Watching the trio leave, Fu Xuan couldn't help but smile.
"Hmm~ Still some time left in the day. I wonder if anyone else will come to challenge me. Oh well, back to work."
For Fu Xuan, balancing remote work and accepting challengers wasn't all that difficult. Besides Pei Guang and his group, there weren't many who could beat Master Gongshu.
And those who could beat her Ape Gods team after beating Master Gongshu? Even fewer.
In fact, aside from Pei Guang, the only ones who had beaten her were a little girl and Silver Wolf. Everyone else? The Ape Gods took care of them with one slap each—sent them packing.
Of course, since the Divination Commission's workload was massive, Fu Xuan, as the hidden boss, didn't have to show up every day. During the event period, popping in now and then to give players a goal and a little pressure was more than enough.
What Fu Xuan didn't know was that, while she was thinking this, she had already caught the attention of a strange presence.
The omen of great misfortune wasn't from Pei Guang: it was from that person!
Meanwhile, back in Belobog, realizing it was getting late, Pei Guang and his group returned to the Goethe Hotel. Right before heading back to their rooms, March 7th stretched with a big yawn, then looked at Pei Guang curiously.
"Ah Guang~ You and Fu Xuan were talking a bit weird earlier~ What was that about? Is something off with her?"
March 7th knew Pei Guang all too well. If he emphasized something a few times, it meant he'd definitely noticed something strange.
Stelle: "Yeah, yeah. It felt like Fu Xuan was setting up a flag when she talked? You said before: when NPCs promise something, it usually ends up going wrong somehow, and we end up fixing it…"
March 7th turned to Stelle. "Wow! Look at you, remembering all of Ah Guang's teachings. Well, I've learned a bunch too~"
"Exactly! It's one thing to say she'll definitely show up: but she had to go and stress how important that day would be, how worth going it is, and then make the promise. If that's not setting up a flag, I don't know what is.
Just to be safe, let's check in on her over the next few days. We can teleport there from any boss instance anyway. But… nothing's really going to happen, right? I mean, Fu Xuan's the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission: if something does happen to someone like her… that'd be like seeing a ghost."
Stelle thought aloud. "Maybe it really is a ghost? Think about it, we've run into ghosts here before!"
That sent a shiver down March 7th's spine. "You're right! Ah Guang, come on, think of something quick!"
Pei Guang: "Don't panic! Ever since that day, I've had a plan ready."
Clearly, all three of them had forgotten what Dan Heng had said back then. All they'd retained were a few key pieces of information. Still, Pei Guang had prepared a backup plan.
He reached into his storage space and pulled out a large box. From inside the big box, he pulled out a smaller box. And from that box… a huge pile of weapons.
Assault rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, pistols, flamethrowers, grenades, flashbangs, flamethrowers again, and an RPG.
Seeing the weapons Pei Guang had taken out, the two girls fell silent. Stelle picked up the assault rifle, her expression serious.
"Ah Guang… do firearms like these… actually work on ghosts?"
Pei Guang answered just as seriously, "Of course they work! This is a game, not a movie: guns in games can shoot aliens from space and ghosts from the underworld. Since it's all mixed together anyway, I figure these things have to work on ghosts~ gods~ anything normal powers can't handle.
Last time I dealt with those things, I just used a crummy little handgun. But now, we've got this! And this! But I recommend this one: it packs a punch! A true boss-slaying weapon."
Pei Guang first pulled out a flamethrower, then gestured with a shotgun, and finally triumphantly held up an RPG. In any ordinary world, these would be outdated weapons, but when Pei Guang held them, he was completely serious.
Of course, the models he held weren't anything from this world. They were weapons Pei Guang had recreated from memory, from various games.
Take that RPG, for instance: it was the heart-shaped rocket launcher from Ada Wong. Pei Guang was convinced that if they ran into a ghost at boss level, this would absolutely work. And that little handgun? Straight from Ethan—his daughter even approved.
Naturally, aside from these firearms, wooden swords were still the most effective against the supernatural. But by Pei Guang's theory, when it came to fighting demons and ghosts, firearms had the better vibe.
Listening to Pei Guang, March 7th turned to Stelle. "That's it! Ah Guang's already made the call. If we run into any monsters or ghosts, we go with this. Can't go wrong."
Stelle: "Exactly! When it comes down to it, bring out the heavy hitters!"
Pei Guang: "No problem!"
After chatting a while longer, the three of them turned in for the night.
Meanwhile on the Xianzhou Luofu, Fu Xuan, having worked all day, returned home to rest.
Influenced by her teacher, Fu Xuan had always believed in fate. But ever since meeting Pei Guang, all her divinations had started showing anomalies so many variables were suddenly clouding her view of the future.
Because of that, her normally closed eyes had begun to open just slightly. And with that slight opening, she'd grown increasingly suspicious of anything labeled "great fortune" or "great misfortune."
So before going to sleep, she cast another divination, hoping to get a sense of what might happen. But thanks to Pei Guang's influence, while she could still see signs of good or bad luck, she could no longer deduce even the slightest hint of the actual future.
"How strange… why is it still Great Misfortune? Am I really going to run into something serious?"
Fu Xuan muttered to herself, but just as she was divining and murmuring, a peculiar presence drew close to her. Attracted by her emotional fluctuations, something strange slipped into Fu Xuan's body.
She didn't notice it at all. The only thing on her mind as she drifted off to sleep was—
"Qingque is definitely going to be late tomorrow!"