Chapter 975: Qingque Really Fits the Role of General

Yao Guang was amused by this addition.

She turned back, facing Qingque, arms crossed, the dark feather ornament on her right shoulder quivered lightly with the movement, like a perched black bird preening its feathers.

"Tell me about this look of yours."

Yao Guang tapped Qingque with her chin and said, "I've examined your body; two forces are contending inside, one is the Abundance Corrosion, the other is the Patrol Hunt's blessing."

"That these two can be packed into the same body and still maintain surface balance is truly baffling."

Qingque lowered her head to glance at the gray‑green floral branch sprouting from her, then looked up at Yao Guang, her expression as complex as if she had swallowed a whole sour plum.

"Honestly, I'm as confused as fog; I had some chaotic dreams, dreamed I became a general, and when I woke up, I turned out like this."

"My head is now full of these flowers and branches; the moment Lord Xue Yi saw me, she shouted 'Abundance Offspring', and I wondered who she was calling."

She spoke faster and faster, her pace like beans tumbling upward, as if she had been holding it in for a long time and finally found an outlet for venting.

"Yao boss, let me tell you, I'm so wronged."

"I've lived this long, Qingque, and my greatest skills are goofing off and playing mahjong; how did I get tangled with a Abundance Offspring?"

"Just because I fought that thing called Shuhuo in the dream?"

"I didn't want to fight! In the dream that guy chased me, slashing, I had to defend myself, right?"

Yao Guang's eyes tightened slightly at the mention of Shuhuo.

She stepped half a pace forward, only an arm's length from Qingque, and lowered her voice, as if confirming something crucial.

"You dreamed of Shuhuo."

"Yes."

Pressed by her aura, Qingque leaned back, nearly losing footing, then steadied herself, "It was that Abundance Offspring; in the dream I fought him until day and night blurred, inexplicably grasped Boundless Myriad Blossoms, and bubbles filled the sky."

"Halfway through, the Imperial Bow appeared."

"Imperial Bow?"

Yao Guang's eyebrows lifted slowly.

"Yes, the Imperial Bow Director of Destiny!"

Qingque swallowed, her voice gaining a hint of nervousness, "But the Imperial Bow in the dream was odd, wearing an orange smiling Mask on its face; its grin made my scalp tingle, and I still recall the wide mouth on that Mask."

Yao Guang finally furrowed her brow, the lines between her eyebrows deepening.

She slowly straightened, hands hanging at her sides, her knuckles tapping the hem intermittently, as if keeping rhythm with her thoughts.

"Shuhuo, Imperial Bow, Aha's Mask."

She paused half a second after each word, as if piecing the fragments back together, "This dream truly qualifies as chaos."

Qingque nodded, moving as fast as a chick pecking grain: "It's more than chaos; it's like my head became a pot, all sorts of mess poured in, simmered on high heat. I can still stand here talking to you and feel my fate is tough!"

She spoke while raising a hand to sweep hair hanging before her face; the floral branch wrapped on her wrist hooked lightly, pulling a few strands of gray‑white hair into it.

She had to use her other hand to untangle it, the motion clumsy and funny, like a small animal tripping over its own Tail.

Yao Guang watched her flustered movements and let out a soft laugh, the smile spreading from her eyes like moonlight breaking through clouds, gentle and bright.

She lifted her hand, gently lifting the few strands tangled on the floral branch with her fingertips.

Her slender fingers brushed Qingque's ear; Qingque's whole body stiffened, a thin red flush spreading at the base of the ear.

"Qingque, your general dream is far more spectacular than I imagined."

Yao Guang's voice was soft, as if wrapped in honey, falling into Qingque's ear, yet making her cheeks blaze.

She jumped back like a cat whose Tail had been stepped on, waving her hands repeatedly: "Dream! All dreams! They can't be real! I'm just a goofing‑off, mahjong‑playing Diviner, where does any general ambition come from!"

As she spoke, her voice lowered again, and she herself felt the defense was somewhat overcompensating.

Yao Guang merely smiled, a smile profoundly meaningful.

She withdrew her hand, her fingertip hovering faintly in the air.

"I actually think you're quite suitable."

"Yao boss, are you just teasing me?"

Qingque's expression froze, her mouth opening and closing before forcing out the next line, "This joke is too scary; I, who can fall asleep even while seated on a Shen Ce Fu chair, becoming a general? Then Luofu would be doomed!"

"I said I have high hopes for you."

Yao Guang crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly to one side.

Her silver‑white hair cascaded down like a waterfall.

Her gaze settled on Qingque's face, focused and resolute, causing Qingque's back to tighten.

"If you're willing, I can support you."

Qingque was completely stunned.

She opened her mouth, eyes wide and round, the gray‑green floral branch standing up with her, and with that shocked face, she looked just like a squirrel with a mouth full of nuts.

"Yao boss, are you serious?"

Yao Guang only smiled.

That smile was like an inscrutable riddle, both jest and proclamation, leaving one unable to tell reality from illusion.

"Don't do that!"

Qingque, frantic, spun around in place; the turquoise bell on her anklet rang sharply, a sound startlingly clear, "Only Master Fu Xuan is suitable! You don't know how hard Master Fu Xuan has been acting as general lately—getting up before dawn to handle affairs, the Exhaustive Observation Formation never stopping, Luofu's affairs all kept in perfect order under her."

"I, a Salted Fish, should just sit at the Tai Bu Si gate sipping tea and watching the stars; how could I compare with Master Fu Xuan!"

She grew more agitated, as if the more she praised Fu Xuan, the more she could shed the word 'general' from her shoulders.

By the end, Qingque even straightened her back, assuming a solemn, righteous posture, yet the half‑withered flower buds atop her head trembled with her agitation, undermining her persuasiveness.

Yao Guang listened quietly, the smile at the corner of her mouth never fading.

She waited until Qingque finished, then spoke slowly.

"So that's why, even now, you still think of her."

Qingque opened her mouth, then closed it.

She felt she was getting darker the more she tried, like a mouse desperately trying to escape a sticky trap, each struggle only making it stick tighter.

A wave of dark‑red mist rose again from below, carrying a fishy‑sweet scent.

The pair of azure bells on Qingque's ankles swayed gently, emitting a vibration frequency almost imperceptible to human ears, as if answering some distant summons.

Qingque lowered her head to glance at the bells on her feet, then looked up at Yao Guang.

Yao Guang had already turned around again and walked forward.

The long dress of lake‑blue and hidden indigo unfurled in the dark‑red space, its layered hems embroidered with peacock feather eye patterns that flickered in and out of view.

"I'm leaving."

Yao Guang's voice came from ahead, "Let's chat while we look for a way out; this place must have an end."

Qingque stood in place for two seconds, reached out to tuck a bud hanging from her hair behind her ear, inhaled deeply, and stepped forward to follow.

Her long ash‑gray hair rose gently behind her, intertwining with the flower stems that protruded from her body, like a bizarre and grotesque painting.

The two, one ahead of the other, walked along the infinitely extending thick trunk, deeper into the denser red mist.