"Hm?" Yanqing seemed to notice something and paused, turning slightly toward Clara and Firefly with a lowered voice. "Excuse me, is that white-haired woman ahead a friend of yours?"
Hearing this, both Firefly and Clara looked in the direction Yanqing had been watching.
There stood a young girl wearing a black eye-patch adorned with a silver crescent moon, her hair a pale bluish-grey that fell long and straight. She stood quietly, gazing at the empty grounds as if lost in thought, or perhaps just drifting in her own mind.
Noticing the arrival of the three, the girl turned to look. Her eyes fell upon Clara, and her posture stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Feeling the girl's gaze, Clara offered a gentle smile before nodding to Yanqing. "I know her. We had a… robbery incident—ah, no, we've met once before."
Clara nearly let it slip but quickly corrected herself.
Well… even if I had slipped up, it wouldn't matter. Just toss the file in the recycle bin and delete it.
"I see. Since she's an acquaintance, then there's no issue." Yanqing nodded, saying nothing more.
Though Yanqing felt a bit suspicious of the girl, if she was a friend of Clara's, it should be fine, right?
When it came to the General's judgment, Yanqing trusted it one hundred and twenty percent. If even the General trusted them, Yanqing had no reason not to.
Seeing that Clara showed no intention of hostility, the girl slowly walked over. Her expression calm and composed, she introduced herself openly.
"My name is Jingliu. A discarded soldier of the Xianzhou, a wandering swordswoman."
"Jingliu…?" Hearing the name, Yanqing fell into thought.
Where have I heard that name before?
Although deeply puzzled, Yanqing let nothing show on his face.
Of course, his performance wasn't particularly effective. Both Jingliu and Clara could clearly see the confusion in his eyes.
With acting skills like Yanqing's, he could only fool a certain well-endowed but not-so-bright young lady with the surname Li.
Firefly: ?
The hell you can!!!
"Since we're all acquainted, would you like to join us?" Though an extra person meant extra trouble, Yanqing had absolute confidence in his own strength and didn't see it as a real concern.
'Don't get mad, but in my view, Yanqing is indeed a bit full of himself—it's entirely possible he'd do something like this.'
'And from Yanqing's perspective, anyone the General would send to pursue a criminal probably isn't just a pretty face.'
"Oh? Join you?" Jingliu's expression didn't change at all. Her tone flat, she asked Yanqing, "And what are you all doing right now?"
"We're pursuing the Stellaron Hunter, Blade." Yanqing made no attempt to hide the truth, answering plainly.
"Blade…" Upon hearing the name, Jingliu's expression shifted noticeably—a rare occurrence.
"So, will you join us, big sister?" Yanqing noted the change in her expression but didn't dwell on it. "If anything unexpected happens, I won't be responsible, you know~"
He offered a friendly reminder.
For some reason, ever since Yanqing saw Jingliu, he'd felt an inexplicable urge to show off his swordsmanship in front of her…
"Heh. Then count me in." Jingliu paid no mind to the little thoughts in Yanqing's heart. She knew exactly who Yanqing was.
But now, what did it matter?
Everything from the past had long since scattered like smoke…
...
"Mmm~ Ah!"
Clara let out a yawn and stretched lazily.
"This Yanqing… aside from that pride of his, he's actually quite a talented genius."
Watching Yanqing not far away, cutting down Abundance abominations one sword-strike at a time, Clara spoke with a hint of boredom.
Then again, if Clara had become the number one swordmaster on the Luofu at Yanqing's age, she might have been even more arrogant than he was.
But Clara could never do what he did—charging into fights he couldn't win.
"He is indeed a promising seedling," Jingliu agreed with a nod. "But he's touched upon every taboo a swordsman should avoid."
Truthfully, Jingliu couldn't understand how Jing Yuan had taught him, to mold a genius into… this.
"Everyone, the abominations have been cleared. We can proceed." After cleaning up the last of the creatures, Yanqing walked back and signaled to the group.
"Say, Senior Yanqing."
Just as Yanqing was about to lead them onward, Clara suddenly spoke up.
"I happen to know a little swordsmanship myself. Shall we have a spar?"
…
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