After receiving orders from the Ten Lords, Hanya, who had looked exhausted just moments ago, suddenly perked up.
She had already held a pretty good opinion of Pei Guang: so much so that if it was Pei Guang asking her for help, even if it wasn't work-related, she would likely lend a hand.
After all, in the whole of Luofu, people who proactively helped others were few and far between.
Asking for compensation? Shouldn't people get some sort of reward for helping? It's not that Hanya was trying to call Pei Guang cheap labor or anything, but even she was starting to feel a little bad about taking advantage of him.
Especially considering that incident at Fyxestroll Garden: if Pei Guang hadn't been there, who knows what kind of losses would've occurred?
Beyond those reasons, when she heard the Ten Lords say that once this issue was completely resolved, her sister could get one more day to return to life—now that really got her fired up.
Today, she was determined to get to the bottom of whether that member of the Intelligentsia Guild had truly made secret dealings with the Alchemy Commission, or if it was just part of routine work.
Either way, she was going to get to the truth.
After gathering the information, Hanya ordered her subordinates to fetch what Pei Guang needed from the Alchemy Commission, then went to find him.
"I've understood your situation. I've already sent someone to get what you need—it'll be here soon. But I'm curious... how much of a reward did the person who commissioned you offer?"
Hanya didn't intend to beat around the bush with Pei Guang, so she just asked outright.
Pei Guang replied, "No idea? He only said I wouldn't be disappointed with the reward. But it's not like I'm short on credits... If I really need some, I can just knock a few people out and get a few million that way. Side quests are all about luck: if I'm lucky, I get some rare weapons, gear, or collectible items, and I'm good."
Hanya: "That works out then, because I've got a few requests…"
Pei Guang: "Oh I see, you were just trying to find out how much I charge for commissions, right? No need to ask. If it's you or any cute girl from the Ten Lords Commission, just give me a favorability boost and I'll take the job."
At that, Hanya couldn't help but retort, "People in the Ten Lords Commission... the youngest is probably decades older than you, you know?"
Pei Guang: "So, grandmas?"
Hanya: "If you call them that, their favorability is gonna go straight into the negatives."
Pei Guang: "Then I'll stick to cute girls~ Anyway, back to the point: what's the job?"
After thinking it over, Hanya gave him the task: "Here's the deal. While searching for the item you need, we discovered some collusion between the Alchemy Commission and a member of the Intelligentsia Guild currently residing in Luofu. I need you to investigate what exactly this Intelligentsia Guild member is scheming. If they've committed any major crimes, I hope you'll stop and capture them."
She paused for a moment before continuing: "As for your reward, if your findings are accurate and valid, the Ten Lords Commission will greatly increase their favorability toward you and award you an exclusive Ten Lords Commission Medal of Valor."
At the mention of this reward, Pei Guang suddenly paused. After a few seconds, he asked quietly, "Just curious: if favorability goes up with the entire Ten Lords Commission, then if I see a cute woman from the commission, including you, does that mean I can kiss whoever I want?"
Hanya was an old hand at this, and with her years of work experience, she responded calmly: "No. It just means increased favorability. But if the other party consents, you can kiss whoever you want. In fact, as long as the other party agrees, you can do anything that doesn't violate the Ten Lords Commission's or Luofu's rules."
That was a technically correct non-answer. Setting aside the commission's rules, when it came to acts of intimacy, as long as coercion or other underhanded methods weren't involved, no one really cared.
But any sane person would find that line of reasoning questionable.
Then again, Pei Guang wasn't exactly a "person": he was a player!
A player's logic usually aligns with that of a normal person... but not always. Sometimes, they follow curious reasoning—like now.
Although Pei Guang in this first playthrough had already committed to a pure romance route, that didn't stop the player from farming favorability with others, right? And this quest reward was just too good! If you raise favorability high enough, you can kiss anyone you want?
Just imagining the possibilities made Pei Guang's enjoyment of the game shoot up several notches. Sure, he wouldn't actually do that in this playthrough, but from a player's perspective: 'it's not about doing it, it's about having the option to!'
With that thought, Pei Guang slammed the table and stood up: "I'll take your mission! Just you wait! Favorability~ favorability~"
Watching Pei Guang leave cheerfully, Hanya suddenly felt a chill in her heart. And not just her: every Ten Lord currently at work felt a sudden sense of unease, as if the entire Ten-Lords Commission was about to be utterly dismantled from the inside out.
Pei Guang didn't know who the Ten Lords were, so he had no idea what they were thinking. With the help of the Ten Lords Commission, he easily got his hands on the Compendium of Remedies and headed back to turn in the quest.
Pei Guang's plan was simple: do Todd's quest first, then work on the Ten-Lords Commission mission afterward: no time wasted.
Back at the entrance of the Sky-Faring Commission, Todd was still sitting in that same chair.
"Got the medical text!" Pei Guang said.
That one sentence was enough to snap Todd out of his weariness. He immediately opened the book and began flipping through it.
After a while, his brows furrowed.
"According to this book, the prescription she gave does exist... but what's the deal with the ingredients?"
Pei Guang: "The prescription she gave? So Dan Shu already gave you what you needed, and you just wanted to verify it?"
As soon as he said that, Todd's face froze. Thinking back to what he'd told Pei Guang earlier, he showed a rather awkward expression.
"Ahem... I did give her a rare copy of the Theories on Returning From the Underworld, so of course I need to see how good her returning gift is."
Pei Guang: "Oh~ I see. Then tell me what materials you're missing. I just might have them all."
Hearing that, Todd instantly perked up: "Really? There's an herb in the prescription called Divine Aureate Twig. I searched all over the Xianzhou for common medicinal ingredients, but I couldn't find anything by that name. Could you help me look for it?"
Pei Guang: "Huh? Funny you mention it, I actually do have that."
Pei Guang looked into his storage space. Back when he and Bailu rescued Banxia, he'd gotten a prescription from her. One of the ingredients was exactly this: something that dropped from the bodies of the Mara-struck.
He hadn't even gathered much, just over a hundred. Pei Guang pulled one out and handed it to Todd: "This Divine Aureate Twig isn't some common herb. It drops from the bodies of the Mara-struck. You know what that thing is, don't you? Pretending not to and asking me to find it for you? Old man, the prescription Dan Shu gave you: it's for immortality, isn't it? You're not as clueless as you pretend to be, right?"
Todd was silent for a moment before looking up, visibly shocked: shocked that Pei Guang knew this much.
"You… how do you know?"
Pei Guang spoke softly: "I don't just know—I have the full prescription. Doesn't it include a special ingredient called Vidyadhara Marrow~?"
As soon as he said that, Todd's pupils constricted: "What do you want?"
Pei Guang spread his hands: "Me? I just want the reward that's rightfully mine. You want to chase immortality: that's your business. I complete your task, you pay me. After that, do whatever you like."
Todd took a deep breath.
The man in front of him knowing his plan was shocking enough. But Pei Guang's calm demeanor? That terrified him. He was scared Pei Guang might report him. And if he did, getting expelled from the Xianzhou Alliance would be the least of his worries.
Todd: "Fair, fair. If this works out, I'll even share my research results with you."
Pei Guang: "Not interested in your research. Like I said—reward~ Also, tell me all the tasks you plan to do next. I don't want to drag this out too long."
Hearing this, Todd thought Pei Guang wanted to help so he could get a cut, but also wanted to wrap it up quickly since it was too risky. So he nodded.
"I just want to use the formula she gave me to verify a theory my mentor and I had. I also need to confirm it using the image my mentor left behind in Luofu. If the theory proves true, I'll be able to grow young again! Do you realize? If I can decode my teacher's secret and prove my theory, I can reverse aging! Reverse aging! Aren't you the least bit interested?"
Pei Guang stroked his chin, thinking: "You know what? I'm not. But I am interested in one thing. Old man, do you even have the reward to pay me with?"