The journey wasn’t too long, nor was it too short.
Both sides almost reached the tree at the same time, with Tan Muxing arriving just a step ahead. He was about to reach out and grab the special badge hanging up high when, unexpectedly, Xu Zaiyuan swiftly drew the peachwood sword from behind his back.
With a light flick of the sword tip, Xu Zaiyuan was the first to pluck the badge from the leaves!
Though the two were nearly equal in distance, that one sword strike caused Tan Muxing to miss his chance.
Seeing the victory slip away before his eyes, Tan Muxing sighed but did not try to snatch it back. He simply murmured, “Just a little bit more.”
Xu Zaiyuan retrieved the badge from his sword tip and said, “Well played.”
The competition had begun suddenly and ended just as quickly.
Tan Muxing returned to Chu Qianli’s side, scratching his head in frustration, worried that she would be disappointed. He whispered, “Sorry—”
Before he could even finish, Chu Qianli had already lifted her chin proudly and declared, “That badge isn’t worthy of our Star! We don’t want it!”
Xu Zaiyuan: “?”
Xu Zaiyuan placed the special badge into his bottle, sealing the outcome, as there was no way to change it now.
Although both sides had discovered the badge at almost the same time, a competition was still a competition—there would always be winners and losers. After a brief encounter beneath the tree, they each went their separate ways down the mountain.
As the Taoists departed, Tan Muxing still felt guilty and sighed. “You were the one who divined its location so precisely.”
Chu Qianli had clearly called out to him with anticipation, yet he had failed to claim the badge first. Naturally, he couldn’t help feeling apologetic.
“It’s fine, really. I wouldn’t have been able to outrun him anyway. It was already great that you tried to grab it for me.” Seeing the big white bear looking so dejected, Chu Qianli quickly circled around him, gently comforting him. “Besides, he used a sword—it wasn’t a fair fight. You were actually faster!”
“But—”
Chu Qianli cut him off decisively. “No buts! You were amazing!”
Tan Muxing had been feeling down, but when he saw how earnestly she defended him, tirelessly circling around and trying to cheer him up, he couldn’t help but laugh.
Seeing him finally smile, Chu Qianli sighed in relief. Noticing the corners of his lips curling up, she curiously blinked. “What’s so funny?”
Tan Muxing shook his head. “Nothing, it just feels really familiar.”
“Familiar?”
“Yeah, very familiar.” Tan Muxing nodded and smiled. “It’s just like when we first met. You kept insisting that I was just as amazing as He Shichen, and I didn’t even know how to respond.”
Back then, Chu Qianli had wild, messy hair, a completely unpredictable way of thinking, and an endless stream of astrological jargon. She had confidently declared from their first meeting that they were meant to be friends—something he had never experienced before.
They had walked so far together since then, but just now, the moment had reminded him of the very beginning.
Chu Qianli was momentarily stunned, then she beamed. “The stars can guide people, but people must put in their own effort. You’ve already helped me, so there’s no reason to feel bad.”
Hearing her words, Tan Muxing muttered softly, “But back then, the ‘star’ you mentioned wasn’t me. And I didn’t actually help you with anything…”
“If I say you helped, then you helped! Right now, you are my star!” Chu Qianli declared joyfully. “Star, star, star!”
At that moment, her eyes shone brightly, as if reflecting the starlight itself.
Tan Muxing, infected by her lighthearted energy, listened to her call out to him so excitedly and suddenly felt shy. He instinctively avoided her gaze, his face turning a little red.
Avoiding eye contact, he quickly changed the topic. “Let’s go back and find Ru Jing.”
Chu Qianli readily agreed. “Alright!”
Hearing her answer so freely and easily, Tan Muxing suddenly felt a small ripple in his heart.
“What is it?” Chu Qianli, like an emotional radar, always seemed to sense something when she truly focused.
Tan Muxing quickly shook his head with a smile. “Nothing.”
It really was nothing.
She had always been straightforward and open with him.
The two of them walked down the mountain, one leading and one following.
As they descended, Chu Qianli gradually slowed her pace. Watching Tan Muxing’s familiar figure ahead, she raised her hands to form the shape of a telescope. Closing her left eye while looking through the small circle made by her fingers, she observed his silhouette with the concentration of an astronomer.
He was at the center of her telescope.
Her star, yet not her star.
A person could never truly own a star, especially not someone destined to die.
Just having been illuminated by its light should be enough.
The figure in her telescope suddenly stopped.
Tan Muxing realized she had fallen behind. He paused to look for her, turning around to see her trailing slowly behind. He then deliberately walked back to wait for her.
Chu Qianli quickly dropped her “telescope” and hopped forward excitedly, like a little bird. “Coming, coming!”
A moment later, the three members of the atheist squad reunited.
Upon hearing that they hadn’t managed to grab the special badge, Mei Ru Jing consoled them. “It’s fine. We already have one. If we just collect more stones, we can still get another.”
Tan Muxing hesitated. “But there’s only three of us. We might not be as fast as them…”
The other teams, like Huang Jue’s, had large groups. Even if their divination accuracy was lower, their collection efficiency was much higher. If they pooled all the simulation stones together for one person, securing first place would be easy.
Chu Qianli looked serious. “I don’t think collecting stones should be our main focus right now.”
Mei Ru Jing frowned. “You think the badge isn’t useful? So we shouldn’t bother with the stones?”
Chu Qianli shook her head.
Mei Ru Jing grew even more confused. “Then what is our main focus?”
Just moments ago, Chu Qianli had been kindly comforting the big white bear. But now, in a complete shift, she openly voiced her villainous intentions, righteously declaring, “Someone dares to steal our Star’s badge and expects to just walk away with it? No way! We have to teach them a lesson in how society works—at the very least, they owe us years of rent for Qian Mountain!”
A tenant daring to rob their landlord—this was outrageous.
Tan Muxing could tell that Chu Qianli was planning to cause trouble for Qian Sect. Panicking, he waved his hands and hurriedly said, “No, no, no! The badge wasn’t mine. You even said yourself that we shouldn’t take this game seriously…”
Chu Qianli grumbled discontentedly, “If I win, then it’s a game. If I lose, of course I have to take it seriously.”
Tan Muxing: “?” What kind of twisted logic is that?
Chu Qianli blinked innocently and said, “Besides, if you think about it, I already accepted money from someone and promised them that I wouldn’t go easy on the Taoists. I have to honor my commitment, right? If someone pays you, you have to do the job. This isn’t me taking revenge just because I didn’t get the badge—it’s simply me being a person of contractual integrity…”
Tan Muxing retorted, “…Didn’t you just say yesterday that we’re not exactly trustworthy people either?”
Mei Ru Jing commented flatly, “I could tell for a while that she didn’t like that Taoist.”
Chu Qianli declared righteously, “I’m helping him achieve spiritual fulfillment! If someone never encounters an annoying competitor in their field, then they’re lacking life experience. This is a necessary lesson in the university of society!”
“……”
Before long, the Taoists from Qian Sect started sensing that something was off. After obtaining the badge, they began collecting stones, but they soon found themselves under siege—people kept challenging them and even showed up with their identification tags!
These challengers had no simulation stones in their bottles, yet they used the Taoists’ identification tags to exchange stones, leaving Qian Sect with nothing but empty bottles.
What was even more infuriating was that, since each tag could only be used once, the challengers didn’t redeem them immediately. They waited for the Taoists to accumulate more stones before swooping in to steal their hard-earned resources, tailing them like shadows.
Surrounded by wolves, tigers, and leopards, Liu Jun exclaimed in shock, “One or two I could understand, but how are so many people getting our identification tags!?”
There were plenty of simulation stones to go around, making them relatively easy to find, but Qian Sect’s identification tags were much harder to obtain. By logic, there shouldn’t suddenly be so many in circulation.
A fellow Taoist, having gathered information, rushed back in a panic and reported, “Little Uncle-Master, word is that someone is specifically targeting our identification tags!”
This was clearly aimed at Qian Sect!
Meanwhile, Lin observed Chu Qianli’s offensive maneuvers with great amusement. Watching her precise strikes against Qian Sect, he remarked approvingly, “A paid gun is always reliable. First, it was the witch hunts. Now, it’s a Taoist hunt?”
Lin had initially been skeptical, but seeing how swiftly and decisively she attacked Qian Sect dispelled some of his doubts.
Liu Jun frowned and turned to Xu Zaiyuan. “Is this another case of foreign suppression?”
Xu Zaiyuan twitched his fingers, thought for a moment, and then admitted, “I don’t think so. I think it was that one sword.”
“What sword?”
“The sword that stabbed a hornet’s nest.” Xu Zaiyuan pressed his lips together and added, “Now they’re mad.”
I am just a novice translator and Chinese is not my native language. I try my best to translate the chapters as accurate as possible.
If there are any mistakes then kindly comment and remind me. Your support means a lot.
