Chapter 785: Not Simple

The Giant Tree Rebirth, demonic shadows everywhere, the general is again in a deep, unawakening slumber at this moment, and Luofu's situation now is worse than he imagined.

His thoughts began to race: what level of combat power does Jing Yuan have? If even he has fallen, it means the enemy's strength is at least above a Ling Shi.

Extinction Great Lord? Or the Abundance side—

His line of reasoning traveled smoothly along the rational track for about two seconds, then was violently struck from the side by a reckless thought.

If.

What if what Sai Fei Er said about Jing Yuan and Yan Qing is true?

That thought was like a stone flung from the darkness, landing precisely on the surface of his mind, creating ripple after ripple.

Jing Yuan is asleep. The reason is unknown. Sai Fei Er says he overindulged. Sai Fei Er just produced a recording. The voice in the recording—

Dan Heng violently flicked his head, the sudden motion so large that the two people beside him froze for a moment.

Stop.

Stop.

That thought shouldn't exist in the first place.

How could that be!

It's not that he has any issue with Duan Xiu; he simply cannot accept that General Jing Yuan, who commands the battlefield with unwavering poise and stands as a mountain of authority before the Cloud Cavalry, could be the trembling, shouting person in the recording who was pinned to a chair by his own disciple.

That is harder for him to bear than Luofu's crisis.

Dan Heng raised his hand, rubbed his temples, and pressed his fingertips firmly twice, as if trying to uproot a swelling image in his mind.

Sai Fei Er stood nearby, arms crossed, eyes narrowed into two crescent moons, and her tail slowly traced circles behind her.

She watched Dan Heng's full mental journey—from furrowing his brows, to clenching his fists, to flicking his head, then rubbing his temples—and silently gave him a score; his willpower was indeed exceptional.

An ordinary person, after being shaken like that, would already start filling in details on their own by now.

Dan Heng has held on until now; truly a veteran from the same era as Jing Liu and Bai Zi.

The four characters "Cloud‑Above Five Braves" slipped through her mind.

She had seen Bai Zi's demeanor and experienced Jing Liu's ice‑blade-like aura; the person before her, though not talkative, possessed a tenacious spirit that was strikingly similar to those two.

Not simple.

Dan Heng remained silent for a while, finally pushing the clump of mush in his mind aside temporarily.

He took a deep breath and refocused on the real issue: "Who is currently managing Luofu's civil affairs? How is the official situation?"

He was asking Huo Huo.

But before Huo Huo could open his mouth, Sai Fei Er's voice cut in.

"Huo little sister didn't say everything! I know!"

Sai Fei Er raised one hand, spread her five fingers, then began to snap them one by one, "Fu Xuan, Acting General, everyone knows that. But what you don't know is that Su Shang has taken Yan Qing's position. Yan Qing, that kid, is exhausted physically and mentally because of the general's affairs, his condition is poor, so the Cloud Cavalry temporarily let Su Shang take over. Tai Bu Si now falls under Qingque's jurisdiction—that Qingque who used to fish and play cards, surprise, she's been promoted. Dan Ding Si is Bai Lu, that Little Dragon Girl of the Chi Ming Tribe, not old but quite capable."

Dan Heng's brows completed a three‑step jump in just ten seconds, from furrowing to tightly locked to being able to pinch a copper coin between them.

He had heard of Fu Xuan—an upright person with ability; although his seniority doesn't match Jing Yuan's, he should be reliable.

He also knew Bai Lu, the Little Dragon Girl of the Chi Ming Tribe, his junior; her medical skill is indeed impressive, but her temperament—directly overseeing the entire Dan Ding Si?

Who is Su Shang? Who is Qingque? Since when did Tai Bu Si fall to being run by a card‑playing friend?

But then again, he had been away from Luofu for too long.

Several hundred years.

Luofu's personnel changes, internal adjustments, and rising newcomers are all operating on a normal track.

Perhaps Su Shang and Qingque are up‑and‑coming talents that emerged after he left; he just doesn't know.

Dan Heng tried hard in his mind to convince himself, attempting to piece these fragments into a coherent picture.

Fu Xuan and Bai Lu are aware, which shows that Sai Fei Er is at least not entirely making things up.

Although he has never heard of Su Shang or Qingque, that doesn't mean he can dismiss them—

He was still reasoning logically, while Sai Fei Er had already turned back to Huo Huo.

"Ah, I almost forgot—Huo little sister!"

Sai Fei Er pressed her palms together, flicked her cat ears forward, and her sapphire‑blue eyes glittered as she looked at Huo Huo.

Huo Huo shivered slightly under her gaze; the matcha‑green folded ears pinched back, and a flash of genuine alertness crossed the paw‑shaped pupils.

She opened her mouth, her voice carrying just the right tension: "W‑what's wrong, Sister Sai Fei Er?"

Sai Fei Er leaned forward, her cat tail arched high behind her, the tip curling: "Did you receive the Ten Kings Office appointment?"

Huo Huo blinked.

In that instant her mind spun several rounds: what does this cat want? Test her? Spin another story? Should she respond now?

If she doesn't answer, it looks suspicious; if she does, she might say the wrong thing—

The corner of her mouth twitched.

An Extinction Great Lord masquerading as a Ten Kings Office Apprentice Judge, being probed for information by a cat‑ear girl using her own methods, gave Huan Long such a sense of absurdity that she almost laughed out loud.

She forced the smile out of her face, replacing it with a slightly tilted, bewildered expression.

"Appointment?"

"I was just wondering why you're still wandering the dock; so you didn't know!"

Sai Fei Er clapped her hands, her tone full of a 'finally I can help' enthusiasm, "I heard this morning that the judges of the Ten Kings Office were ambushed by a covert attack from the Medicine King; the Sun‑Year ran amok, several pillars were injured, and now manpower is scarce, so they've temporarily promoted you as the direct acting officer."

Huo Huo's expression froze for a beat when she heard 'Medicine King covert ambush'.

Her lips parted slightly, and a flash of light flickered in her green pupils.

Ambushed by the Medicine King?

How could she not know?

That thought lingered in Huo Huo's mind for only a fraction of a second before she suppressed it.

She quickly adjusted her expression, folded her ears tightly, her eye sockets slightly reddened, both hands gripping the hem of her clothes, her finger joints turning faintly white from the strain.

"Lord Han Ya and Lord Xue Yi…"

Her voice trembled, "Are they okay?"

Sai Fei Er reached out and patted Huo Huo's shoulder, the movement light as a cat batting a yarn ball: "It's fine, it's fine, everyone's here, just need to recuperate. That's why the higher‑ups wanted you to step up, little sister Huo, you're the most trusted junior among them!"

Huo Huo lowered her head, letting her bangs cover most of her face, shoulders slightly trembling, as if trying to steady her emotions.

In truth, she silently revised her assessment of this cat in her heart; the cat not only weaves stories, but its improvisation speed and on‑the‑spot performance are first‑rate.

The words just now came out offhand, logically consistent, details spot‑on, and even catered to Huo Huo's character as a Judge of the Ten Kings Office who should care about colleagues; whether it was Huan Long herself or a scripted target, she wanted to applaud this performance.

Dan Heng stood nearby, watching Sai Fei Er and Huo Huo exchange lively conversation, his mind still processing the flood of information from earlier.

Huo Huo's reaction was perfectly normal, exactly the same as a ordinary girl who had just taken on a heavy responsibility should react.

And Sai Fei Er's encouragement also seemed natural, enthusiastic and chivalrous, matching the "enthusiastic local good cat" persona she had been shaping from the start.

Everything was so logically sound it made one feel uneasy.

But they just felt something was off.