The group headed for the Alchemy Commission and prepared to leave, when Qingni suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Hm?"

Sensing Qingni's sudden stop, Pei Guang and Stelle both looked up, and saw Yukong watching them.

But Yukong's expression at this moment was terrible, as if she were very angry. However, Pei Guang noticed that her gaze wasn't on him or Stelle: it was fixed on Qingni.

Just as Pei Guang was about to say something, Qingni spoke first, making him fall silent.

"Mom…"

That "Mom" made three question marks pop into Pei Guang's head. He looked at Yukong, then at Qingni. He hadn't expected Yukong to actually be Qingni's mother.

And with that one word, a flood of thoughts rushed into Pei Guang's mind.

He muttered quietly to Stelle: "Yukong is Qingni's mom? She wants to be a pilot, but from the look of it, Yukong doesn't want her daughter to be one? Good grief… a family drama!"

Stelle: "How do you know?"

Pei Guang: "Just a guess. Honestly, this one's easier to guess than most plot twists. But…"

He turned to Stelle: "But your jinx came true. Looks like we're not getting that mission reward after all."

Stelle: "Why do you say that?"

Pei Guang: "Judging from the situation and the usual patterns, next we're probably going to have to mediate a family dispute. Even if I were Superman himself, I couldn't mediate family drama."

Stelle: "So what now? Do we have to settle the family issue before we can get the reward? That chest is so big…"

She couldn't get the chest out of her mind—from the first moment she saw that photo, she knew it was her dream chest.

Trash cans? No thanks, get them out of the way before they ruin the chest's good mood.

Pei Guang: "Not a big deal! We can just grab them both and make them talk. Like they say, speak it out, and it's no longer poisonous. Today we're not letting them leave until it's all on the table. Once they've cleared the air, half the problem's already solved."

But Stelle poured cold water on that: "Here's the problem: what if they talk and still don't solve it?"

Pei Guang: "Easy. We just skip the follow-up, go straight to the chest, and carry it off."

While Pei Guang and Stelle were bantering, Yukong and Qingni were still silently staring at each other.

Since their attention was entirely on one another, neither noticed what Pei Guang and Stelle were saying or doing.

The mother and daughter stood there in silence for a long time before Yukong finally broke it.

"You promised me."

Hearing these words, Qingni fell into deeper silence.

She wanted to retort, but before she could speak, Pei Guang and Stelle stepped up to Yukong and Qingni.

Pei Guang, holding a cup of coffee, comforted Yukong: "Lady Yukong! She's your daughter, right? Hey, why so serious between mother and daughter? Here, have a drink to calm your nerves. We won't comment on or interfere with your family matters, but as the saying goes: anger harms the body.

And more than that, when you're angry, your mind gets muddled, and if you accidentally say something you'll regret, something that will hurt your family, that's no good, right?"

On the other side, Stelle also held out a cup of coffee: "Yeah, exactly, calm down first. Here, have a sip~"

The two stepped between them.

Looking at the black coffee Pei Guang and Stelle were offering, Yukong took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Thank you."

She admitted she did need to calm down.

She meant to refuse Pei Guang's drink, but when she looked down at the dark brown liquid, she found herself drawn to it.

It was as if the coffee itself was whispering: "Drink me~ Once you do, you can finally rest~"

It looked like an ordinary cup of coffee, yet Yukong couldn't help picking it up.

She took a small sip, nodding in praise: "The bitterness lingers in the mouth, then slowly fades away… This is top-quality coffee."

She took another sip.

This time, as it went down, she felt herself completely calm, even… a little happy?

"Delicious. After drinking it, my heart feels so peaceful. You're right, I really should calm down. But as a parent…"

Pei Guang looked at her warmly: "I understand. Parents only want what's best for their children. And Lady Yukong, with your broad knowledge and rich experience, you naturally know how to make the best choices for your child, and you know just how deep the pitfalls behind some matters can be."

Hearing Pei Guang's understanding, Yukong sighed with feeling: "Yes! I also…"

Carried by her emotions, she raised the cup and drained the last drop.

But as the final mouthful went down, Yukong suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Huh?"

She felt utterly calm—because her consciousness had vanished, and her whole body went limp.

Just as Pei Guang succeeded, Stelle had also succeeded on her end. The two of them each supported one person, then looked at each other.

No one knew how much time passed before Yukong woke from her deep sleep. Her memories were hazy at first, but soon she remembered what had happened.

She frowned. She didn't understand why Pei Guang had made a move against her… but her calm expression instantly broke when she saw Qingni tied up in front of her.

"Qingni! Qingni!!"

Yukong's voice was full of worry and fear, but she quickly relaxed.

"Mom? What's wrong? Huh? Is it morning already?"

Qingni's mind was also foggy. Her body's instincts made her think it was morning and time to get up. But when she realized she was tied up, she recalled what had happened.

Just when she and her mother were about to have a falling-out, the two Trailblazers stepped in to mediate and offered her some delicious coffee… except this coffee seemed… a little strong?

Before the two could figure out what was going on, Pei Guang sat down on a stool beside them, smiling at the sight of the tied-up mother and daughter: "Lady Yukong, Miss Qingni — you two are going to talk things out in front of me today. Until you do, nobody's going anywhere!"

When it came to family disputes, Pei Guang had no real solutions.

Like he said before: even a famous superhero couldn't untangle family drama, so how could a guy who just plays games figure it out?

Sure, some games had family conflict plots, but Pei Guang usually skipped them. And those plots were basically always one of two kinds:

One: family members don't understand each other, each has their own troubles. In that case, just say it out loud.

Two: someone is just self-centered, wanting to control their family for the feeling of power. That can also be talked out, and once it's clear, the quest target will know what to do.

Either way, it requires talking.

So instead of letting them have a fight, break something, and go running around looking for each other afterward, it was simpler to just grab them both and make them talk right here.

Whatever grievances or dissatisfaction they had, today, they'd lay it all out.

Yukong was no fool. Although Pei Guang's methods were a bit much, listening to him now and recalling what he had done on the Xianzhou Luofu, she guessed his purpose.

Yukong: "Trailblazers, actually, even if you hadn't done this, Qingni and I have talked about everything over the years…"

Pei Guang: "You've talked before? That was then and this is now. I want you both to talk face-to-face, right here. Until you speak your true feelings to each other, I'm not letting either of you go. And if you still won't talk, don't blame me for finding your diary and reading it out loud~

Like I said, I won't meddle in your family matters, but I will help Qingni find relevant evidence and information. She gave me the quest, so I have to complete it. Otherwise, I can't get my big treasure chest."

If Qingni hadn't shown him the photo of the chest, Pei Guang's attitude wouldn't have been like this. But once he and Stelle saw the chest she had prepared, it didn't matter what was inside: for a player, a chest that big was worth taking risks for.

In most games, a chest that size would have at least enough currency for 20 pulls, along with upgrade materials and items.

A normal chest? Players wouldn't even look at it. But for a rare chest, they'd gladly spend ten minutes on a quest or puzzle.

After all, everyone loves big chests.

In that moment, it wasn't just Yukong who fell silent: Qingni did too.

Yukong's reason was simple: she knew Pei Guang had a very strange ability, where he could pull a "diary" or "evidence" straight from an "enemy."

Back in the Vidyadhara incident, Pei Guang had somehow gotten all kinds of evidence right on the spot from Vidyadhara people.

According to rumors, those Vidyadhara didn't even know how Pei Guang had managed to take from their pockets something that had been destroyed, or had never existed at all, but was still a real "diary" or "evidence."

With that ability, it was no trouble at all for Pei Guang to learn whatever he wanted.

Thinking of this, Yukong took a deep breath.

She knew some things could no longer be hidden. She also knew she couldn't hide them forever, but she hadn't expected she'd end up telling Qingni about the past in such a strange way…