Now that sparrow—or one that looks almost identical to it—was perched on Qingque's finger.

And it had flown down from the sky at the exact moment she raised her hand, landing on her of its own accord.

The squad leader's mind suddenly flooded with a jumble of chaotic thoughts.

He had heard before arriving that Qingque had smashed three shadowy fiends with a fish on the street earlier.

What kind of fish was that?

How could a diviner from the Tai Bu Si have such tricks?

Now another sparrow, identical to the one General Jingyuan keeps, has appeared—and it just happened to land on her hand when she raised it—could this be a coincidence?

Or is it some kind of suggestion?

He didn't dare think further.

When Qingque came to, she found the eight Cloud Cavalry before and after her frozen in place.

The young officer who had half-stepped forward still had his foot suspended in midair, not withdrawn, standing there like a statue.

Another's complexion was still fairly composed, but the knuckles of his sword‑gripping hand had whitened to the point where the bone outlines were visible.

Qingque blinked.

"'What's wrong?'"

She spoke up.

But the words she spoke, she herself didn't feel were problematic.

But to the ears of those Cloud Cavalry, it sounded like——

"'Gentlemen, what business do you have?'"

Her tone was like the offhand 'Already read' that Fu Xuan of the Tai Bu Si would jot down when reviewing documents, but with a little extra—what exactly?

After thinking for a while, she finally found a word.

It was a touch more composure.

As if she had known all along that they would come.

As if she were standing here not waiting for them to seize her, but waiting for them to decide whether to speak.

A thin sheen of sweat appeared on the soldier's back.

The lining inside his armor clung to his skin, sticky and uncomfortable, but he dared not move.

The few officers behind him dared not move either.

The alley fell silent except for the occasional soft chirp of the sparrow and the sound of wind blowing past the walls.

Finally, the soldier gritted his teeth and took a step forward.

Just one step.

The thud of his boot on the stone slabs was muffled, yet unusually clear in the quiet alley.

He lowered his head, clasped his fists before him, and fixed his gaze on a point three steps ahead of Qingque's toes, not daring to lift his eyes.

"'Miss Qingque, the general summons you!'"

Upon hearing the two words 'general,' the first image that popped into Qingque's mind was the empty seat in the Shen Ce Fu.

General Jingyuan has been unconscious for a long time.

Now the acting general's authority lies with Fu Xuan of the Tai Bu Si—although he's only an acting general, when the title 'general' is called for, it must still be used.

Qingque naturally thought of Fu Xuan.

As for the Grand Diviner, she's been his superior for years, so the title rolls off her tongue.

"Oh, Grand Diviner."

She murmured a line to herself.

The voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet alley each word drifted clearly into the ears of eight Cloud Cavalry soldiers.

The soldier's shoulder visibly stiffened.

The young officer behind him nearly bulged his eyes out.

Another's sword sheath knocked against the bluestone slab, producing a crisp "ding"; he quickly gripped it tighter, the blue veins on the back of his hand bulging.

Grand Diviner.

Not "General", not "Fu Xuan General", not even "Acting General".

It's "Grand Diviner".

What position does Fu Xuan have now?

General!

Throughout Luofu, from the Cloud Cavalry to the Six Offices, who wouldn't properly call out "General" upon seeing?

Even if informal nicknames are allowed privately, in a formal setting like when the Cloud Cavalry formally summons someone, addressing them face‑to‑face as "Grand Diviner" — that's not a slip of the tongue, it's an attitude.

In the soldier's mind, rumors he had heard before suddenly surged.

The gossip in Tai Bu Si always spreads fast; the tea‑time chatter about Qingque and Fu Xuan's relationship has been chewed over countless times.

Some say Qingque skips duties and goofs off every few days, and Fu Xuan knows each time, but each time he just punishes her by making her copy files.

Some say Qingque has been in Tai Bu Si so long that she hasn't even received a proper promotion, yet Fu Xuan has never transferred her out.

These rumors are usually just heard and ignored; no one takes them seriously.

But now, the soldier secretly lifted his eyelids and glanced at Qingque.

The petite girl, whose height didn't even reach his chest, stood there; a sparrow identical to the one General Jingyuan keeps perched on her fingertip, having just used Great Void Sword Qi to smash three demon‑shadow bodies, and without changing expression she addressed the Acting General as "Grand Diviner".

Does she not Consent to Fu Xuan being this General?

Or perhaps she knows something?