For now, let's not worry about "Sunday," who'd just been spirited away by a flock of over-enthusiastic Robin stans to be "re-(re)modeled." After replying to Feixiao's message, Wei Yi didn't head straight to the General's Office.
He turned toward the Jade Gate instead.
First stop: meet Ruan Mei. After that, go to the General's Office. Perfect.
He checked the time—two hours to spare. Plenty. A master of time management.
He even had time to sightsee on the way. Look—there, a little Foxian girl in a splendid robe, trying her best to fend off a persistent suitor. She'd refused him ten different ways, and the fellow was still trailing her with a bouquet.
What should our little fox do?
Troubled, she glanced about and spotted her dear brother-in-law. Waving, she trotted over with a bright smile.
"Miss Tingyun, please accept my courtship. After our brief separation, I finally understood my heart. Don't lose out in expressing your feelings! I've mustered my courage—please accept me!"
A Xianzhou youth, flowers in hand, dogged Tingyun's steps. Ever since hearing she'd returned, he'd been trying every angle to woo her.
He, like Tingyun, was a member of the Whistling Flames caravan.
Tingyun had said no—many times. The problem was, this one clung like a burr; and while annoyingly persistent, he was unfailingly polite—much better than a certain someone of "general's caliber" back then.
And in terms of family, he wasn't lacking either: his clan held shares in the caravan, and beyond that he had considerable assets of his own.
"Don't lose out in expressing yourself, huh? The last guy who said that got ruined by a woman…"
Wei Yi had to bite back the quip. Back before he crossed over, there'd been a streamer who made the motto famous… and then tanked his career for love.
"Mr. Lin Jiao, I've said this many times. I'm not looking for a partner—now or ever."
As she spoke, Tingyun's eye-corner flicked—she'd spotted someone familiar. Confirming it was Wei Yi, she waved. "Brother-in-law, what brings you here?"
She ducked behind him like a maiden at their very first meeting, peeking past his shoulder at the young man.
"Brother-in-law?"
The young man blinked, confused. Since when did Lady Yukong have a spouse?
He knew Tingyun's background perfectly well.
"Don't misunderstand," Wei Yi said, catching the doubt. "My wife is Madam Yukong's other 'little sister.'"
Since he'd stumbled onto this, he couldn't well stand by.
He looked the young man up and down with a pleasant smile. "You're courting our Tingyun?"
"Good day, sir. I'm Lin Jiao, junior master of the Lin Pawnbrokers. I am indeed pursuing Miss Tingyun—earnestly!"
Seeing Tingyun's trust in Wei Yi, Lin Jiao straightened to attention. If he could win the brother-in-law's favor, perhaps Tingyun's view of him would change. Then—happily ever after?
"The Lins, is it?" Wei Yi nodded. The shop name was famous on the Luofu; pawnbroking was only one arm of their business.
"It seems you've heard of us. I truly love—"
Wei Yi raised a hand to halt him. The youth had good eyes and decent manners; despite his background, there was no trace of dissipation in his gaze. A fine young man.
But love couldn't be forced.
"You don't know," Wei Yi said gently. "Our Tingyun survived a great calamity—death and rebirth. What she needs now isn't money. With her abilities, she's never lacked that."
Tingyun nodded and let him speak.
"Then… what do you mean, sir?"
"What she lacks is a sense of safety. You know she was harmed by the Destruction's Emanator, Phantylia—lightning striking twice. She suffers from lingering aftershocks, a constant insecurity. In choosing a partner, she'll lean toward someone who can truly protect her."
"Sir, rest easy. Though I'm a merchant's son, I've trained since youth. I'm no child prodigy like General Yanqing, but I'm not weak."
He snapped two fingers together; a razor-thin strand of sword-qi sprang to life.
On the Luofu, that was respectable.
"Confident, I see. All right then—allow me to be… presumptuous. If you can meet my standard, I'll personally go with you to propose to Madam Yukong, and we'll discuss betrothing Tingyun to you. The requirement is simple: take one punch from my wife. If you can withstand a single punch, then you truly have the power to protect her."
When Wei Yi got halfway through, Tingyun looked startled; by the end, her expression had turned odd.
"Do you mean it?"
"I do. If you can take my wife's punch, Tingyun will surely be moved by your heroism."
"Then I'll do it. May I ask who your honored wife is—and where she is now?"
"Feixiao. She's at the General's Office. Oh—you might know her by her popular title: the Great-Victory General."
The young man's face froze.
"You mean… the same person I'm thinking of?"
"There's only one 'Great-Victory General' in the entire Xianzhou Alliance," Wei Yi said mildly.
And that was that. In that instant, Lin Jiao's hopes collapsed. If the lady was the Great-Victory General, then the gentleman before him must be the Abundance's Emanator "Wei Yi."
How could his little frame take a punch that the Emanators themselves struggled against?
Feixiao's recent feats had spread across the cosmos: an even fight against two Emanators, nearly killing one; then, once the Abundance's Emanator arrived to assist, she finished off Shuhu, forcing Phantylia to flee in disgrace.
If even Emanators couldn't stomach a single punch—what chance did he have?
Wei Yi clapped his shoulder and left with Tingyun. He hadn't said anything cruel, but the message landed.
Lin Jiao was a smart man. Sometimes, retreating in good order was the wise choice.
"Thank you, Brother-in-law. If not for you, he'd have pestered me for ages," Tingyun said, smiling, eyes bright.
"This scene feels familiar."
Wei Yi's thoughts drifted back to their first meeting on Yaoxing—Tingyun ducking behind him exactly like this.
Did she have… some kind of constitution that drew trouble?
She attracted men; even Phantylia had targeted her. The hallmark of a fox, eh?
He couldn't help recalling the game: five enemy crosshairs lined up across Tingyun's forehead… he could barely keep a straight face.
"Yes. Back on Yaoxing, you protected this little girl just like today," Tingyun said, nodding.
"At the time I didn't know who you were. Now that I think about it, meeting you that day might be the luckiest thing in my life. If it weren't for you, I'd have turned to ash."
Even now, she felt a chill. If not for Wei Yi, the instant Phantylia seized her body, she might have died. Not even Ruan Mei could have pulled her back so easily.
Even now, she could sense the terrible power buried inside her: a beast with a bottomless lust for ruin, always straining against its chains. Only another gentle force suppressed it and slowly fused it into her own strength.
The details were hazy, but from Ruan Mei's words, Tingyun knew how much Wei Yi had paid to bring her back.
"No more dwelling on that," Wei Yi said, waving off her grateful, tender gaze.
This little fox could really flirt without trying… No wonder everyone loved her. If this were a palace, she'd surely be a noble consort.
"But Tingyun does have one question. How did Brother-in-law foresee my calamity back then?"
That stumped Wei Yi. How was he supposed to answer that?
"Call it a gut feeling. Your brother-in-law's got a few divine tricks. Face-reading, for instance. I saw a shadow between your brows, an impending disaster. Precaution, that's all."
"Mm. If Brother-in-law says so, I believe it. Brother-in-law is amazing."
No doubt in her eyes—only admiration.
"That's you all over. If it were Feixiao, she'd question me first thing. Ah, how's a man to live?" Wei Yi sighed, and couldn't resist flicking her ear. Adorable. Emotional value: maxed.
"Elder Sister Feixiao only jokes because you're so close," Tingyun said.
"Are we not close?" Wei Yi grinned.
"Of course we are. But in my heart, there's only respect for Brother-in-law."
"All right, you pass." He chuckled. Tight as a drum—no holes to poke.
"If anything troubles you, tell me. I'm about to have an official Alliance status. Even your Elder Sister Feixiao will have to call me 'Grand-Sire.' There won't be a single thing on the Luofu I can't handle!"
"With Brother-in-law's protection, I'm very much at ease."
She smiled—and then hesitated.
"In fact… there is one trouble."
"In the past, caring for one tail took me forever. Now that I have nine, I'm overwhelmed. Even with Lady Yukong helping, I'm short on time. Most days I have to keep the others tucked away."
"I see." Wei Yi nodded. "You should've told me sooner. Easy fix."
After his blessing, Tingyun's body wasn't what it used to be; in principle it had a self-cleansing function—put less delicately, even if she wore the same shoes for days, there'd be no smell.
But nine tails were maintenance-heavy.
"I see your warding jade bracelet shattered and hasn't been replaced. Take this—and a little extra."
If grooming nine tails was a hassle—then don't groom them. Lock their perfect state in place and set that moment as a temporal anchor.
Simple—just a dash of authority.
Wei Yi could wield Feixiao's power; while he wasn't as deft with the Hunt as she was, nudging a little time was nothing.
"This bracelet will anchor the tails' state. No more fuss."
He slipped a green bangle onto her wrist.
Unwittingly, his means had grown by leaps and bounds. If Feixiao were still the Feixiao of before, he might even trade a few blows with her now.
Alas, she'd evolved too—
She'd poured all her points into raw power: first the Bow's Glance, a personal gift of the halberd; then Wei Yi's full blessing. She'd pushed mortal martial might to the brink.
A pure stat monster. Brick-throwing by brute force.
Emanators had tricks—but in a straight fight? Good luck.
Wei Yi, in contrast, had specialized in special abilities: his own authority, plus those obtained via Ruan Mei and his retinue. He might not hit the hardest, but he was hellishly hard to kill.
Separately, neither was "the strongest." Together? Cruelty incarnate.
Feixiao would pin the enemy down and pound; Wei Yi would buff her while tormenting the foe with oddities. Phantylia and Shuhu together would curse, "Damn dog-couple."
Their chat didn't last long; soon they parted.
Time had slipped by; Wei Yi decided to stop strolling and burst into azure flame, teleporting to the Jade Gate with "Old Jailor's" ashes as the medium.
He arrived just as the ship's hatch opened.
A graceful figure stepped out—two cat-cakes tumbling and chirping behind her. One was the familiar "Ruan-Mei-cake." The other was new: gentle-eyed, scented faintly sweet… oddly familiar in manner.
But Wei Yi's gaze settled on Ruan Mei herself.
"Right on time, my dear," she said, brushing a strand of hair back with a smile.
"Thanks for coming in the middle of a crunch," Wei Yi said. He knew how busy she was.
"In my heart, nothing outranks you, dear. Now—bring out Nidhogg."
Wei Yi obliged.
Unlike its former majesty, Nidhogg had lost even stable form—only an egg remained, glimmering faintly.
"After I slew the Monarch of Delusion and it devoured that authority, it became like this. I thought the integration would be smooth; I didn't expect it to stall… this long."
He rubbed his temple. "I shouldn't have rushed it."
He'd hoped it would be days. It had been far longer—stuck on a razor's edge.
Ruan Mei stepped to the egg and studied it closely.
Nidhogg's mind slept. The Breeding path's king-worm authorities were now gathered; once, some had been incomplete, but on devouring Delusion their gaps had—mysteriously—filled.
Nidhogg was, in miniature, a baby Towering Ant Queen: Taizzy Eurus.
But when the Amber King hammered that Aeon's divine body, it had shattered not only the flesh but the very Path, splintering Breeding. The Breeding path no longer permitted a second "Worm-Emperor."
"My dear, I can't fix this. Only you can decide what comes next."
She shook her head. "What bars its awakening isn't power or a frail vessel; it's a rule. A shattered Path forbids the existence of what it once allowed. Even Taizzy Eurus couldn't do it now."
She paused, thinking. "There's one way. Once upon a time, Breeding and Abundance were one—split from Undying. In essence, they're close cousins. If the Paths can be fused—then theoretically, Undying might be glimpsed again. Hard, not impossible. In our era, the Breeding Aeon has fallen; the Path won't block you. But Abundance is different—the Aeon yet lives. Even if He won't oppose you—might even support you—the power you wield is borrowed. Not your own."
"What you must do is truly become the embodiment of 'Abundance'—no longer an Emanator, but one who can draw freely from the Path itself. Call it… a near-god. Or, if you prefer: kindle your own flame and ascend the Path's Throne. I can't help with that. How you do it—you must find yourself. If you succeed, perhaps Nidhogg can wake. If not… it may remain an egg forever."
After saying so, she left; the Herta Space Station demanded her return.
As the air stilled, Wei Yi stood a long time, mulling. Kindle the flame. Ascend the Throne…
Even with a "method," each road was unique; there was no manual to follow.
He shook himself. "Enough. I'll shelve it."
Some answers couldn't be forced. For now—head to the General's Office, do the honors… and have a private word with Marshal Hua afterward.
If anyone had climbed to that height, it was likely her. Another was "Huangquan"—but Nihility's road was unrepeatable.
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