"Come on, do I look like that kind of person?" Li Qingping laughed softly, "I have to go back right away. Thanks a lot... chatting with you improved my mood."
Ji Minghuan gave him a side-eye: "Seriously, I came all the way here, chatted with you for less than ten sentences, and now you want to leave? I thought I could at least snag a meal."
"Isn’t this just payback for the last time you ditched me?" Li Qingping chuckled and lightly bumped him with his shoulder.
"Alright, alright, so you hold grudges ?" Ji Minghuan said, and retaliated with a strong shoulder bump.
Li Qingping stumbled backward, leaving a trail of footprints on the sand. At this moment, he seemed to be quite good at acting, as if his skills suddenly returned.
Ji Minghuan watched his absent-minded demeanor: "If you have urgent matters, go back. See you next time."
"Bye." Li Qingping smiled.
"Bye." Ji Minghuan replied.
Li Qingping turned and walked up the slope, climbed over the fence returning to the coastal highway, waving back at him as he left.
Ji Minghuan stood on the beach, watching the silhouette of Li Qingping leave from afar, thinking you better not die at the auction, or when I create an Anecdote Envoy character later, I’ll need you to cover me in the Whale Terrarium.
Soon, as dusk faded, the golden sea surface slowly darkened, and the sunset elongated the playful silhouettes of children on the beach.
Li Qingping walked along the coastal highway, hands in his pockets, expressionless.
Suddenly, he stopped slowly, looked up, only to see a gigantic, pitch-black cocoon hanging upside down from the gingko tree.
The next moment, he silently withdrew his gaze, and walked past the enormous cocoon as if he saw nothing.
But just then, the giant cocoon slowly opened, and a humanoid figure wrapped entirely in pitch black restraints, wearing sunglasses, like a mummy emerged, hanging from beneath the gingko tree.
"Mr. Li Qingping, I have something to discuss with you."
The Black Cocoon was holding a book titled "The Proper Use of Friendship Shattering Punches," and said with eyes lowered.
Li Qingping paused his steps, without turning back asked, "Why do you know my name?"
"Who knows?" Black Cocoon said, "I also know you have a good friend named Gu Wenyu."
At that instant, Li Qingping’s expression cooled slightly. At some point, his right hand emerged from his pocket, and in his hand appeared a card with intricate patterns.
"Octave Prism," he murmured, crushing the card.
A crisp "crack" echoed. In mid-air, an eight-sided crystalline prism formed, darting towards Black Cocoon, swiftly assembling into a massive octagonal cage.
The body of the Black Cocoon was bound within it.
The restraint belt overhead had already snapped, but his figure remained suspended in midair along with the octagonal cage, each side of the cage being a prism, refracting the last rays of sunset before dusk, illuminating the road of the coastal highway transparently bright.
"I see... so this is the Anecdote Envoy’s way of fighting. It’s said to be an Anecdote Fragment, yet the format it presents is card-like. What’s the difference between this and online shopping buyer shows versus seller shows?"
The Black Cocoon raised his sunglasses, quietly observing the prism cage around him, slowly saying: "Uh... I mean, is there a possibility that you overestimate my power? With your level, lightly rush up and give me a gentle push, I’d already fall to the ground unable to move. There’s no need to use the power of the Anecdote Fragment, isn’t this too cautious? Not quite fitting for someone of your rank."
Li Qingping turned around, walking slowly toward Black Cocoon, his gaze icy cold.
He spoke each word deliberately: "Tell me, why do you know the name ’Gu Wenyu’?"
"Why wouldn’t I know?" Black Cocoon asked, "Maybe I’m good friends with him too."
"I’ll repeat one more time," Li Qingping said, "Answer my question."
At this moment, each prism slightly contracted inward, squeezing Black Cocoon’s living space. If it were a normal person, they might have screamed already, akin to facing a massive wall. Every bone was under immense pressure as if about to crack at any moment.
Yet Black Cocoon remained calm, seemingly unable to feel pain: "Oh... Mr. Li Qingping, is your father Ghost Bell? Why are you acting like a super criminal, so violently."
Li Qingping replied, hands in pockets, tilting his head aside:
"Your father is Ghost Bell."
"Alright... regardless of whose father Ghost Bell is, let’s not joke and get to business," Black Cocoon said, raising a finger within the prism space, "Mr. Li Qingping... you’re protecting the Second Prince, right?"
Li Qingping stayed silent, quietly looking into his eyes, a lone braid swaying in the wind: "So what if I am?"
Black Cocoon slowly said: "I can assist you. During the auction, the battle scenario will be extremely chaotic, Ghost Bell, Blue Arc, not to mention Lake Hunting, might show up on the battlefield... plus the people from the White Crow Travel Brigade, there’ll be nearly 10 Quasi-Calamity level participants in this chaotic war."
He paused, "And with the burden of the Second Prince, you might not be able to protect yourself."
"Oh... then what?" Li Qingping still remained expressionless.
"I can help you protect the Second Prince. I think Anecdote Envoys should learn to integrate into human society, like learning how ordinary people buy a ’life insurance’ or something, and I’m your insurance salesman... how about buying insurance now?"
Li Qingping turned, and walked forward without looking back.
Next, behind him the Octave Prism suddenly shrank inward to the size of a palm. The body of Black Cocoon should have been squeezed into a pool of blood like a tomato encountering a steamroller, but at this moment turned into a stream of black restraint flowing down.
"Why does he know my name... even know about the Second Prince?"
Li Qingping lowered his head, hands in pockets silently pondering, at this time, a name slowly surfaced in his mind: "Wenyu? No, it’s impossible to be him."
At this moment, Li Qingping suddenly paused slightly.
He wasn’t shocked by the Black Cocoon turning into a bizarre pool of restraint behind him, but was startled by a figure approaching on the road ahead.
That person was playing with a phone as they approached him.
Moments later, the figure in front, Gu Wenyu, slowly raised his head from the phone.
He glanced at Li Qingping, then looked at the palm-sized Octave Prism behind Li Qingping, and the black restraint continuously flowing out of the prism’s seams.
Gu Wenyu froze for a moment, finally resting his gaze on Li Qingping’s face.
Li Qingping also dumbly raised his head, meeting Gu Wenyu’s eyes, his face filled with a moment of astonishment.
Gu Wenyu slowly spoke, breaking the dead silence over the coastal highway.