Hong Lin was unusually anxious today.
Even though she'd been the one who'd "personally" arranged the Destined Ones' eting space, hearing Cheng Shi say they needed to et imdiately still set her nerves on edge. The anxiety wasn't about eting unknown Destined companions — it was about... Them.
Hong Lin wasn't incapable of thinking. She just wasn't great at it. After several world-shaking upheavals and divine falls, she'd long since realized where this ga's so-called endpoint must lie: breaking the current world's shackles and racing toward a shore she couldn't foresee.
But those shackles weren't so easily broken. Setting aside the Creator sitting high above in the real universe — even in this starry sky, the gods still ruled. Straining against the chains ant making enemies of so gods, perhaps all of them.
She herself was half a divine candidate. At least by "the rules," she had so standing to challenge them. Cheng Shi went without saying — as the only person to have ever played a card at the gods' table, he was the vanguard of this will to shatter the universe's chains.
But what about everyone else?
If the Fate Weaver was going to show his hand, it ant the Destined Ones' next moves would likely defy certain gods' wills. Before eting them in person, she wasn't sure these unknown companions could stand firm and united.
All she could do was trust in [Fate] and believe that every one of them was a warrior who'd press forward without looking back!
After hanging up, Hong Lin imdiately went to Tao Yi's Barren Mountain Vegetable Garden. The mountain was barren no longer — nourished by divinity, lush green growth blanketed the entire peak. At a glance, everything was flourishing; not a trace of decay remained.
When Hong Lin arrived, Tao Yi was picking vegetables in the field. She saw the leopard bounding over with an urgent expression, three leaps bringing her close. Before Big Cat could even speak, Tao Yi tilted her head and smiled:
"The venue's set up. We can et anyti. Like... right now."
Hearing the confirmation, Hong Lin relaxed — then wrinkled her nose, sniffing the air dramatically:
"How'd you know there's a eting? I only made one phone call. I haven't seen anyone, so how could I have his scent on ?"
Tao Yi plucked a branch from a vine, shaking her head with a laugh:
"Just because you've got a sharp nose doesn't an everyone else does.
There's only one thing that would make you rush over in such a hurry: a Destined Ones gathering. I can't think of a second reason.
Speaking of which — was setting up the venue really the first test the Destined Ones gave ?
Or did certain lazy people not want to do it themselves and outsource such a big project to ... Baldy?"
"Ahem... well, uh, the grass looks very grass-y. And the flowers look... flower-y."
Big Cat deflected with visible embarrassnt, prowling circles around Tao Yi, occasionally swiping at a vine with her paw, muttering things like "What's this? Pretty cute. And this? Not bad either. Hmm, but nothing's as pretty as you."
The little fox didn't call her out. She simply stowed the cut branch, then asked with total seriousness: "When?"
Big Cat stopped mid-stride, turning: "Today."
"Right now?"
"Yeah. Coming?" With that, Big Cat sliced open the void with her claws.
Tao Yi was visibly nervous too, but she nodded and followed Big Cat through.
...
The void. Location unknown.
As one of the absolute peak players — arguably the highest combat power in the entire ga — Hong Lin was noticeably less restrained around fellow players than she'd been at the Assembly of Gods Convention.
She strolled casually through a pitch-dark corridor, arriving before a door that stretched endlessly upward. Gazing at this gate that would make even a giant crane their neck, Hong Lin's heart sank. Her trust in the little fox's aesthetic sense and design skills was having a crisis.
"Xiao Yiyi, this is just a door, right? The eting hall is inside?"
Tao Yi squinted, smiling like a fox.
"Of course. Were you planning to hold the eting on the door panel?"
"Phew — okay, good." Hong Lin breathed a sigh of relief, pushing the door open while asking, "But why make it so tall?"
Tao Yi pointed at the countless stars dotting the door and explained earnestly:
"Fate like stars — within sight but beyond reach.
If mortal eyes could see where it ends, how could it be called 'Fate'?
Moreover, all attendees are souls blessed by [Fate] — sheltered from the storm by our Benefactor. The calm inside the eting hall mirrors that protection. So I erected a towering gate before it.
To push open Fate's door — that is what it ans to be one of the Destined."
The interpretation of [Fate] ward Hong Lin's heart. She thought this answer would surely satisfy Cheng Shi, so she planted her feet and pushed. The massive door swung slowly open.
Starlight poured down like rain, illuminating the round table at the center. To Hong Lin's surprise, several hooded figures already sat around it. The headcount was noticeably smaller than she'd expected — but that wasn't the point. The point was: apart from the table... where was everything else?!
Huh?
Just one round table?
And judging by its design — the surface layout, the carved patterns — this was... a gambling table.
A gambling table?!
"TAO XIAO YI!!!" Hong Lin's face went black. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and hissed through clenched teeth, "Explain yourself!
You put a gambling table in the Destined Ones' eting hall?!"
Tao Yi took a asured step back to open distance from Big Cat, covering her mouth with a delicate laugh: "Well, yes. Don't you think that when everyone walks in carrying a set of dice, it looks exactly like an underground gambling ring?"
"???"
Hong Lin glared daggers, half-wishing she could drag the girl out for a thrashing: "This is your devotion? This is your understanding of the Destined Ones?"
"Absolutely. Randomness is [Fate]'s authority. Gambling is the the of destiny. I think it's perfectly reasonable."
"You—"
Big Cat's world crumbled. She suspected her best friend had never believed the whole "Destined Ones' initiation test" story, and had set up this table specifically to sabotage her.
Consider: when Cheng Shi saw this gambling table, he'd probably freeze for a second. But then he'd rember who'd been in charge of the setup...
Right. Big Cat.
'Oh no. The little fox played !'
Hong Lin spun around, murder in her eyes — but then, at that exact mont, Cheng Shi arrived!
He followed the route Big Cat had left him, stepped into the void, and the first thing he saw through the giant doors was the conspicuous gambling table. At first he raised an eyebrow with genuine interest, thinking the design was very fitting for [Fate] — after all, the Destined Ones were about to make the biggest gamble of their lives!
But then he noticed the figures seated around the table...
"???"
One, two, three, four, five...
'Wait. Not counting Big Cat and the Wood Elf by the door, and excluding myself — since when were there this many Destined Ones?'
'Did I co to the wrong place?'
Reviews
All reviews (0)