Chapter 237: Two Birds of a Feather
"Here, these are freshly picked Sunsetias personally by my men. Please try them, Lady Guuji."
Bai Luo personally placed a full platter of Sunsetias in front of Yae Miko's table, making sure to emphasize the key word—personally.
From that moment onward, the unassuming fruit had been granted special power.
Bai Luo wasn't new to being schemed against, but this time… being manipulated and still feeling like he hadn't lost anything left a bitter aftertaste.
So he decided to go all out.
What? You think he's going to pull out an erhu?
Don't joke. Bai Luo's erhu playing is divine—capable of making all beings bow in awe and even moving gods to tears.
A mere fox spirit? Not worthy.
His erhu is reserved for those who truly understand him.
A single tune to tear the soul asunder… yet bring distant hearts near.
"You're so thoughtful. Just leave it on the side," Yae Miko said without even sparing a glance at the fruit, her eyes and hands otherwise occupied—one holding a photo Bai Luo had handed her, the other lifting a piece of fried tofu with her chopsticks.
So long as there was fried tofu in front of her, everything else in the world could turn to mist.
And now, Bai Luo regretted offering the tofu first.
"You took all of these?" she asked, studying the photo once more with an expression of satisfaction.
To be honest, the photos weren't all that special. They were special in their lack of specialness.
But that very "ordinary charm" made the little doggy in the pictures strangely enticing.
"Who else but me? That little pup only shows this side of herself when she's with me," Bai Luo said casually, picking up a Sunsetia and rubbing it a few times on his clothes before placing it near Yae Miko's chopsticks.
"Interested in joining Yae Publishing House? We offer excellent benefits, you know."
Ever since she saw his Reed Sketches on the table, Yae Miko knew Bai Luo had serious artistic talent.
It was just a pity—if only he were from Inazuma.
Logically speaking, having seen Bai Luo's work, there was no way she wouldn't recognize his handwriting.
But Bai Luo had written his Reed Sketches using Liyue's script, not Inazuma's.
Even though she understood Liyue characters, this was the kind of calligraphy that even the people of Liyue would struggle to decipher.
Let alone her, a fox from Inazuma.
Besides, thanks to Beidou and her fleet, these works had spread through Inazuma as illustrations, so naturally Yae Miko never thought to interpret them as text.
"How about I shoot a photo set for you next, Lady Guuji?" Bai Luo offered, pulling out his special camera device, clearly about to get to work.
"Spare me. Those Fontaine contraptions don't work on us yokai. You'll probably just get a glamorous fox lady who's both smart and beautiful—no trace of my human form at all," she said, mouth full of tofu and tone dripping with disdain.
Don't let her act fool you. If Bai Luo hadn't already taken countless screenshots of her from the game, he might've actually bought into her beastly lies.
"So… are you planning to submit these photos to That's Life?"
She put down her chopsticks and began organizing the pictures. "If it's just this one set, though, I can't offer a high payment."
She said it like she didn't care, but truthfully, this was just bait—to goad him into bringing her more photos like these.
Preferably some featuring that Divine Priestess.
If that girl saw herself appearing in Yae Publishing House's That's Life, she'd probably blow a gasket.
—Though, if she were to politely call her Yae Miko Onee-sama, well—maybe she could be persuaded to pull the photos.
"Actually, these aren't photo sets," Bai Luo said, handing over a flyer he had prepared beforehand.
On it, a promotional pitch was written in bold.
Bai Luo subtly nudged the platter of Sunsetias closer to Yae Miko once more.
Come on, damn it! Eat it already! Why won't you eat it!?
But Yae Miko, in classic fox fashion, ignored his tiny gesture completely. Her attention was now fully drawn to the pamphlet Bai Luo had handed her.
Have you heard of Miss Hina?
If you have worries, doubts, or troubles in your heart, you can write a letter to Miss Hina.
She will guide your soul out of confusion.
She will absolve your sins.
She will heal your weary heart.
She will give you the answer you need.
Miss Hina—your most understanding and trustworthy big sister.
"…So that's how it is," Yae Miko muttered, her sly smile deepening as the gears in her mind turned.
At that moment, she understood perfectly why that proud General Gorou would willingly cast aside his pride and wear that outfit.
Information.
With the country locked down and the Vision Hunt Decree in effect, the people were already suffocating under their grievances.
Give them an outlet like this, and they'd naturally pour their hearts out.
And those heartfelt confessions? They could easily become tools for the resistance—either as leverage against the Shogunate, or raw intel to be analyzed.
To put it bluntly, it was a well-dressed scheme.
"Just this alone… would be enough for me to hand you over to the Tenryou Commission, you know?"
She twirled the flyer in her fingers, propping her chin with one hand and staring at Bai Luo like a cat cornering a mouse.
Bai Luo didn't flinch. "You're telling me Yae Publishing House has no content review system?"
He could see right through her little tricks. The pink-haired fox was just playing word games to put pressure on him. But he wasn't afraid.
As he'd said, there was no way Yae Publishing House would let sensitive material reach the resistance unchecked.
That said, knowing her, she would probably leak some harmless tidbits on purpose—just to make that loyal dog work harder, all for her amusement.
Poor Gorou. Being played by these two devils and still feeling proud of himself.
"But that's not all," Bai Luo said, face full of smug excitement. "I've also planned offline meet-and-greets, handshake events, half-day luncheons, full-day dates, even a limited-time pen-pal raffle. Most of them are only available to the top contributor in Miss Hina's fan rankings."
"This'll fire up the competitive spirit in her fans—and squeeze out every last drop of value from that dog general."
At his signal, a pair of Fatui agents hauled in a massive display board. It was crammed with an intricate flowchart of event plans—some ideas so thorough, they even included Gorou's predicted reactions, potential dialogues, and preset countermeasures.
"…Let's maybe not look at this part," Bai Luo coughed awkwardly, tearing off a corner of the board labeled Pink-Haired Fox and casually crumpling it into a ball before stuffing it into his pocket.
Yae Miko: "…"
Do you think I'm blind?
"But everything sounds so effective," Yae Miko said, tossing a Sunsetia up and down in her hand as she finally acknowledged the neglected fruit. "Still, how do you plan to make sure our dear general shows up for these events?"
"With the Grand Narukami Shrine behind you and the Fatui behind me, convincing him won't be hard. And besides…" Bai Luo leaned in, eyes gleaming with devilish intent. "All we have to do is make sure the top contributor position goes to someone a little… simple-minded. No one would suspect a thing."
"Oh? Don't tell me… it's that guy?"
In that moment, the two of them seemed to share a perfectly wicked wavelength.
Their laughter echoed in both their minds—
"Hahahahahaha! Arataki 'Number One' Itto was here!"
Oh yes, they were definitely two birds of a feather—er, ahem, kindred spirits.
. . . . .
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