Sixty-Second Illustration: Scandals of the Past

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[Latest News] Tomorrow is May 15th, Qidian’s anniversary celebration, the day with the most giveaways. In addition to the gift bags and book packs, don’t miss the “May 15th Red Envelope Frenzy”—who can resist grabbing a red envelope? Set your alarms~

—Breaking news! Following the Saintess-Knight love duo, the Priest-Saintess pair rises to prominence.
—Let’s gossip about the senior priest who grew up with the Hundred Flowers Saintess. Two centuries of devotion—I believe in love again.
—Suspected new seat: Hundred Flowers Saintess quarrels with her lover in public, neither holding back.
—Saintess hard to please: Senior priest frantically racks up points on the dueling platform, suspected of venting frustration!
—A frenzied priest appears on the Insect Warfront!

After displaying old news clips about the Hundred Flowers Saintess and the priest, the forgery expert played a promotional video from the early days of the Saintess's debut, themed around her growth, highlighting a constant figure by her side. “After seeing all this, we can confirm that the Hundred Flowers Saintess and Senior Priest Sena—oh, that's former Auxiliary Senior Priest Sena, attached to Bishop Qining—share at least an ambiguous relationship above friendship, if not love. And doesn’t this former senior priest look familiar to you?”

Sansan frowned, her round, chubby cheeks creasing like steamed buns: “Xiao Jin, whose idea was it to use Sena as a topic?”

[It was the forgery expert's idea. Sena agreed and even provided material himself. And this isn’t even the juiciest stuff—the forgery expert is holding back the most explicit content for when someone raises doubts.]

The treant to Sansan’s left trembled as if swept by the wind, mumbling something inaudible through the screen. Meanwhile, Xiao Jin, who had transformed into a tiny shell stuck in Sansan’s hair, opened and closed its shell, discreetly passing messages to the forgery expert—they were conspiring to dig a trap together.

There are countless races in the stars, each with vastly different aesthetic standards. To other races, individuals of a species look nearly identical, save for gender and age. Most identify others by their energy fluctuations, and if someone masks even those, only deep soul perception or familiarity can help one recognize them.

Someone hesitated: “Isn’t he the temporary guardian and assistant of Sang Hongye?”

Another nodded: “That's right. I’ve seen Sang Hongye’s star profile—the person who registered her and took her to the Forest of All Living Things to plant trees was him.”

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Someone raised a doubt: “Wait, even if they’re both called Sena and look alike, their energy signatures are different. Unless you can provide their soul data, there’s no proof they’re the same person.”

The little octopus waved its tentacles, pulling out another projection sphere from midair but didn't open it. “I do have their soul data, but without the mainbrain’s permission, I can’t show it to you. I can confirm they’re the same person—there’s no question about it.”

The treant disguised as the Hundred Flowers Knight shook even harder, and a certain elf who’d entered with him suddenly interjected: “So, if they’re the same person, the Hundred Flowers Saintess actually has a motive for targeting Sang Hongye. Turns out she’s trying to stop her childhood sweetheart from pledging loyalty to the new lord. Women are possessive in love—it’s understandable.”

At this, many nodded, especially some fans of the Saintess’s looks: “Even though meddling in your ex’s life is unreasonable, this domineering side of the Hundred Flowers Saintess is kind of thrilling.”

“You must be kidding. Meddling in an ex’s life is bad enough, but venting your anger on an innocent junior, and an underage one at that? The Hundred Flowers Saintess isn’t brainless! If you know Sena is the same person, don’t you also remember that three years ago, during the Saint Son’s interstellar concert tour, the person who caused the disruption was also called Sena? Though that Sena didn’t show his face, the news stated he was an auxiliary senior priest under Bishop Qining, and he secretly loved the Hundred Flowers Saintess. To claim that this Sena has nothing to do with the other two? Please.”

The forgery expert highlighted the last speaker’s seat: “Excellent, someone has hit the mark. There are many priests named Sena in the temple—according to the mainbrain’s records, there are 117,003. But the Hundred Flowers Saintess’s former rumored lover, Senior Priest Sena; Sang Hongye’s temporary guardian and assistant; and the Sena who disrupted the Saint Son’s concert—all three are confirmed to be the same person.”

Drama is always popular—the atmosphere exploded, and the entire live room went wild.

Watching the stream through an external link, the Hundred Flowers Saintess gnashed her teeth: “Why is that person still alive and not beaten to death yet!”

Her maid, a devoted fan of the forgery expert, whispered, “Because the forgery expert is an AI, living off the star network, without even a physical form. He’s a high-priority concern of the mainbrain—no one’s managed to get past mainbrain surveillance to eliminate him, not even former Bishop Hailan.”

“Get out!”

On the stream, the forgery expert waved his tentacle: “The Hundred Flowers Saintess and Sena grew up together as ‘friends.’ The Saintess had ambiguous relations with the Saint Son, which upset Sena, prompting him to sabotage the concert, fall out with the Saintess, and then join Bishop Anthony’s faction. Being human, he was assigned as Sang Hongye’s temporary guardian. Then, Sang Hongye was targeted by the Saintess—does anyone have this theory?”

“Isn’t that exactly it?” More than ten percent of the viewers were unsure.

Someone muttered, “Or maybe they both fell for the Saint Son, he chose the opposite sex, Sena turned vengeful and sabotaged their love, and the Saintess, out of spite, took it out on the junior. When the Saint Son emerges from seclusion, he realizes the truth and breaks ties with the Saintess…”

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“Couldn’t it be the Saintess dumping her old flame for a new love, provoking the priest to retaliate, after which the dominant new lover crushes him, so he joins another faction, and to please the new lover, the Saintess mercilessly tramples the innocent junior to keep her ex from rising again?”

“Those with unimaginative or completely wild theories can pause their speculation. But some are close to the truth.” The forgery expert’s body turned a sweet, translucent orange, jelly-like and so tempting that one could almost taste it. With a mysterious smile, he pulled a projection sphere from the air, setting it atop his head. “I’ve collected this material for a long time. When the news broke three years ago, I planned to release it, but there were more creative topics to pursue, so I kept it in reserve.”

He dangled the secret, heightening the audience’s curiosity. Some, impatient with the stalling, left the stream but stayed subscribed; others began a wave of tips.

The projection sphere spun atop the forgery expert’s head, its internal scene faintly visible. “Now, I’ll give the Hundred Flowers Saintess one last chance. As a temple figurehead, she deserves some dignity. Saintess, I know you’re watching the stream. You have fifty seconds—apologize on StarLight and admit you shouldn’t have bullied your junior, and I’ll put this projection away. The countdown starts now.”

The Hundred Flowers Saintess hurled her terminal: “Dream on! I don’t believe you can bypass the mainbrain to monitor my every move!”

Fifty seconds under the scrutiny of all, her face shifted through shades of purple, blue, white, and black as she repeatedly picked up and slammed her terminal. The forgery expert counted down:

“…Zero. What a pity—the Hundred Flowers Saintess remains stubborn, and there’s no movement on her StarLight.” Though he claimed disappointment, his tone was lively. “Now, let’s move on to the material I’ve so carefully preserved.”

The projection sphere enlarged, its frozen scene flowing into motion…

PS: Sisters, don’t forget to recommend and bookmark after reading~~~ I can’t shake the habit of obsessively checking stats—seeing bookmarks drop instead of rise makes me uneasy, and I’m even less optimistic about post-launch results. It affects my mood for writing, sigh.

PS. May 15th is raining red envelopes on Qidian! Starting at noon, there’s a round every hour—a flood of May 15th red envelopes, all down to luck. Go grab them, and spend your Qidian coins to keep subscribing to my chapters!