Foolish Game of the Chapter 1188: To Know and Speak Recklessly

Reality. An office building in an unknown city.

Ji Yue had been lying motionless on her bed ever since returning, sorting through her thoughts and mories.

She rembered why she'd originally joined the Torchbearers: partly to ensure humanity's continuation and spare the world from suffering, and partly to uncover the secret of godhood — to challenge those sixteen who sat so high above.

Her later decision to join hadn't entirely betrayed that founding purpose. At the very least, the Mutual Aid Society proved she was soone willing to protect the weak.

But what troubled her now wasn't any of that. It was the things Cheng Shi had said and done during his first "recruitnt" attempt.

He'd said the Torchbearers were on good terms with [Deceit]. Everything he'd hinted at — overtly and subtly — pointed to one ssage: [Deceit] was sheltering the fire-passers.

Of course, at the ti Cheng Shi had been working with Fang Shiqing to deceive her, so it was entirely possible he'd been lying. But the thing was — words could deceive, but could a god's reaction also be a lie?!

She distinctly rembered Cheng Shi leading them to find the Mockery and Jeering, then using a Peeping Mirror [Deceit] had left inside it to reach the Tower of Logic's Void Experintal Site. If that had all been fabricated, where would Cheng Shi have gotten the ability to conjure a Mockery and Jeering in the void?

That was sothing only a god could do, wasn't it?

So the Mockery and Jeering couldn't have been fake, and [Deceit]'s response couldn't have been fake either!

That ant [Deceit] definitely knew about the Torchbearers. Their conversations in the void had probably been monitored by Him all along — it was the only way He could have responded to Cheng Shi's "call" so instantly.

The question was: if [Deceit] knew the Torchbearers existed to overthrow the gods' "tyranny," why hadn't He made a move against them?

Because He found the mortals' rebellion entertaining enough to watch from the sidelines?

Not impossible. But Ji Yue's gut told her there was far more to it. Her sixth sense said Cheng Shi might not have been wrong — the one sheltering the Torchbearers really could be [Deceit]!

Only [Deceit] had the motive and the angle to conceal a group of mortals.

The Fla of Hope might be the Torchbearers' guardian deity, but He was only a servant god — and an abandoned one at that, cast off by [Fate]. Did He truly have the power to hide the Torchbearers from sixteen true gods?

That didn't add up.

Before recovering her mories, Ji Yue would never have doubted the Fla of Hope. But once the seed of doubt was planted, it grew like wildfire, flooding her mind until it could no longer be stopped.

She couldn't help but question the Fla of Hope's identity, and quietly worry about [Deceit]'s motives for protecting the fire.

Just then, soone knocked.

Ji Yue glanced at the door and called out, "Co in." The door opened, and a man leaned against the fra with a deadpan expression:

"Several more Mutual Aid Society residents have successfully rged with [Fate]. Segnts ranging from 1800 to 2200. So it's true — [Fate] was the first to lift the faith restrictions.

Still, plenty of people have their own preferred faith they want to rge with and aren't rushing into [Fate]. They're waiting for the Faith Ga to open up further.

Hm? Ji Yue, are you even listening?"

Ji Yue snapped back to focus. She nodded, then shook her head:

"Fang Jue — hypothetically, if I'd been lying to you about sothing, but had never hard you or the Society, and was still doing everything in my power to protect everyone... what would that make ?"

Indeed, the man at the door was Fang Jue — a follower of [Order]. As a law-abiding [Order] adherent, Ji Yue had never recruited him into the Torchbearers. In her view, the Torchbearers' road ahead was uncertain, and she refused to impose her own will on others — including everyone in the Society.

Fang Jue blinked in bewildernt: "You're losing it?"

BANG!

Ji Yue hurled a pillow at the door. "I'm serious. If you noticed sothing off about , what would you do?"

Fang Jue caught the pillow and frowned slightly:

"You've been lying to us? About what?

You're the highest-scoring, strongest player here. What could we possibly have that's worth deceiving us for?

If this isn't so psychological experint or a test of my aid willingness, Ji Yue, I think we need to have a proper conversation. A completely honest one."

Ji Yue's expression soured, then she shot upright from the bed and slapped her thigh:

"Exactly! Just have an honest conversation — that's all I need!"

She shoved Fang Jue out the door with a parting "You really are easier on the eyes than before," locked the door, drew a symbol on the wall beside her bed, and stepped directly into the void, headed for the Fire Passing Hall.

She was going to have an honest conversation with the Fla of Hope!

Fang Jue stood outside staring at the door an inch from his nose, paused a mont, then shook his head with a rueful laugh:

"She really did join so incredible secret organization behind our backs. But with that bull-in-a-china-shop personality of hers, will it really not cause problems for whatever group requires secrecy?"

...

The void. Fire Passing Hall.

Ji Yue moved fast. She turned heads among the Torchbearers the entire way, and at the Hall's entrance ran into Fang Shiqing — coming to deliver a report. Seeing the Fire Seeker who had once helped Cheng Shi deceive her, Ji Yue's face darkened and she fired off a jab:

"Shiqing — where did the God Creation Plan originally co from?"

Fang Shiqing paused mid-stride, tilting her head:

"Why do you ask? If I rember correctly, it was your predecessor — An Shenxuan — who devised it together with Qin Xin.

[Fate] followers probably see further ahead than the rest of us. The Vice President Sun you recruited proves that, doesn't he?"

"?"

'That deadpan serious?'

Ji Yue's eyebrow arched. Suspicion ford in her mind, but she pressed further, expression turning peculiar: "Back when I was at 2,400 points..."

She trailed off, jutting her chin toward Fang Shiqing suggestively.

Fang Shiqing's clear eyes rippled with genuine confusion. She blinked: "Aren't you already at 2,700?"

"..."

'Boring.'

This Fire Seeker — so devoted to protecting what was beautiful — had probably already used the Rembrance Needle to forget everything Cheng Shi had done.

Ji Yue sighed, having no choice but to accept the wonderfully boring fact that she'd been tricked and was the only one who'd recovered her mories. She waved dismissively, ignoring Fang Shiqing's follow-up questions, and strode toward the Fla of Hope.

She was going to have that honest talk!

Fang Shiqing stood watching Ji Yue's retreating figure — all fury and fire — and murmured to herself:

"Her heartstrings are ringing loud and strong, yet there's sothing heavy and secretive beneath it all. What has she discovered?

2,400... What about 2,400?"

anwhile.

The Fla of Hope received a "guest" in a reception room. The mont she walked in, she spoke as if she'd unearthed the secret of the century, her voice solemn:

"I know who you really are!

You're not [Fate]'s Envoy, the Fla of Hope — you're [Deceit]'s Envoy, Yu Xi! Am I right?!

That's why you sent us searching for Yu Xi — because only by doing so could you smoothly transfer the Torchbearers' gratitude from you to [Deceit]!

From the very beginning, the one sheltering us was always [Deceit] — never so abandoned destiny...

You protected us, but you also deceived us. What are you really doing... Lord Yu Xi?!"

Facing the Fire Seeker's absolute conviction, the Candle Man blinked in bewildernt. He was silent for a long ti. Then a smile — unmistakably [Deceit]-style — crept across his face, and he burst into laughter:

"So you've finally found

out.

That's right. I am Yu Xi — a servant god of [Void], and [Deceit]'s one and only Envoy."