The petite Headmaster's body tilted straight backward, falling onto the tiled floor at the kitchen entrance, her eyes rolled back, foam at her mouth, and her small nose still twitching unconsciously, clearly having lost consciousness.
Only her slightly rising and falling chest proved she was still alive.
Jack then slowly stood up, her movements unhurried.
She tucked the salted fish Tail back into her bracelet, and the spatial interface closed. The source of the pungent odor seemed to be cut off, but the lingering scent in the air remained stubborn.
She walked to Theresa's side and looked down.
Theresa's small face was crumpled, her expression filled with pain even in unconsciousness, and there were some bubbles in the foam at the corners of her mouth.
Jack observed for two seconds, confirming that the other party was merely knocked out by the stench, with no other injuries.
She even extended her toe and gently nudged Theresa's limp arm, testing for a reaction.
"Tsk."
Jack was silent for a few seconds, her golden eyes still devoid of emotional fluctuations. She merely shook her head and quietly uttered a comment:
"The purity is too low."
Perspective shift.
Just as Baiheng felt Jing Yuan's seemingly casual gaze about to penetrate her through her sunglasses, seeing her inside and out, a sudden chill, like an invisible fine needle, gently pricked Jing Yuan's perception.
It wasn't a real drop in temperature, but condensed sword intent, solid as substance, mixed with a warning!
The lazy smile on Jing Yuan's face remained unchanged, but his golden eyes turned towards the source of the chill.
His gaze passed over Baiheng's stall and landed under the inconspicuous eaves of a building at the street corner.
A white-haired woman sat there, her face covered by a black eye patch.
She quietly played an erhu, the music low and mournful, completely out of tune with the bustling street's atmosphere.
She seemed immersed in her own world, but Jing Yuan could clearly feel that most of her attention, like the cold air around her, was firmly locked onto him.
It was a clear warning: enough is enough.
A trace of genuine surprise flashed through Jing Yuan's heart.
Jingliu.
Of course he recognized her.
This was the Master who once taught him swordsmanship, and also a dangerous existence whose whereabouts became a mystery after falling into Mara.
It had been an unknown amount of time since he last heard definite news of her.
Why was she here?
In this ordinary market, sitting not far from a suspicious Foxian merchant?
In a flash of lightning, several connections had already flashed through Jing Yuan's mind: this merchant named "Bai Heng," with peculiar goods and a mysterious identity, yet inexplicably seemed familiar to him; and Jingliu, the former Sword Master, now seemed to be... endorsing this merchant?
Or, at least, preventing him from delving deeper.
Comparing the two, the priorities were clear at a glance.
A suspicious itinerant merchant could be investigated slowly, but Jingliu's movements, especially her appearance on the Luofu, and the variables and risks she represented, had to be dealt with first.
With a decision made in his heart, Jing Yuan showed no hint of it on his face.
He seemed merely attracted by the music, naturally turned his head, and nodded slightly in that direction, like an ordinary listener acknowledging an artist.
Then, he withdrew his gaze and looked back at Baiheng, who was clearly more tense due to his momentary distraction.
"The boss is right, that doll is indeed interesting."
Jing Yuan suddenly smiled, casually picking up an interstellar alloy paperweight that Baiheng had enthusiastically recommended earlier from the stall.
"I'll buy this. How many currency?"
Baiheng was stunned for a moment, almost unable to keep up with the sudden turn.
She quickly quoted a reasonable price, and Jing Yuan paid cheerfully, without asking another question.
Taking the paperweight, the General of the Luofu no longer looked at Baiheng, and ignored the persistent icy gaze. Like a casual tourist who had genuinely bought a small trinket on a whim, he turned and walked unhurriedly towards Jingliu's direction.
His figure quickly blended into the crowd, but Baiheng knew that the seemingly relaxed scrutiny just now had probably etched her features, and even every unnatural reaction she had, into the mind of that "Divine Foresight General."
His departure did not mean his suspicion was gone, only that he had a higher priority target.
Just as he thought, the truth about "Bai Heng" would later be slowly unraveled by the Cloud Knightss or the Ten-Lords Commission.
It wasn't until Jing Yuan's figure disappeared around the street corner, and a good while after that, that the chilling sensation, like daggers in her back, slowly dissipated.
Baiheng felt almost exhausted, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on her back, cool against her clothes.
She leaned on the stall cart, letting out a sigh.
Of course, she had also seen Jingliu.
She saw how she used that method to attract Jing Yuan's full attention, and how, as Jing Yuan approached, she decisively stood up, packed her erhu, and disappeared into another alleyway.
Jingliu was helping her out of a predicament.
This realization made Baiheng's mood indescribably complex.
On one hand, there was the relief of having survived a disaster.
If Jingliu hadn't intervened suddenly, she truly didn't know how she would have passed Jing Yuan's interrogation.
On the other hand, there was deeper unease and confusion.
Why would Jingliu do this? Because of their old friendship?
Or had she noticed something? Either way, it meant her attention on Baiheng was far deeper and more proactive than she had imagined.
"Sigh..."
Baiheng rubbed her throbbing temples, looking at the dazzling array of goods on her stall cart, and suddenly felt a little tired.
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