Watching as his own cherished possession was pulled out from Qingque's pocket, Levi never could have imagined that Qingque would actually put his stuff into her own pocket. Nor did he expect that she'd share the same kind of, habit, as him.
'No, wait! Not habit! Hobby! It's a hobby!'
Levi looked at Qingque with a complicated expression. "Little Sparrow, I didn't expect..."
"I did it for your own good!"
Qingque quickly stopped him from continuing, pointed at him with a serious face, and declared, "To prevent your XP from continuing to deteriorate and cause irreversible consequences in the end... !"
"I! Qingque, Diviner of the Divination Commission!"
"Hereby confiscate every single evil item of yours today!"
Then, with a total shift in tone, she comforted him, "You don't have to be too sad about it. In order to completely cure your illness, I even found you a blind date."
"I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
Stunned by her rapid-fire words, Levi blinked in confusion and asked, "Who?"
"Why, none other than my Commission's own Diviner, Lady Fu Xuan, the number one beauty of Luofu!"
Qingque said it proudly, as if the one being praised was herself.
Then, right in front of Levi, she took out a thumb-sized little book from her pocket and handed it to him, speaking earnestly, "This contains my understanding of Lady Fu Xuan, personality notes, preferences, the works. As long as you follow what's written in here, there's a ninety percent chance you'll win her over!"
After hearing the Diviner General's words, Levi swallowed and decisively accepted the book.
But just then, a cold, emotionless voice came from outside the room.
"Oh? Qingque, that ninety percent chance you mentioned, was that true?"
The tone was sharp and icy.
Like being stripped naked in the wilds of Siberia, two bare souls forced to cling to each other just to stay warm.
Seeing Fu Xuan standing in the doorway, Qingque's expression froze. She laughed awkwardly, "Ah, Lady Fu Xuan, how come you're here at this hour… Normally around this time you should still be..."
"Hmph! So it's fine for you to slack off, but not fine for me to take a little break?"
Fu Xuan stood in the doorway, towering over Qingque like a giant looking down at a mortal. Her gaze dropped to the book in Levi's hands, instantly turning cold.
Without a word, she extended her pale hand.
She didn't need to speak, the look alone was enough.
The two culprits stared at each other.
Qingque's eyes pleaded silently, 'Good brother, you're not seriously going to hand it over, right?'
If he gave her the book and she saw what was written inside, she'd be finished.
Her diviner's career, over.
And someone as unskilled as her? She'd probably have to go home like any other Xianzhou citizen, marry, have kids… and end up getting domestically abused because of gambling.
Right, the gambler would be her.
Seeing his good friend's pleading eyes, Levi gave her a reassuring look.
Then, with a calm smile, he stepped in front of her to shield her, facing the otherworldly beauty before them.
Watching his back, Qingque was moved to tears.
"Miss Fu Xuan, this is what you're looking for," Levi said sincerely.
"And just so you know, the contents were all written by Qingque herself. She forced the book on me, I had nothing to do with it. If there's punishment to be dealt, please punish her alone."
Levi bowed low and respectfully handed Fu Xuan the book.
Then he smoothly straightened up to stand beside her, his face calm as he looked at the dumbstruck Qingque.
As the saying goes, better your friend die than you.
Qingque, let your noble sacrifice pave my road to immortality.
"Not bad."
Fu Xuan was quite satisfied with Levi's sense of propriety. She took Qingque's "masterpiece" and flipped it open.
Immediately, the once-despondent Qingque perked right back up, raising her brows and smirking at Levi.
So this was friendship, a sacred bond where you backstab each other equally.
Qingque had long since mastered the true essence of friendship.
"Ah-ha!" Qingque pointed at Levi, her tone sharp as a blade. "You're in big trouble!"
"Huh?!"
Seeing her suddenly change tone, Levi panicked and quickly turned toward Fu Xuan.
Her face was red, her fingers white from gripping the pages so hard.
Qingque grinned wide. "Levi! You're finished! That's not some love strategy book at all, it's just something I bought from a street vendor!"
"Little Uncle!"
She had already divined this morning that today's disaster would involve Fu Xuan, so there was no way she'd carry something that might upset her at a time like this.
"Now that you handed it to her, you've defiled her noble eyes! You deserve death!"
After finishing her accusation, Qingque immediately turned to Fu Xuan, bowed her head in feigned loyalty, and declared, "Lady Fu Xuan, I recommend sending this man to the Cloud Knights and having the General deal with him personally!"
When Fu Xuan didn't answer for a while, Qingque cautiously looked up at her flushed face, trying to test the waters. "Lady Fu Xuan?"
"Ah? Oh."
Coming back to her senses, Fu Xuan calmly closed the book, cleared her throat, and said, "Qingque…"
"Your servant is here!"
'You're way too deep into this act,' Levi thought helplessly, staring at the two women, one was the Diviner, the other the Great Diviner, both from the same division, practically wearing the same pair of pants.
How could he possibly turn the tables in this situation?
He couldn't, unless the Luofu was suddenly invaded by an Emanator of Extinction.
"You dared to scheme against me!!"
Finally, a turn of fate.
Fu Xuan's anger shifted squarely toward Qingque, who had bought the book and set her up to believe it was actually about herself.
Otherwise, how could such filthy, disgraceful material ever taint her eyes, her pure and unblemished heart?
Hearing that, Levi's eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed, "Lady Fu Xuan, I suggest throwing this scheming thief Qingque into the Detention Pavilion, and then transferring her to the Yaoqing Xianzhou!"
Qingque's eyes went wide, especially when she saw Fu Xuan's thoughtful expression. She wailed, "No! I don't want to go to the Yaoqing Xianzhou! I don't want to go to the Yaoqing Xianzhou!"
Fu Xuan's lips twitched slightly, it was telling that Qingque was protesting about that, instead of the imprisonment.
Watching the two overacting buffoons in front of her, Fu Xuan sighed and said irritably, "Enough! We'll end it here for today. This book… I'll take it and destroy it myself."
"Lady Fu Xuan is wise!" ×2
Fu Xuan smacked her own forehead in exasperation, then glanced toward the door, where the edge of a cloak was poking out from behind the wall.
With a cold smirk, she said, "So, the General has been hiding there this whole time without showing himself, do you have some kind of special fetish that makes you only appear from the shadows?"
Verbal critical hit, maximum damage.
"...Of course not. I just saw how much fun you all were having and didn't want to interrupt, but also didn't want to miss the show, so I stayed hidden."
Jing Yuan stepped out with a dry laugh, smiling lazily at Levi.
Catching sight of that grin, Levi shuddered.
Mother of mercy, what a creepy smile, it's just like that pervert Nantong's.
'Note to self: stay far away from Jing Yuan before I catch the 0-1 virus.'
Fu Xuan huffed, deciding not to bother with Jing Yuan further. Looking at Qingque thoughtfully, she said, "For today's matter, you've actually earned some credit. If there's anything you want, just say it."
Qingque blinked. "Anything?"
"…That depends on my mood."