Poseidon in Arknights

The view from the observation deck here is stunning, offering a panoramic view of the three mountains and seventeen peaks. In the early morning, you can even see the scenery partially obscured by clouds and mist.

It's a bit of a shame, though, that it's already night, and only the lights on the mountain road can barely illuminate the outline of the peaks.

Xi Yue made a deckchair out of water, and it was quite nice to lie on the deckchair and watch the night view of the river.

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"Um, Xiyue, I..." Xi put on a light bathrobe and walked out of the bathroom. She was about to see what Xiyue was doing when she found that Xiyue didn't seem to be in the room.

After thinking for a moment, Xi walked to the balcony and, sure enough, saw Xi Yue lying on the recliner.

"Xi..." Xi was about to call out to Xi Yue, but found that Xi Ye had her eyes closed and seemed to be asleep.

“…I see.” After a brief moment of thought, Yu seemed to understand what had happened and did not continue to try to wake Yuugetsu.

She watched Yuuki from the side, but after a while, Yuuki felt that this was not a good idea. After thinking for a moment, she gently picked Yuuki up from the recliner.

"It's just... the night breeze is too cool." As Xi carried Xiyue back to the room, her face flushed, she seemed to be explaining to someone. "That's right, it's just that the night breeze is too cool... um."

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"Good evening." Xi Yue climbed to the top of the mountain and looked at Ling, who was still drinking in the pavilion in front of her. "Miss Ling."

"Good evening~" Ling put down the wine jug in his hand and waved to Yuzuki, "Miss Yuzuki."

Xi Yue walked into the pavilion and looked at the bamboo slips and poems scattered on the ground. Her eyes twitched slightly, and her hands itched to help tidy up, since the things on the ground were really too messy.

“This is a dream~” Ling quickly understood what Yu Yue was thinking when he saw her hands were restless. After all, Ling had seen this action on his younger sister countless times before.

However, it was clear that even knowing what Yuuki had just thought, Ling had no intention of making any changes.

"Compared to these trivial matters~" Ling Xiangxiyue raised the gourd in her hand, "With such a beautiful view, how about we have a drink together?"

“Alright.” Xi Yue withdrew her gaze from the scattered bamboo slips on the ground, but still subconsciously reminded, “Although this is a dream, if things are this messy here, then reality probably won’t be much better.”

"We still need to tidy it up properly. Putting aside the possibility of someone slipping and falling, these bamboo slips represent Miss's hard work. It's not good to just leave them scattered on the ground like this."

“…Sigh, it’s just as Nian said.” Ling shook his head helplessly, rubbing his forehead. “She’s quite similar to Shumei in personality.”

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." Ling waved his hand and produced a wine cup on the table, filled it with wine, and pushed it towards Xiyue. "Have a drink with me, preferably until we're completely drunk?"

“If Miss wishes,” Xi Yue smiled, reaching for her wine cup, “then I can drink with you until Miss is completely satisfied.”

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"Miss Yuzuki doesn't seem to get drunk?" Ling's eyes were a little glazed as he looked at Yuzuki, who seemed to have no reaction at all. "Tsk tsk tsk, this isn't suitable for drinking."

“There’s no other way.” Xi Yue tilted her head back and drank the wine in her cup. “Theoretically, I shouldn’t get drunk, so I can only drink with Miss Ling until she’s satisfied.”

"Ah, that's a real pity." Ling shook his head helplessly, it had been so long since he had met someone he could drink with.

But the other person didn't get drunk, which was a bit disappointing. After all, if you can't even get drunk from drinking, what's the point of drinking?

Xi Yue put down her wine cup and looked at Ling, who seemed somewhat disappointed: "I'm sorry."

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Ling shook his head and put down the gourd in his hand with a little little interest. At this moment, Ling remembered something else. "Oh, right, I also want to thank Miss Xiyue for taking care of Ximei these past few days."

“It’s alright, I didn’t do anything special.” Xi Yue shook her head at Ling. “Besides, it’s a small thing that I like the child quite a bit, it’s nothing.”

"That child is terrified of his true form," Ling shook his head helplessly. "He hasn't had a good night's sleep in ages, and nothing we do can persuade him."

"But with Miss Yuzuki's help, I'm finally able to get a good night's sleep."

“I think Miss Xi should be able to get a good night’s sleep by herself now.” Xi Yue smiled. “According to what Exusiai and the others said, Miss Xi was actually able to get a good night’s sleep by herself during the months I was away.”

"That's wonderful!" Ling crossed her hands and rested them on her chin, her eyes sparkling slightly. "Then I look forward to our meeting in real life!"

"Okay." Yuuki nodded. "Then let's meet in reality after we wake up from this dream~"

Chapter 192: Black Wine Cup and Chessboard

——————Shang Shu·Liang Mansion——————

"It's been so long since we last saw each other?" Old Li adjusted his hat. "Why did you suddenly send me this request?"

"..." Liang Xun pursed his lips, looking at the old carp in front of him with a smile in his eyes, "You must have had a long journey."

"Yes, it must have been a long and tiring journey. After all, it's been quite a long trip, so it's hard to say it wasn't tiring." Old Li shrugged. "Lord Liang certainly has quite the pomp and circumstance, making me go to such lengths to deliver a mere wine cup."

After looking at Lao Li in silence for a while, Liang Xun said, "I will explain to you later."

Although Liang Xun felt somewhat uneasy about involving Lao Li in this matter, however…

Even if he didn't tell her anything, the only friend Liang Xun could think of was Lao Li who still trusted him and offered his full support.

"..." Old Li looked at Liang Xun, and after a while, shook his head helplessly, "Alright, I'll explain later. I'll wait for your explanation."

"I need your help with something later."

"No problem." Liang Xun nodded, not asking what kind of help was needed. He trusted that Lao Li wouldn't put him in a difficult position.

"Then we'll talk about it later." Seeing that Liang Xun agreed, Lao Li wasn't in a hurry. "No rush, let's talk about it after you finish your business."

"Hmm." Liang Xun nodded, then looked at the old boatman beside him, "Master Shen, you've worked hard too. There must be a lot of tourists on the river, right?"

"Not at all, I promised Lord Liang, so I will naturally take care of him first." The old boatman shook his head. "Now that the person has been brought... I'll head back to the dock first."

"By the way, there was a bit of a commotion in the city just now. Let Li Xiaozi tell you the details."

Liang Xun raised an eyebrow upon hearing the boatman's words: "...Trouble?"

"Lord Liang, you should also be careful." The old boatman didn't continue speaking, but turned and walked towards the door. "I'll be going now. The docks are probably short-handed, so I have to hurry back."

Liang Xun watched the old fisherman leave without asking any further questions, and simply nodded: "Yes, thank you for your hard work."

"Enter Shangshu from Zhengshan Ferry and find a boatman surnamed Shen." Old Li glanced back at the departing boatman. "Lord Liang certainly has a lot of influence; he summoned me here with just one sentence."

Liang Xunyu replied in a rather nonchalant tone: "This isn't your first time in Shangshu."

Old Li stroked his chin: "Who is Master Shen?"

Liang Xun didn't seem to want to talk too much, and simply said, "He's just a trustworthy dockworker. An experienced boatman is more reliable than anything else."

Old Li looked at it and, unusually, nodded: "That makes sense."

"Alright, alright~" Old Carp stretched and yawned. "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go have some drinks and then talk about another issue that we're all concerned about."

Lao Li disregarded Liang Xun's official rank and put his arm around Liang Xun's shoulder, saying, "I know you can't hold your liquor, but today, friends are gathered together, so we should have a couple of drinks, right?"

“Today is not a good day for drinking.” Liang Xun shook his head, but did not object. “Drinking today could easily interfere with important matters.”

"Oh~" Old Li drawled, "It will interfere with important matters. Drinking will lead to trouble, that's a phrase you used to say all the time. Alright, how about some tea?"

"Don't tell me, brother, I've come all this way and you won't even offer me a cup of tea?"

"Of course not."

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"That's all there is to it." Old Li took a sip of tea. "I never expected that someone in Shangshu would actually give Lord Liang face."

“Xingyu Inn…” Liang Xun nodded. “I will send someone down to investigate what happened there.”

"Hey, wait a minute. This isn't as simple as it seems. If you really don't know the truth, then don't get involved. This is a matter of the underworld."

Old Li patted Liang Xun on the shoulder, "At worst, after I finish what you asked me to do, I'll leave Shang Shu and run away, and that will be the end of it."

Old Carp patted the box he carried with him: "Don't you want to check if the wine cups are alright? They've been bumping around all the way; it's quite possible I might accidentally sit on one and break it."

Liang Xun smiled at Old Li and shook his head: "The fact that you didn't bring it up means the wine cup is fine."

"Hahaha." Old Carp laughed and patted Liang Xun on the shoulder, then reached out and placed the box on the table. "Take a look, it's a treasure specially sent from Longmen."

The exquisite box was opened, and on the black cloth lay a black wine cup no bigger than the palm of your hand, with golden patterns painted on its surface.

“This is…” Liang Xun’s breathing slowed as he looked at the wine cup.

Old Li glanced at Liang Xun before saying calmly, "I'm curious, what's so special about this wine cup? At that auction of smugglers, this wine cup was priced the same as a freebie."

"If I had to put it into words, there's a story circulating among the smugglers that there's a strange tale in the village where the wine cup was first discovered."

Liang Xun felt a light tap on the table: "Tell me about it."

Old Carp shrugged and pointed to the wine cup: "They say this wine cup can bring the surrounding objects to life."

“Come back to life…” Liang Xun pursed his lips. “Do you have any evidence?”

“If there were evidence for ghost stories, wouldn’t they become cases? I just heard them from someone else.” Old Li shrugged, tilted his head back and drank another cup of tea, but his eyes never left Liang Xun. “Maybe they were stories made up by smugglers to increase their value, who knows.”

Liang Xun nodded, then asked, "What about the smugglers?"

Old Carp put down his teacup: "They've all been handed over to the Guard Bureau."

"That's good." Liang Xun nodded, then hesitated for a moment before looking at Lao Li, "Actually, I have another matter to entrust to you."

Old Li nodded knowingly, his eyes seeming to say, "That's right, after all, you called me all the way from Longmen, how can I just be a servant?"

"But now..."

Old Li's gaze drifted to the wine cup, then he looked at Liang Xun with a smile.

Liang Xun chuckled as he watched Lao Li's actions: "Heh. Looks like you won't let me go without having a drink with me."

"Let's talk about business later. You haven't changed at all, still so carefree."

Old Carp nodded slightly: "Then I have no objection."

"However?" Old Li looked at Liang Xun, "Like I just said, I also have something to trouble you with."

"Go ahead and say it," Liang Xun nodded, "anything I can do."

Seeing that Liang Xun agreed, Lao Li didn't rush to speak: "You should know that I run a private detective agency in Longmen, right?"

"Of course I know," Liang Xun nodded. "What's wrong?"

“Then you should also know,” Old Li hesitated for a moment, “that Huai Wuchi’s daughter is also with me.”

"I understand." At this point, Liang Xun realized what Lao Li wanted his help with. "You want me to help you find his whereabouts?"

Old Li nodded: "Actually, I've been taking care of Huaihu for a while now. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be attending her university graduation ceremony. That's fine, but do you expect me to sit in that grand hall after she gets married?"

"Huaihu is a good girl. But her father is really not a good father."

Liang Xun said with a touch of emotion, "His daughter is so grown up now."

"Time will pass quickly." Old Li picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Liang Xun also picked up his teacup and nodded: "...Yes."