“Excellent, excellent.”

At the Emiya Household, Sasaki Kojiro slowly clapped his hands in front of the hearth, his admiration completely unconcealed.

Six flying swords… An ordinary person might spend their entire life unable to master a single sword to such a degree, yet this Little Brother Yanqing can control six simultaneously. It's no exaggeration to call him 'exceptionally gifted'.

“Assassin, can't you handle his flying swords?” Emiya Shirou asked in confusion. In his impression, the ones who understood swords best were only him and Saber.

“If it were just one or two, I might still have a chance…” Sasaki Kojiro gently shook his head. “If it's six, I'm afraid I'd have to act with Saber just to have a glimmer of hope.”

“Really?… That's too exaggerated.” Shirou looked at Saber in disbelief, but when he turned his head, he realized cold sweat had already trickled down the girl's pretty face to her chin.

It wasn't because of Yanqing's sword techniques that she was sweating profusely, but rather the white-haired woman with her eyes covered by a black veil in front of him…

It was Jingliu!!

——

【“Thank you for saving me, Little Brother.” Jingliu slightly tilted her head. Although she was thanking him, her indifferent tone didn't convey much gratitude.】

【“Oh, that was just my duty. The Xianzhou Loufu port is blockaded, why are you still here alone?”】

【“I came here with a merchant ship. Recently, the shadows of a few old friends have been swirling in my head. I wanted to meet up with old friends and relive old times… Who knew the Xianzhou Loufu is so dangerous now?”】

【“Then you came at an inconvenient time, something unexpected happened on the Immortal Boat. However, the General will resolve it. Let's go, you can't stay here, we need to go to the nearest Cloud Knights outpost.” Yanqing suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, have you seen a man with black clothes and long hair—?”】

【Before he finished speaking, Jingliu had already turned around, and Yanqing's words came to an abrupt halt—he saw the black veil covering the woman's eyes.】

【“You… you can't see? I'm sorry, I thought…” Yanqing was momentarily awkward and quickly introduced himself, “My name is Yanqing, I am an officially registered member of the Cloud Knights. May I ask for the elder sister's name?”】

【“My name is Jingliu.”】

【“Uh… Sister Jingliu, I'll lead you for a while. We might have to take a detour, but I guarantee I'll safely get you to the Cloud Knights.”】

【Along the way, Yanqing asked Ms. Jingliu many questions, such as where she was from and how long it had been since she last came to the Immortal Boat. However, Ms. Jingliu remained cold and indifferent, and besides learning that she was from Cangcheng, he couldn't elicit any other information.】

Outside Shinjuku Ward, Japan, inside a cheap capsule hotel, Caesar, Lu Mingfei, and Johann Chu rarely had the chance to gather.

“Chatting with women requires skill, especially when you want to pry information out of them; you need to pay particular attention to details.” Looking at Yanqing's naive and almost completely undisguised attempts to get information, Caesar shook his head repeatedly.

“Asking beauties where they're from, where they're going, sigh… I stopped asking these kinds of questions when I was eight.” Caesar said, “Questions that are too purposeful are easily guarded against. Questions need to be subtly integrated into the conversation.”

“Hey, hey, hey! Boss, can we not bring up your elementary school love life at this moment? Just look at the beauty, focus on appreciating her!”

“The Principal told us to properly learn her sword techniques, saying that maybe a 'Jingliu Sword Technique Class' will be added at the end of next semester, and we won't get credits if we fail.” Johann Chu said, “However, now is indeed a good time to learn.”

“Good time? Sorry, I can't settle down at this moment.” Caesar's eyes were a bit glazed over.

As he spoke, the screen happened to cut to Jingliu's lower body. Under the light-colored, petal-shaped pleated skirt hem, two thighs as white as congealed fat swayed, making people's eyes blur.

“Boss, staring intently at a girl's thighs is not gentlemanly behavior! If you keep watching, the reputation of the Gattuso family won't be preserved!”

“The Gattuso reputation has nothing to do with this. According to our family tradition, I should continue watching. If it were my stud father, he'd probably hold a rose in his mouth and invite Jingliu for late-night sword technique guidance.”

Caesar shrugged his eyebrows, “Besides, don't you think? This is the part that most needs appreciating.”

【Yanqing and Jingliu hurried towards the ferry crossing together, but the only path was blocked by a Mara-Struck.】

【He instructed Jingliu to stay put and not move, while he went to deal with the monster. The Mara-Struck were not troublesome to handle, but their clear consciousness made Yanqing's expression solemn.】

【“Where did these guys come from? Alas, the General said there was another internal problem on the Immortal Boat, and he was right.” Yanqing sighed worriedly.】

【At this moment, Jingliu, who was nearby, suddenly spoke, “Little Brother, your sword technique is quite good.”】

【“Huh? You… can see?” Yanqing was startled.】

【“I can hear. The humming of the flying swords breaking through the air, the sound of sharp edges cutting… These traces will invisibly reveal the quality of the sword art.”】

【“Like a musician listening to a zither, or a poet listening to rhyme. Amidst the changes and flow of sword moves, a skilled swordsman will never leave behind stagnant or dissonant sounds. Being able to control six flying swords simultaneously in an instant, Cloud Knights with such strength should be few and far between.”】

【Yanqing was momentarily a bit embarrassed by the praise. He scratched his head, “Uh, haha, you're too kind.”】

【“However, you focus solely on strong attacks and don't know how to conceal your edge…” Jingliu paused, “Therefore, the ending of your sword melody seems somewhat messy.”】

【“…It seems zither music and sword techniques truly have similarities. The General also made similar comments, saying that my sword is full of vigor but too sharp-edged, and I still lack a bit of maturity to win the title of 【Swordmaster】…”】

【“Swordmaster? I remember, that's the title for someone whose sword techniques have reached the pinnacle among the Cloud Knights. It's too far away…” Jingliu's gaze shifted from the distant sea of clouds back to the sword in Yanqing's hand. “Speaking of which, the Cloud Knights' martial arts each have their own lineage. Little Brother, who guided your sword techniques?”】

【Mentioning his master, Yanqing seemed somewhat proud as he raised his head and smiled slightly, “Since elder sister is someone who appreciates swords, I won't keep you in suspense. It is General Jing Yuan of the Xianzhou Loufu.”】

“This is a grand-disciple meeting their grandmaster… Tsk tsk, if I were Jing Yuan, just thinking about it would be stressful.”

Just imagining that scene made Hu Tao sweat profusely, “If grandmaster isn't satisfied with the disciple I've trained, will she come personally to deal with me?”

“How could that be? Hall Master is thinking too much.” Zhongli chuckled, “With a junior of exceptional talent in the sect, Jingliu probably wouldn't have enough time to cherish him, right?”