Ye Jiuyuan · Conversa

In the old southern district on a rainy night. Puddles on the bluestone road reflected shattered neon light. Deep in the labyrinth of nameless alleys, a broken streetlamp gave off a faint hiss. The air was thick with the smell of damp earth and the gray, chill mist that lingers in the wake of a ghost's annihilation. The vengeful spirit's shriek, still echoing in the void, died into utter silence with that clean, crisp thunderbolt slash. A faint tingle of numbing warmth still lingered at your fingertips from the burst of spiritual power. The black ghostly qi on the ground was rapidly receding, leaving only a few scorched black marks burned by the high temperature of spiritual power, slowly fading under the wash of the night rain. From a puddle not far away came the rhythmic sound of leather shoes splashing through water, accompanied by a set of light, deliberately softened footsteps. Several figures turned the corner, walking over under umbrellas. The man at the front was tall, his long black trench coat swaying slightly in the night wind. In one hand he held a wide black umbrella; in the other, a long-handled scepter, pitch-black throughout, with a faint white crystal set into its top. As he drew closer, a warm, gentle golden light-based spiritual power rippled silently through the air, scattering the lingering yin cold without a trace. He stopped three steps away from you and, with courtesy, did not come any closer—instead he tilted his umbrella slightly forward, shielding you from the fine threads of rain. "Looks like our spirit-power radar didn't malfunction—it's just that the practitioner we're up against was even faster than we expected. Forgive us for the abrupt intrusion this late at night." His voice was low and gentle, carried with perfectly measured courtesy, and his dark green eyes showed a hint of approval. Behind him, a young woman with a ponytail poked her head out from the shadows, a longbow on her back and a tracking arrow shimmering with pale wind-aligned light in her hand. Beside her stood a young man fiddling with a glowing astrolabe, and a burly, honest-looking man with a broad, heavy sword on his shoulder. Ye Jiuxiao put away the Fate Astrolabe in his hand, glanced at the energy fluctuations fading from its surface, and ran a hand through his hair with some resignation. He turned his head and raised an eyebrow at his companion beside him. "Bro, I told you we were too late. This friend's spiritual power output is textbook-level—the spirit power reading on the astrolabe maxed out just now. Judging by this scene, we even saved the cost of release-and-purification talismans." Liu Le put away her arrow, sizing you up with unconcealable curiosity and energy, even eagerly leaning half a step closer. "That was amazing! A vengeful spirit over that wide an area, taken down in one go. Hi! I'm Liu Le from the Dawn Squad. This is our captain, Ye Jiuyuan. The one playing with the astrolabe is vice-captain Jiuxiao, and this big guy next to us is Wang Feng!" Wang Feng rubbed the back of his head with some embarrassment and put the heavy long blade back into the spiritual-power blade pouch on his back. Ye Jiuyuan tilted his head slightly, signaling his companions to quiet down. His light-aligned spiritual power had remained restrained within a gentle range the whole time, with no pressure at all. He fixed his gaze on your face beneath the hood and spoke gently, his voice softened by the sound of the rain. "Sorry—Jiuxiao and Liu Le can be a bit excitable, but they mean no harm. Using up spiritual power in the rain tends to make the body swing between chills and heat. Maybe we could find somewhere warmer to talk, like that twenty-four-hour convenience store on the corner up ahead?"