[mory] left.
He ca quickly and departed just as fast.
Strangely, He left on His own — without taking Cheng Shi, and without expelling him either.
Cheng Shi was currently standing inside the Collection Hall. In the past, the little swindlers couldn't so much as poke their heads in without being chased out. Yet now, [mory] had simply... "left him behind." Was this right?
Sothing was off! Very, very off!
Cheng Shi stood frozen, thinking for a long ti. He concluded this had to be entrapnt — just bait, waiting for him to make a move so [mory] could catch him red-handed and turn him into a prisoner of [Existence] like Aph Ros.
So he didn't dare move. He just stood there quietly, waiting for [mory] to reappear and, with visible disappointnt, send him back.
But he waited and waited, and nothing happened. This plunged Cheng Shi back into thought.
Was [mory] serious?
What did this an — He didn't mind a stroll through His Collection Hall?
Was He really that gracious?
Impossible.
After all, the phrase "there is no kindness without reason in this world" had co from [mory]'s own mouth. So how could He suddenly relax restrictions on a follower of [Deceit]?
Even if He truly was tacitly permitting him to walk through the Collection Hall, there had to be an ulterior motive!
Was He waiting for Cheng Shi to slip up and reveal the details of this mory?
Or was it possible that this adversary of [Deceit] wanted Cheng Shi to "voluntarily" decode the lost mory for Him?
Did [mory] know the Ti of Eternal Imprisonnt could preserve his mories?
Cheng Shi's brain was practically smoking, and still no answer ca. But as ti dragged on, he began leaning toward the latter — that [mory] was trading ground for space, hoping to extract sothing from him.
If that was the case, he no longer needed to worry about entrapnt.
After all, he was already here. Not taking a look around would be a waste of the fright he'd endured today. So he began strolling through the Collection Hall with cautious, asured steps.
Most of the collections were still indecipherable. However, certain major historical events he'd personally experienced could be vaguely discerned.
The number of pieces in this hall was beyond counting. No mortal could imagine whether this place even had an end. Cheng Shi even suspected that these weren't just mories from a single world — perhaps the mories of the parallel worlds derived from [Ti]'s projections were also stored here.
After all, for gods, everything beneath this starry sky was still within their grasp.
As he wandered, Cheng Shi suddenly ca upon an extraordinarily clear collection.
His pupils shrank. His footsteps stopped. He stared at the lifelike Divine Pillar before him, completely stunned.
Why on earth did [mory] have a portrait of the Divine Pillar hanging in His Collection Hall?
While he was still wondering this, the Divine Pillar in the collection suddenly warped. Without any warning, it broke free of the fra's seal, struck Cheng Shi to the ground, coiled around him, and dragged him away. In the blink of an eye, Cheng Shi vanished from the Collection Hall with a bewildered expression on his face.
...
The Void was lively today, and the person standing in it was simring.
Perhaps no mortal had ever experienced what it felt like to be lashed by [Birth]'s Divine Pillar. Now Cheng Shi had.
He knelt on the ground, staring at the enormous Divine Pillar swaying before him, unable to speak for a long ti.
Thank heavens the Sage wasn't here — otherwise today would have been the day she got her wish.
But why [Birth]?!
Why was He hiding inside [mory]'s Collection Hall to ambush him?!
What was the purpose of this audience?
Had He, too, discovered that He was missing a mory?!
[Birth] might have been terrifying, but He wasn't like [mory]. The latter was lethal — the forr only caused... pregnancies.
So after the initial awkwardness passed, Cheng Shi returned to his polished audience-with-gods persona, lifted his head, and unleashed a torrent of praise at the Divine Pillar:
"Praise be to the great God of [Birth], may You—"
But before he could finish, the Divine Pillar lashed the surrounding Void, emitting a hoarse shriek. He seed impatient.
"The child — where is —"
"?"
Cheng Shi blinked, the very picture of innocence.
"What child? Which child?
Have You lost another one of Your children?
Rest assured — finding children is my specialty.
Which Envoy has awakened from history this ti? I'll bring them back for You."
"Lu Xia —"
"Birth Holy Voice?" Cheng Shi paused. "He's not in Tusnat anymore?"
Hearing that place na only made the Divine Pillar's agitation worse. He whipped the space around Him, seething:
"[Deceit] deceived
—
I gave Him Authority — but He never brought Lu Xia — back —"
"???"
'Wait, hold on!'
'This sounds like the Fun God struck a deal with [Birth] — promised to bring Lu Xia ho in exchange for sothing. But it seems the Fun God reneged. He took [Birth]'s Authority but didn't do the work?'
'Wow — you really have the nerve, Benefactor!'
'Aren't you afraid [Birth] will retaliate by giving [Void] a few little baby [Voids]?'
'But... what Authority did they trade?'
Cheng Shi's interest suddenly surged. His curiosity multiplied. Rolling his eyes slyly, he spoke with utmost reverence:
"If I may, great God of [Birth]:
I am indeed a follower of [Void], that much is true. But at the end of the day, I'm still just a mortal. My Lord's actions are His own — they have nothing to do with His followers. I hope You won't hold
responsible.
That said, I am His follower, and while having a Benefactor like this gives
headaches, for the sake of universal peace and stability, I sotis have no choice but to clean up after Him.
Please calm down. Before I can help You, I need to understand what happened. Only after I know everything can I do my best to make ands and soothe Your wounded heart.
So... if it's not too much trouble, could You tell
about this deal between the two of You?
Just the basics — I'm not here to gossip, purely to help."
The Divine Pillar, too impatient for long explanations, answered tersely:
"He hid my child — to trade for [Truth]'s Authority —
I agreed — but Lu Xia never returned — he's still in that kingdom of [Truth] —
He deceived
— CRACK —"
A thunderous lash of the whip exploded right beside Cheng Shi's ear, like a thunderbolt striking his skull, leaving his head ringing and his vision swimming.
But what truly made him dizzy weren't the pyrotechnics of [Birth]'s rage — it was the staggering volu of information packed into those few short sentences.
First: [Birth] still had mories of the Assembly of Gods Convention — no, more than that. He still held the [Truth] Authority that the Convention had allocated to Him!
This didn't just an His mories remained intact — it ant that the Convention's disposition of [Truth]'s Authority had been preserved through the reset!!
How was that possible?!
If [Truth]'s Authority was still in other hands, then... had [Truth] failed to resurrect through the world reset?!
But if He was dead, then who had awarded the 20 points?
Surely not the Convention acting as proxy?!
Second: the Fun God's scheming was truly masterful!
Cheng Shi had wondered why Hu Xuan was the only player not rescued back then. He'd assud that her candidacy as an Envoy was enough to keep herself safe, so the Fun God hadn't bothered. But now he saw the truth — it wasn't that He hadn't bothered. He'd literally locked her away!
So even before the Convention assembly began, [Deceit] had already been scheming against [Birth]!
Truly worthy of the Fun God — even without knowing what might happen at the Convention, having a contingency ready was never wrong.
[Birth] had no attachnt to [Truth]'s Authority, so when faced with the "kidnapper's ransom," He had readily agreed.
And [Deceit] was truly ruthless — He'd sent Hu Xuan back but not Lu Xia?
No, wait — before the trial ended, Hu Xuan had clearly ntioned Lu Xia. That ant Lu Xia had already been freed, which ant the deal had been honored.
If the deal was fulfilled, why was [Birth] still furious?
Cheng Shi pondered for a mont, then froze. He blinked and asked [Birth]:
"Great God of [Birth], let
confirm sothing:
Your understanding of 'bringing the child back' ans that [Dec—] [Deceit] was supposed to deliver Lu Xia, who was far away in Tusnat, back to Your side. But now Lu Xia has chosen of his own free will to stay out there. So...
You believe [Deceit] failed to complete the deal — is that correct?!"
"Precisely — so!!!"
"..."
'Well then...'
'Trading away Authority just to get a "rebellious" child to co ho.'
'Say what you will — being one of Your children sounds pretty nice, actually.'
...
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