The atmosphere inside the skiff's cabin was a bit awkward.
The passenger skiffs designated for private ports were always the finest selections from Starskiff Haven. The artisans of the Haven would place the seeds of the skiffs into a nutrient-rich solution and allow them to grow freely. Only the most vibrant and promising specimen would be given the chance to be temporarily moved to the Haven's special greenhouse.
There, they would be meticulously pruned and nurtured by the artisans, eventually growing into far more beautiful and exquisite forms than any other passenger skiff. The hulls, hand-carved by the artisans themselves, were each a unique design. The guests who could ride such a skiff were either high-ranking officials or wealthy merchants.
Typically, they would be discussing something inside this luxurious skiff—either a major business deal worth billions of credits or a private political meeting between government officials. It was rare for a situation like Ron's group to occur, where they sat in complete silence, each as rigid as a stone.
Ron looked at Qingque and Fu Xuan seated before him and couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle.
After Qingque had suddenly appeared, dragged out by Fu Xuan from the shadow of an Aurumaton's leg for reasons unknown, the passenger skiff they were to board happened to whistle. Although the atmosphere between them remained incredibly stiff and they hadn't exchanged a single word, Fu Xuan was the first to lift her foot and board the skiff. Naturally, the others followed her onto this proverbial pirate ship, which then carried them steadily towards the skiff-sea of the [Luofu].
Qingque had originally tried to slip away before boarding, but a fierce glare from Fu Xuan, who had been watching her intently, scared her into submission. She could only clutch the corner of her clothes, looking like a pitiful child who had done something wrong, and obediently follow Fu Xuan onto the passenger skiff.
Ron had thought that with the sudden appearance of this newcomer, the tense atmosphere would surely dissipate a little, and he could use the opportunity to get some information out of Qingque, or even Fu Xuan.
But to his dismay, after boarding the skiff, Fu Xuan just sat there coldly, not even glancing at Ron. Her entire being radiated a "stay away from me" aura. The atmosphere in the entire skiff grew so rigid that no one spoke, chilling the air to its current state.
Seriously, how can Fu Xuan be this impervious to persuasion?
Ron felt a headache coming on. Just as he was racking his brain for a clever way to start a conversation, Fu Xuan, sitting not far across from him, spoke up—
"Stay on the Luofu. You can join the Divination Commission."
The moment Fu Xuan said those words, she was plunged into endless regret.
After boarding the skiff and settling into the cabin, Fu Xuan had taken a long time to calm her nerves, suppressing the intense fear within her. It took a great deal of effort to force herself to open her mouth and state her request to Ron—
But the familiar recruitment pitch she had prepared completely vanished the moment she spoke.
Fu Xuan turned her head to look at Ron, who seemed to be deep in thought. She couldn't help but wonder if he had seen through her. A wave of panic washed over her once more, effortlessly shattering her train of thought. A single sentence blurted out, revealing her objective in the most direct, blunt, and undisguised way possible.
But Fu Xuan had no idea what a tremendous shock that one sentence had dealt to Ron—
He was a little dazed. Fu Xuan's words felt like he had just choked on a mouthful of water, sending his thoughts into a turbulent storm.
Stay on the Luofu? Join the Divination Commission?
That's it?
It wasn't being thrown into the Shackling Prison? It wasn't being interrogated by the Ten-Lords Commission? All Fu Xuan wanted was for him to join the Divination Commission?
If she had said that from the beginning, would he have been so wary this whole time?
Although Ron didn't understand why Fu Xuan wanted him to join the Luofu's Divination Commission, it didn't really matter.
Because, as long as he wasn't thrown into the Shackling Prison at this juncture, as long as there was no real threat to his life, then it didn't matter what plans Fu Xuan or even the Xianzhou [Luofu] had for him, what dark intentions they harbored in private—all of it was meaningless.
As long as they gave him a bit of breathing room and an opportunity at the very beginning, Ron could use the Life Simulation Game to figure out everything that was to come, finding the best possible path through the cracks.
At the same time, all the mysteries would gradually become clear through his simulation attempts, unveiled by him one by one.
Therefore, Ron never cared whether he could figure out Fu Xuan's true reason for bringing him to the Xianzhou right now. The truth wasn't important. As long as he was given enough opportunities to run simulations, he would inevitably find it.
However, although he had already decided to accept Fu Xuan's offer, Ron couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Fu Xuan's attitude was still very strange. If she just wanted him to join the Luofu's Divination Commission, she shouldn't be acting this cold.
Although Ron remembered from before he transmigrated that in the original Honkai: Star Rail game, Fu Xuan was a character still far from release, the story had long established her position as the Master Diviner. While she acted cold and confident when dealing with Kafka at the time, she was still quite warm towards her own people.
According to Qingque's voice lines, she was afraid of Fu Xuan, but only because she was slacking off and feared being dragged back to the Divination Commission to work overtime.
As for Fu Xuan herself, it was hard to say if Qingque was truly scared of her. The diviners of the Divination Commission, when mentioning Fu Xuan, all spoke of her strictness, but not one of them had a bad word to say about her. Most of them got along with her just fine.
One of the Light Cones even stated that if Qingque was caught slacking by Fu Xuan, treating her to a taro bobo tea would be enough to calm her down. Fu Xuan was by no means a difficult person to get along with.
She was clearly not a bad superior to her subordinates.
But now, Fu Xuan clearly wanted him to join the Divination Commission, yet she was using such a cold tone and had maintained this demeanor the entire time, never showing him even a hint of warmth.
...There had to be a reason.
Ron frowned thoughtfully, not replying for a moment.
But this was torture for Fu Xuan. Seeing Ron frown, clearly because of her rude and stiff behavior, she couldn't help but feel a surge of anxiety.
She wanted to say something, but after calming herself down for so long just to utter that one dry sentence, trying to say anything more to smooth things over now was clearly a fool's errand.
---o---
With a hint of panic, she could only glance aside, where she saw the small, helpless, and pitiful Qingque, who was shrinking into a corner of the cabin out of boredom and awkwardness, her eyes darting about. Steeling herself, Fu Xuan took out her Jade Abacus and began tapping on the screen.
[Qingque! I sent you on a business trip to Belobog to assist the artisans of the Artisanship Commission with their divinations, but now you've returned to the Luofu. Don't think I don't know that you're planning to slack off and play Celestial Jade!]
A didi sound echoed in the cabin. Qingque flinched, picked up her Jade Abacus with its fish-themed case, and opened it to see the sudden interrogation from Fu Xuan.
Her face instantly turned deathly pale, and her fair fingers trembled. Although she found it strange that Fu Xuan would use her Jade Abacus to reprimand her while sitting right in front of her, it didn't stop her from envisioning a terrifying future where Fu Xuan grabbed her by the collar and threw her back into overtime work.
But before she could type out a plea for mercy, new text popped up on the Jade Abacus—
Fu Xuan: [However, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself—bring Ron into the Divination Commission. While you're at it, show him around the Luofu. The Divination Commission will reimburse all your expenses during this period, and your salary will be doubled.]
Fu Xuan: [If you succeed, we'll forget about what happened today, and I'll even give you a long vacation.]
Fu Xuan: [But if you fail... not only will this month's performance review standard be doubled, but at the end of next month, I want to see your year-end summary that you've been procrastinating on for a year... The word count will be doubled!]
Seeing the threatening words on the Jade Abacus, Qingque looked up at Fu Xuan's cold expression nearby, and her whole body couldn't help but stiffen up.
...
Mechanically, she turned her head to look at Ron, who wasn't paying them much attention at the moment. A mist instantly welled up in her jade-green eyes, filled with the hot tears of a slacker warrior's terror.
She shot up from her seat and walked towards Ron, but her legs gave out after just two steps. She slid into a kneel on the luxurious, soft-furred carpet, stopping right in front of Ron. She suddenly reached out, clasped Ron's hands tightly, and looked at him with teary eyes.
"Help me, Mr. Ron!"
Looking at this petite girl who could probably compete with Fu Xuan for the title of "Luofu 1.4-Meter-and-Under Height Competition Champion," at her soft, flaxen-gray hair and her eyes brimming with tears, Ron fell silent for a moment before tilting his head slightly.
"?¿?"
A question mark of pure confusion materialized above his head.
---o---
"So you were threatened by Fu Xuan just like that?"
Walking down the bustling streets of the Exalting Sanctum, Ron looked down at Qingque, who was lazily walking beside him with her hands cupping her chin, kicking her feet one step at a time. His tone was slightly perplexed.
Qingque immediately corrected her lazy posture, puffing out her chest with a serious expression to declare her loyalty.
"Hey—what do you mean, threatened? The Master Diviner just saw that I was idle and gave me a small task to keep me busy. Why do you make it sound like the old lady was coercing me?"
As she spoke, she subconsciously glanced around. Seeing that no one in the bustling crowd was paying them any attention, she immediately stood on her tiptoes—
Only to find she still couldn't reach Ron's ear.
But Ron cooperatively bent down, allowing Qingque to get close to his ear.
"How can you say something like that out loud? Even if the Master Diviner is easygoing, she'd still make you write a report if she heard that!"
She whispered, "Don't go around talking about the Master Diviner's shortcomings within the commission from now on... Trust me, it won't do you any good."
Seeing Qingque's earnest and determined expression, Ron couldn't help but feel amused.
"But you were just badmouthing Fu Xuan a moment ago... You even mentioned how she went to buy the new taro bobo drink from the Xianzhou Delicacy, got mad because she couldn't get it due to working too much overtime, and then threw a tantrum, crying and making a scene. If the Master Diviner were to punish someone, shouldn't she start with you?"
"Ahem, that's where you're wrong... I was just joking. The Master Diviner would never do something like that. But what you said, she has actually done. If she heard it, what do you think would make her angrier?"
Qingque said sagely, "My ability to survive in the workplace until now relies entirely on my meticulous observation of my superiors... Once we're colleagues, if you want to slack off, I can teach you the ropes."
Looking at the lazy Qingque walking beside him, Ron felt a sense of novelty. To be strolling leisurely with Qingque through the most prosperous district of the Xianzhou [Luofu] was something he had never imagined.
He had thought that upon being brought to the Luofu by Fu Xuan, what awaited him would be the bloody torture instruments of the Ten-Lords Commission or a cold cell in the Shackling Prison. Who would have thought that after he softened his stance slightly and agreed to join the Divination Commission, everything would change in an instant?
Fu Xuan ran off as soon as she returned to the Luofu, assigning him a mini-tour guide in the form of Qingque, and also granting this new, un-registered Divination Commission employee a very generous leave.
According to Qingque, Fu Xuan was clearly in a hurry to get back to work, which was why she pawned Ron off on her, telling her to show him around the Luofu and report to the Divination Commission in two days.
---o---
No surveillance, no imprisonment.
And certainly no bloody torture or threats.
All he had was a lazy, slacking creature named Qingque, who was even lazier than he had been during his Silvermane Guard days—which clearly meant they didn't really care about him at all!
Although he couldn't understand why Fu Xuan had brought him to the Luofu, Ron now clearly sensed that he wasn't that important of a figure.
After all, if Fu Xuan really cared about him, if he was truly a major criminal involved in some crucial Xianzhou case, even if she didn't personally escort him to the Ten-Lords Commission, she would have at least assigned a trusted aide to do so.
But Qingque? If Fu Xuan was really counting on her abilities, the Divination Commission would have probably collapsed long ago.
So... he had nothing to be afraid of in the first place?
There was no conspiracy, no specific targeting...
Ron walked along the bustling streets of the Exalting Sanctum on the Xianzhou [Luofu], with the equally lazy Qingque by his side. The two of them wandered aimlessly through the streets. For the first time since transmigrating to this world, Ron felt a subtle sensation rise from the bottom of his heart. This lazy and peaceful feeling filled his chest—
This was leisure... and this was peace of mind.
What a strange feeling... Ever since he transmigrated, Ron had been constantly chased by danger. Even during his days of utter slacking as a Silvermane Guard, he would occasionally wake up from nightmares, terrified of the destruction the Stellaron might bring to Belobog.
But now, strolling through the streets of the Exalting Sanctum, Ron was experiencing for the first time the daily life that was normal for the people of the Xianzhou.
He was in a bit of a trance and muttered to himself:
"Today is another peaceful day..."
But at that very moment...
"BOOM!!"
A violent explosion roared from a nearby alley. Several monstrosities, burning with dark crimson embers and covered in twisted, branch-like growths, burst out from the street. In an instant, the entire Exalting Sanctum was filled with screams of terror, and chaos erupted.