'Qingque' scratched her head, wondering why Fu Xuan had suddenly gone "red-alert" on her.
While she knew Fu Xuan possessed the Third Eye and could catch glimpses of future events, she had no way of knowing exactly what had triggered such a heated reaction.
After all, she wasn't the type to go rummaging through someone else's skull just to pry into their memories for no reason.
"What's wrong with you?"
"...No, it's nothing. Qingque is on duty at the library."
"The library?"
'Qingque' arched an eyebrow. Had she already scurried off to the library?
"Yes. Qingque is a diviner who recently joined the Divination Commission. She's currently on rotation, but is there something special about that girl?"
For the time being, Fu Xuan couldn't see anything particularly remarkable about her.
Seeing Fu Xuan's curious expression, 'Qingque' let a mischievous smirk tug at the corners of her mouth. Then, she raised a finger and pointed at herself.
"Do you know the identity of the person I'm currently portraying?"
"...What identity? The Master Diviner of the Divination Commission?"
Fu Xuan's first instinct was that Qingque had risen to the rank of Master Diviner, taking her place.
Just as she was about to marvel at the thought, a fan-like array resembling peacock feathers suddenly unfurled behind 'Qingque'.
A talisman flickered at her fingertips, and a sudden, heart-pounding sensation—as if every move she could make had already been calculated by her opponent—washed over Fu Xuan's entire body.
Fu Xuan's pupils shook violently. She recognized what those feathers represented. She had even observed the workings of the Kālacakra Skyplume from a close distance.
Thus, she recognized them at a glance: those were clearly the manifestations of the inherited Spiritus of the General of the Yuque, the Kālacakra Skyplume!
Even the aura being released was an exact match.
"You... you don't mean to say that in the future, that Qingque will become the General of the Yuque, inheriting the Kālacakra Skyplume from Yao Guang?!"
Fu Xuan's heart was far from calm. She never would have guessed that one of the Xianzhou's top diviners would actually emerge from under her own wing.
However, 'Qingque' shook her head.
"It's just a possibility. It doesn't represent a fact, nor does it mean the probability is high. Just think of Qingque as a very talented diviner."
"..."
Was "very talented" really enough to describe it?
Fu Xuan's heart was set on the position of General of the Luofu, and given that her senior sister was General Yao Guang of the Yuque, she understood the process and difficulties of becoming a Xianzhou General better than most.
A General isn't just someone recognized by the Alliance; they must also pass the trials and receive the acknowledgment of the Reignbow Arbiter before they can take the seat.
If the scene before her wasn't a fabrication, but a genuine possibility... didn't that mean Qingque's potential was staggeringly high?
A smile curved Fu Xuan's lips. Although she yearned for the position of General, her master hadn't passed away and the prophecy had been broken, so her mindset was relatively peaceful.
She wasn't in a rush to force Jing Yuan into early retirement.
So, upon hearing that Qingque possessed such latent brilliance, Fu Xuan felt that this new diviner deserved some serious cultivation!
Well, once this is all over, I'll start by increasing Qingque's workload to test the waters.
Since the girl had the talent to become the General of the Yuque, surely a bit of extra work wouldn't trouble her!
Fu Xuan was already efficiently mapping out a series of self-improvement plans for the future Qingque in her head.
'Qingque' didn't know exactly what Fu Xuan was thinking, but she could guess what the Master Diviner was plotting.
With a grin of "mission accomplished," she bid Fu Xuan farewell and headed toward the Divination Commission's library.
--+--
Meanwhile.
Qingque, who had just finished a stint of library work and managed to squeeze out a rare moment of rest, saw a colleague approaching.
Before she could even say hello, she heard the other woman say in shock:
"Qingque? How did you get back so fast? Did you fly?"
"...Huh?"
Qingque wore a look of utter confusion.
She scratched her head and asked, "What do you mean 'back'? I've been working right here this whole time. Don't go slandering me now; I was working very hard just a second ago!"
"What?"
The approaching diviner looked equally puzzled. Qingque wasn't the type to hide that sort of thing, and her expression didn't look fake.
"But I clearly just saw you go look for the Master Diviner. I even waved to you when I went to get my papers signed."
"Me? Actively seeking out the Master Diviner? Do you honestly think that's possible??"
Qingque pointed at her own face with a look of pure exasperation.
Her expression seemed to say: Take a good look. Does the Qingque of the Divination Commission look like someone who would actively seek out the big boss?
She'd sooner hide than go looking for Lady Fu Xuan. It wasn't like she was starved for more work.
Qingque's attitude left the other diviner completely stumped. She scratched her head, bewildered. "Sss... don't tell me I saw a ghost in broad daylight?"
"Pah, pah, pah! We're inside the Divination Commission, stop talking about ghosts and spirits."
"But I really saw it with my own eyes! We can't have two Qingques in the Commission, can we?"
The diviner seemed spooked by her own guess. She shivered and rubbed her arms, looking terrified as if she expected a double of herself to pop out from around the corner at any moment.
Qingque rubbed her chin, a sudden flash of inspiration hitting her. "I'd say you probably ran into a Heliobus. Maybe one snuck in from somewhere."
"A Heliobus? What's that?"
The diviner looked lost, so Qingque turned around and rummaged through the bookshelves for a while until she pulled out an old record.
"Here. I saw this in an ancient text while organizing the library. They say Heliobi aren't common these days, but maybe one managed to slip into our Commission."
Qingque watched with a grin as the diviner's face shifted from fear to calm, and finally to curiosity. She then slumped lazily back into her workstation, leisurely enjoying her downtime and a few small snacks.
As for the potential Heliobus infiltration, Qingque wasn't worried at all.
Please—whoever that person was, they had gone to see the Master Diviner. Even if the Master Diviner was small in stature, her capabilities were sky-high.
A measly Heliobus trying to ambush Lady Fu Xuan? That was just asking for trouble.
The curious diviner tried to invite Qingque to join her in seeing the Master Diviner. "Qingque, let's go find her! We might get to see a good show!"
"You go ahead, I'll pass. It's a rare break; I need to recharge my energy."
"But that person is using your face! Aren't you afraid of being targeted?"
Faced with such a question, Qingque was remarkably nonchalant.
"I'm just a lowly diviner. My biggest strength is being unremarkable. I'm sure that's exactly why they chose my look. So, the best move for me is to stay right here and wait for that imposter to finish their business."
"..."
The other diviner had nothing to say to Qingque's crooked logic.
When it came to being quick-witted and silver-tongued, she was no match for her. Without another word, she turned and hurried back the way she came.
As for Qingque...
She really wasn't worried. Before she had carved out this time to slack off, she had performed a divination for herself.
Although the reading was a bit strange, there was no doubt that staying here to loaf around was the best course of action.
Naturally, she followed the signs and committed to her slacking. Otherwise, it would be an insult to the "Great Good Fortune" she had pulled.
She brewed herself a cup of tea, laid out some easy-to-eat snacks, and pulled out an ancient text she had found while cleaning—one that recorded the game of Celestial Jade.
Shifting into a comfortable position in her chair, she buried herself in the book.
While Qingque didn't like working, and library duty was dull at first, she occasionally found interesting things. Like this "Celestial Jade" mentioned only in ancient records. She thought it seemed fun.
If she could figure it out, wouldn't she have something to do while slacking off at work in the future?
Lately, she had been quite keen on developing Celestial Jade.
She didn't know how long she'd been tinkering with the blueprints when she heard a steady set of footsteps approaching through the corridor.
Still immersed in the world of the book, Qingque assumed it was her colleague returning after failing to see any excitement. Without looking up, she said:
"Back so soon? I guess the Master Diviner already took care of that fake 'me,' huh?"
'Qingque,' who had followed the signs of the Divination Commission all the way here, paused and arched an eyebrow in surprise before she even got close.
Along the way, she hadn't seen a single person heading the same way.
The diviners she had passed showed no special reaction; in fact, few people even seemed to know who Qingque was.
Yet, the real Qingque knew someone had been impersonating her to see Fu Xuan?
Were there other people coming to this godforsaken place? And more importantly, how could she be so calm knowing someone was posing as her?
'Qingque' thought for a moment, then spoke with a smile:
"Your Master Diviner has already sold you to me. I'm here to pack you up and take you away."
"???"
Qingque looked up, her face a mask of confusion, only to see a person who looked exactly like her standing there, smiling and waving.
She was so startled she practically launched herself out of her chair. She jumped so high that the chair, her snacks, and her brush and ink all went flying.
Qingque herself let out a strange yelp:
"Wha—?! Eek!!"
After a mid-air scramble, she stumbled to a landing and immediately dove behind her chair.
"You, you, you! What do you want with me? I'm just a tiny little diviner. Please, in your great mercy, just pretend you never saw me!"
'Qingque' reached out and caught the snacks and the brush before they could hit the floor. She walked over to the desk and looked at the blueprints.
"Oh? You're actually developing Celestial Jade? It seems I've come at just the right time."
"You know about Celestial Jade?! Are you... are you some legendary senior Heliobus from the Primeval Imperium Era?!"
In an instant, Qingque understood the origin of her strange divination from earlier. It turned out she had to go through this ordeal today to reach the "Great Good Fortune" of Celestial Jade that awaited her.
And just like that, the way Qingque looked at her double completely changed.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL