TL/N: re Translated because the corrections just came
Deep in the night, within a remote, old-fashioned house, a fox-person clad in Cloud Knight armor paced back and forth. What was strange was that, besides him, several dozen Borisin were gathered in the room.
But these Borisin weren't attacking him. Instead, they were kneeling respectfully, their gazes averted.
Before long, another "Cloud Knight" rushed in.
The fox-person who had been pacing saw him and immediately asked, "What's the situation?"
The "Cloud Knight" who had just burst in shook his head with a grave expression.
"The dozen or so wolf cubs we sent to scout are all dead, Mudu. But the good news is, the route map and scent-concealing pills from Taoran are the real deal. The cubs successfully infiltrated, but somewhere along the way, they were discovered by someone and killed on the spot."
The fox-person called Mudu let out a sigh of relief.
"As long as the intel is real. As for those dozen cubs, they sacrificed themselves for our great cause. After we rescue the Warhead, I will certainly report this matter to him and request merits for them."
The other Borisin in the room let out a low howl upon hearing Mudu's words.
Mudu shot them a fierce glare. "Quiet! Are you trying to get the neighbors to report us and have the Cloud Knights come for an inspection?!"
The Borisin immediately lowered their heads, clenching their jaws, not daring to make another sound.
Mudu snorted, then took a cloth pouch from his pocket. It was filled with the scent-concealing pills he had obtained from Taoran. He handed it to the person beside him.
"Distribute these. Have the more quick-witted of our comrades take them. Before the designated time, you must infiltrate every department of the Luofu!"
"Yes."
Inside the inn.
When Fu Zhu carried March 7th back to his room at the inn, he found Xing sprawled out on his bed, passionately arguing with her teammates in a mobile game. His face instantly darkened.
"Little Sis, could you perhaps give me an explanation as to why you're in here?"
Xing, seeing Fu Zhu and March 7th practically glued together at the doorway, casually waved a clean foot at them as a form of greeting.
"You're back?"
"What's with this attitude like you're the owner of this room?"
Fu Zhu wordlessly set March 7th down from his arms. His plan to get cuddly had been ruined by this girl!
March 7th snickered on the side, then turned and slipped into the washroom.
After March 7th went into the washroom and the sound of running water started, Xing finally switched off her game. She attempted a "salted fish flop" to sit up but ended up just flopping around on the bed.
Fu Zhu watched her expressionlessly as she thrashed about on the bed, trying to sit up, before finally giving up and lying on her side, propping her head up with an arm to look at him.
"Old Bro, I have good news and bad news for you. Which one do you want to hear first?"
Seeing her like this, Fu Zhu walked over, sat down on the sofa, casually picked up a piece of complimentary fruit from the coffee table, and asked with his mouth full, "The good news isn't that you're about to leave and stop bothering me and March, is it?"
Xing's little face instantly darkened. Ever since her old bro and March 7th had made it official, she found that her brother was getting more and more fed up with her! Before, when he found her in his room, he would at most nag her a few times and then let her do whatever she wanted. But now, he wanted her to leave at the drop of a hat! Clearly, Little March was the third wheel in this family!
Xing huffed, then crawled across the bed, walked over to the sofa opposite Fu Zhu, and sat down, crossing her legs in a manner entirely devoid of ladylike grace.
"As your dear little sister, even if you haven't been very nice to me lately, I'll still be merciful and tell you! The good news is, during this Wardance Ceremony, you'll be seeing an old acquaintance from Jarilo-VI!"
Fu Zhu's heart sank when he heard this. The first person he thought of from Jarilo-VI was Bronya. And… back when March 7th had posted on social media about the two of them getting together, Fu Zhu had specifically gone to look at the comments on that post.
Most people had commented "Congratulations," and those who didn't like to comment had at least 'liked' the post. Only a very small number of people had absolutely no reaction to the post, and that included Bronya.
In fact, Bronya hadn't interacted with him or March 7th at all during this entire time.
Seeing her brother's expression suddenly sink, Xing's lips curled into a smirk. She took out her phone, walked over to sit beside Fu Zhu, and opened her chat log with Bronya for him to see.
[Bronya: Xing, are your brother and March 7th really together?]
[Xing: It's true!]
Following that was today's message.
[Bronya: For this Wardance Ceremony on the Luofu, Jarilo-VI will also be sending representatives. I hope you will all be able to look after them when the time comes.]
[Xing: No problem! Are you coming, Bronya?]
[Bronya: ...I will.]
After Fu Zhu finished reading the messages, Xing's voice rang out faintly beside him.
"Old Bro, I remember that on Little March's post, Bronya didn't even give it a like… There isn't something going on between you two, is there?!"
Xing stared at Fu Zhu's face with excitement, trying to discern any abnormality. Her sharp intuition for gossip was telling her that there was definitely something going on between Bronya and her old bro!
Fu Zhu didn't answer. He felt his head begin to throb. He hadn't expected anyone from Jarilo-VI to attend the Wardance Ceremony, and on top of that, Bronya was actually coming!
Just then, Fu Zhu's phone happened to chime. He quickly picked it up to look, and Xing craned her neck to peek as well.
[Cocolia: For this Wardance Ceremony on the Luofu, Jarilo-VI will also be sending representatives. I hope you will all be able to look after them when the time comes.]
Seeing this message, Xing couldn't help but roast it. "Did Bronya get lazy or did Cocolia get lazy? The text is exactly the same. This has to be a group message, right?"
Fu Zhu didn't even have the energy to roll his eyes at Xing. What he was concerned about now was that this wasn't a prank by Xing. He had been holding onto a sliver of hope before, but now…
Drip-drip. Another message came in.
It was from Seele.
[Seele: [PrepareToDie.jpg], [Scythe.jpg]]
Seele had only sent two sticker images. She hadn't said a word, and yet it felt like she had said everything.
Fu Zhu suddenly remembered that Seele also seemed to be one of the few who hadn't liked March 7th's post.
Xing was baffled when she saw this message.
"Old Bro, don't tell me you've got something going on with Seele too?!"
"What nonsense are you spouting? She and I are innocent."
Fu Zhu retorted, and Xing immediately fired back another question.
"So you're not innocent with Bronya? Bro, you were silent just now when I asked about Bronya. How come you immediately denied it when it came to Seele?"
Fu Zhu fell silent. Seeing him like this, Xing's eyes widened, and she sucked in a sharp breath.
"Hiss… It's true? Old Bro, you… you're really something."
Fu Zhu silently turned his head away, lost in thought, contemplating what he should do next. Xing also sat beside him in silence.
After a moment, Fu Zhu stood up and started walking toward the door.
Xing quickly called out to his retreating back, "Old Bro, running away won't solve any problems!"
"I'm not running away."
Fu Zhu turned his head back to explain, "I'm going to take care of some things. Don't worry, your old bro isn't some emotional scumbag. I won't run from what I need to face."
After saying that, Fu Zhu left the room, heading off to who knows where.
Xing watched her brother leave and sighed softly. Just then, March 7th happened to walk out, having finished her shower and changed into her regular clothes. She was rubbing her wet hair with a towel as she looked at the sofa, where only Xing remained.
"Eh? Where's your brother? I was hoping he'd help me dry my hair!"
Xing waved at March 7th, beckoning her to come sit by her side.
March 7th walked over and sat down. Xing smoothly took the towel and began to help her dry her hair. March 7th enjoyed the hair-drying service for a moment before she couldn't help but ask, "Xing, why are you so quiet all of a sudden? This isn't like you."
Xing was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "March, let me teach you a little something!"
"You?!"
March 7th whipped her head around to look at her, as if she had just heard something unbelievable.
Seeing her reaction, Xing couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. "What's wrong with me? March, I'm very smart!"
"Yeah, yeah, right. So, what do you want to teach me?" March 7th replied perfunctorily, then allowed Xing to continue drying her hair.
Xing thought for a moment, then steeled her resolve. Old Bro, this is your little sis's final Hamon!
"Do you know about the one-husband-one-wife system?"
"Do you even need to teach me that? The vast majority of planets in the entire universe follow that system. Anyone normal knows that!"
"Oh?" Hearing that, Xing's face lit up with joy.
"So, that means you accept a spousal model of one madam and one wife, then?"
"???"
March 7th turned her head to look at Xing with a face of utter disbelief. "What are you talking about? Is that your definition of the one-husband-one-wife system?"
"Is there a problem?" Xing feigned a confused expression and scratched her head. "One fū… isn't that one fūrén (madam)? One qī… isn't that one qīzi (wife)?"
"Is it possible that it can only be one husband, one wife?" March 7th said faintly.
But Xing puffed out her chest confidently and said, "I don't believe it, unless you show me proof!"
March 7th rolled her eyes, a bit speechless, but her competitive spirit was now piqued.
"You want proof? I'll go search for it online and show you right now!"
With that, March 7th stood up and walked into her own washroom, intending to grab the phone she had left inside and then look up evidence to prove herself right.
The moment she stood up, Xing, with the fastest hands of her life, lit up her own phone, pulled up her chat with Silver Wolf, and fired off a message.
[Xing: Silver Wolf, code red, emergency! I need you to immediately hack into Little March's phone and change all her search results for the definition of "one-husband-one-wife system" to "one madam, one wife"! As payment, I'll cover your gacha dailies for a month!]
[Silver Wolf: Roger that. Don't underestimate the speed of a genius hacker!]
Silver Wolf didn't know why Xing wanted her to do this, nor did she care to know. All she knew was that someone would be grinding her mobile games for her from now on!
A moment later, March 7th walked out of the washroom with her phone, muttering as she walked.
"This young lady is about to slap the evidence right in your face!"
Then, she sat back down next to Xing and, right in front of her, began to search the internet for "one-husband-one-wife system." Xing watched with a nervous expression.
The search results appeared quickly. March 7th clicked on the very first link and began to read it out loud, word for word.
"Listen up. The one-husband-one-wife system refers to one madam, one wife… eh?!"
March 7th stared at the content on the screen, completely bewildered. After confirming that she hadn't misread it, she exited the webpage in a daze, then clicked on several other pages. But no matter which page she was on, the explanation for the one-husband-one-wife system was the same as before.
This made March 7th start to have some doubts. Could it be that she had remembered it wrong? But this was the result from an internet search, after all…
Seeing this scene, Xing let out a sigh of relief and silently gave Silver Wolf a thumbs-up in her heart. As expected of a genius hacker girl, her efficiency was incredible!
Hmph, hmph, Old Bro. When you find out later that your little sis helped you, you'd better thank me properly, right?
Xing was already silently calculating. Later, she would have to make her old bro grind her mobile game dailies for a year! And she would outsource the payment she promised Silver Wolf to her old bro as well!
However, Little March wasn't that easy to fool. Although she usually seemed a bit silly, she had her moments of clarity. If she couldn't find what she wanted online, she might just ask someone nearby.
Uncle Welt and Sis Himeko were out on a job, so there was no need to worry about them for now. Even if Little March asked them on her phone, she could have Silver Wolf help out.
The ones to worry about were probably Dan Heng, Yunli, and Yanqing.
Realizing her plan might have a flaw, Xing immediately stood up and headed for the door.
"March, I'm heading out for a bit!"
"Huh?"
March 7th, still in a daze, watched as Xing rushed out of the room, muttering, "Why did everyone leave? What are these two siblings busy with all day long…"
With no one left to keep her company, March 7th could only lie down on the double bed to rest. A full day of horse stance training had already left her exhausted. She didn't even have the desire to scroll through her phone. The moment her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Xing, having left the room, had made a beeline for Dan Heng's room. She raised her hand and started banging on the door.
"Dan Heng, we've got a problem! Open up!"
Hearing there was a problem, Dan Heng immediately opened the door, Cloud-Piercer in hand. He stared nervously at Xing at the door and asked, "What happened?"
Xing thought for a moment, then consolidated everything that had happened into a single sentence.
"My old bro's harem is on fire."
BAM.
The door was slammed shut.