"What is it, something wrong?"
Logically speaking, just a single point in time is still hard to connect with the previous question, but she clearly had a lot of confidence in the Poison Master sitting opposite her.
Seeing Fu Qian lost in thought, Yuan Shan couldn’t help getting anxious and pressed him directly.
"If I remember correctly, at that exact time, I ran into your teacher’s oath partner."
Fu Qian had never been one to keep people in suspense for no reason; he nodded and calmly dropped a shocking bit of news.
"...Huh?"
Her brain took a second to turn the corner before she realized who Fu Qian meant. Yuan Shan’s mouth fell slightly open; she seemed unable to put her emotions into words.
Main thing was, there was a bit too much information packed in there.
"It... and then you walked away in one piece?"
Of course she knew the name Prism of Radiant Transformation, but even now she still seemed somewhat reluctant to say it out loud.
After a series of complicated expressions flickered across her face, Yuan Shan immediately sized Fu Qian up, worried he might be in some kind of terminal last-flare-of-life state.
"We just ran into each other, it’s not like we fought."
He only gave a cold little laugh to that, lifted the still-warm tea, and took a light sip.
Logically it did make sense, but that air of overbearing arrogance was impossible to hide, as if he were saying the Prism of Radiant Transformation took one look at him and bolted.
"Then... how would that affect the teacher?"
She might not be able to believe the Prism of Radiant Transformation got scared off by the man in front of her, but Yuan Shan clearly didn’t think Fu Qian was just talking nonsense either.
Like she’d said earlier, that one sentence contained too much information; just that alone showed his sincerity. If he wanted to make things up, he didn’t need to exaggerate this much.
"Honestly, I really can’t be sure about that. But I’d suggest you keep trying to contact him. Maybe it’s just a false alarm."
In response to Yuan Shan’s question, Fu Qian very frankly shook his head, indicating she didn’t need to be that pessimistic.
Hmm...
Getting an optimistic verdict from this guy wasn’t easy. Yuan Shan was almost pleasantly shocked for a moment; after a slight hesitation, she couldn’t help standing up.
"Give me a moment."
...
See? Very filial, just like I said.
Fu Qian simply gestured for her to go ahead when he heard what Yuan Shan said.
It was obvious she’d taken the strategist’s advice. What she was going to do couldn’t be more obvious.
And even though at this point they were, in a sense, on the same side, Yuan Shan still wanted to be as responsible as possible with her teacher’s secrets and didn’t check that item in front of him.
Perfectly reasonable—this was what you called knowing the boundaries.
If she really handled it right in front of him and something happened to the old man one day, that’d be the very definition of suspicious circumstances.
"It really seems fine now!"
Before long, Chief Yuan was back, sharing the results.
One look and her excitement was written all over her face. She didn’t even care that the cup had a chunk bitten out of it, just picked it up and drained the last few drops of tea.
"Don’t jump to conclusions like that. You still need to keep watching."
Fu Qian reminded her to stay steady, handed her a fresh cup, and sighed inwardly.
He certainly trusted Yuan Shan’s judgment, and for Old Master Henry this was undoubtedly good news.
But the more his judgment was proven right, the more it confirmed that his own body was something different.
The clearer that tangible Path of Godhood became, the more curious one had to be about where it actually led, and what it meant for this world.
"You’re right... Either way, I’ll have to go check on him myself later."
In a very good mood, Yuan Shan took his advice without the slightest objection, though she still couldn’t quite wipe the smile off her face.
"Speaking of which, looks like you received an invitation?"
Then something else came to mind, and she shifted the topic to the strategist who’d been out of sight for a few days.
"Lord Stoss is being very sincere."
It sounded a bit out of the blue, but Fu Qian knew exactly what she meant.
He hadn’t made any effort to hide what was going on with the Academy, and Yuan Shan’s stance was naturally transparent as well.
Given he was being invited to such a Hongmen Banquet targeted at their academic spearhead, it was no surprise she’d heard about it.
...
"You’re seriously planning to go?"
Even though she’d brought it up herself, Yuan Shan was still caught off guard by Fu Qian’s tone.
"Why wouldn’t I? Even Lord Aike says he’s really looking forward to my visit."
Fu Qian wore a strange expression.
"Well, when you put it like that..."
She’d always known this guy was fearless to a fault, but this level of freewheeling still made Yuan Shan narrow her eyes, words dying on her lips.
They invite and you just go? You really don’t know how dirty your own hands are? How much trouble have you stirred up in barely half a year?
Not to mention that "Needle Witch" who’s been matching you blow for blow and hitting you every step of the way.
"Those people aren’t as easy to talk to as the teacher."
Some complaints she still didn’t say out loud; in the end Yuan Shan only sighed softly and gave a mild reminder.
And when it came to Old Master Henry, she wasn’t even trying to whitewash him.
To be fair, on that last trip to the Night Holy City, he might have seemed a bit unfriendly on the surface, but the old man still had the tolerance of someone basically in semi-retirement.
By contrast, those still-active Order Controllers were clearly much more likely to make decisions like, "You’re innocent, but this sacrifice is necessary."
"Exactly, especially with my long glorious rap sheet."
Shaking his head at the memory, Fu Qian didn’t bother being tactful and went straight to roasting himself.
Forget the distant stuff—just under a day ago, the Rebirth Club’s influence had expanded again, and the Ashen Sea Shore was seething with undercurrents.
Among all the factions, Lord Kelson was probably the happiest about it.
From what happened afterward, it was pretty clear he and Lord Sorondir didn’t get along all that well.
The fact that he left a message for Fu Qian made it obvious he was intentionally bringing the Rebirth Club into Moore.
At first glance it looked like classic double-agent behavior, but if he didn’t approve of Sorondir’s risky moves, it all made sense.
The final outcome might’ve been a bit murky, but in broad strokes things turned out the way he wanted.
...
"Especially since I’ll have to escort you there when the time comes."
After dealing with him this long, she no longer expected to talk him out of anything. Yuan Shan let out a light sigh, as if she’d already foreseen her own fate.
No surprise she was someone who’d held down a major post for years; in some respects her sense of duty was on a whole different level.
As someone already on the inside and on the books, if this bookstore owner decided to accept the invitation, she pretty much had no choice but to go with him.
Lord Stoss had probably taken that into account when he extended the invitation.
After all, at the very least, the bookstore owner in front of her probably didn’t even know where the place was.
"It’s fine. You can just point me in the right direction."
As if he’d seen right through what she was thinking, Fu Qian suddenly spoke up, indicating that she only needed to help by pointing out the way.
"Aren’t you oversimplifying this? The transportation there isn’t exactly convenient."
Yuan Shan frowned slightly, clearly not understanding what Fu Qian was asking for.
But if it was just a direction, that didn’t really touch on any secrets. The next second, she actually lifted her hand and pointed.