The Prisoner was out of ideas. He'd never even been to the Fire Passing Hall—how could he possibly find the Fla of Hope?
But just because he couldn't find it didn't an soone else couldn't.
Ji Yue!
This Torchbearer Fire Seeker had exchanged contacts with The Prisoner during their shared trial. After racking his brain, The Prisoner realized she was his only path to that sacred Fire Passing Hall!
He already had the excuse ready: sincere heart, requesting a special audience.
The timing might be hard to explain, but no matter—as long as she agreed, there'd be no need for further explanations. The Prisoner would simply make her shut up. After all, Silence followers excelled at exactly that.
'A minor offense for the sake of the world's future. Surely a Fire Seeker would understand.'
When The Prisoner laid out his plan to Long Jing, the acrobat gave a polite smile and decided Cheng Shi had picked the wrong man.
He'd never heard a plan this unreliable. If this player "Ji Yue" had even a shred of vigilance, she'd never agree to The Prisoner's request.
Long Jing was anxious. He felt The Prisoner was far too cavalier, failing to grasp the gravity of an Outer God invasion. But The Prisoner told him:
"Old Gong, you understand the situation, but you don't understand us.
I believe Ji Yue will absolutely agree. Because the mont I speak up, she'll know I'm in trouble.
Mutual aid is a tradition that's been passed... down. She won't leave
hanging."
"..."
Such a pure, simple bond sounded like a fairy tale to a con artist. Long Jing was half-skeptical, but agreed to the plan on a "let's try" basis and asked, puzzled:
"What kind of organization are you people, exactly?"
The Prisoner's face turned solemn. "If you find out, you'll have to join."
"?" Long Jing blinked, amused. "That's a unique recruitnt thod. What—is it contagious?"
The Prisoner rubbed his head, eyes twinkling: "It's not called contagious, it's called passing the f— nice try! You're not tricking !
Point is, that's how I got in. There might be other ways, but I haven't seen them."
"..."
Long Jing shut up. He felt he should've done what the Doctor did—drop the mory Page and run. Unfortunately, it was too late.
To ensure authenticity and persuasiveness, The Prisoner couldn't let Long Jing leave. He dragged Long Jing along and contacted Ji Yue, who was in the middle of the eting. When she received The Prisoner's ssage, the Fire Seeker solemnly shared it with the entire Torchbearer assembly.
'Speak of the devil—but this ti he'd arrived awfully fast.' Everyone was taken aback. Sun Miao burst out laughing: "Here we go."
Qin Xin frowned, glanced in the Fla of Hope's direction, and nodded for Ji Yue to approve The Prisoner's plan.
Ji Yue replied solemnly. After relaying the Fire Passing Hall's location to The Prisoner, she seed to foresee the ordeal ahead and sighed with a shake of her head:
"Looks like I'll be the only casualty of this 'accident.' Whether you knock
out or bind , when this is over, make sure you tell
everything.
I don't want to miss a good story.
As for The Prisoner... he'd better apologize. Right here, in the Fire Passing Hall, in front of everyone. A formal, proper apology."
Ji Yue's words broke the heavy atmosphere. Everyone shared an amused smile, traded glances, and filed out—clearing space for Ji Yue and The Prisoner's eting.
Before long, The Prisoner arrived at the Fire Passing Hall with Long Jing. Surveying the place's austere, minimalist décor, Long Jing was rather surprised.
"You people are into the ascetic thing? No wonder you took in that Ascetic Monk."
"?"
Ji Yue had no idea what The Prisoner had told Long Jing. She was about to offer an explanation when The Prisoner cut in urgently:
"Where's the Fla of Hope?"
Ji Yue's words died on her lips. She pointed in a direction.
The Prisoner got it. Slowly, he raised his hand.
Ji Yue knew she was about to suffer. But his completely unconcealed, almost eager expression—what was that supposed to an?
'I deserve to get "silenced"?'
Her brow darkened as she glared at The Prisoner: "Couldn't you at least wait until I turned around?"
The Prisoner casually placed his raised hand on his head, rubbing it, pretending nothing happened:
"Well, the thing is, you haven't turned around yet."
"..."
"..."
Honestly, Long Jing wasn't exactly the silent type either. As a stage perforr, he needed audience interaction. But today, his silence count had thoroughly exceeded quota.
As a War follower, Ji Yue's blood pressure spiked. She wanted nothing more than to fight The Prisoner head-on—lose honorably, and at least she'd have earned a battle even if she missed the story.
But The Prisoner denied her even that. He suddenly asked: "They know?"
Ji Yue's voice caught. Before she could figure out what to say, her vision went black. She collapsed.
Long Jing had done it. He simply couldn't stand watching these two waste any more ti.
"Every second counts! With you two in the organization, I have serious doubts about your efficiency," Long Jing said darkly.
The Prisoner disagreed: "You can insult , but you cannot insult our organization. Even my brother-in-law has expressed his respect for it. You, a re mortal—too short-sighted."
"..."
"Follow . The Fla of Hope is right in here."
The Prisoner turned and walked. Long Jing followed close behind. Shortly, when they reached the rest area where the Fla of Hope typically resided, a wisp of fire suddenly dangled down behind them, curiously studying these two "newcors":
"You're looking for ?"
Both n started and spun around. In that instant, they understood why this being was called the Fla of Hope.
He really was fire.
The Prisoner's expression blazed with excitent—he felt his very soul resonating with the Fla of Hope. His body, too. He'd already pulled a can of gasoline from his pocket.
The Fla of Hope genuinely froze for a second at the sight of the gasoline. He very much wanted to tell this naive newcor that fuel couldn't help Him grow stronger.
Long Jing was equally floored. Fortunately, he was more reliable than The Prisoner. Seeing that The Prisoner's opening line would clearly not be on topic, he clamped a hand over the man's mouth and rapidly explained why they were here.
Without a third mory Page, he couldn't share every detail. He stuck to the most important, most relevant points. And when he finished his breathless account, the Fla of Hope nearly froze in midair.
"He's the Outer God Deceit?"
The Candle Man clearly couldn't accept it, murmuring to himself: "But I always thought He was... the Fate that was split from ..."
"!!??"
That sentence nearly gave Long Jing a heart attack. As a Deceit follower, he'd long pondered who was who between the Sunset and Morning Joy. Hearing these words, his brain nearly detonated.
The Candle Man's fla dimd for a mont, then within the two n's bewildered gazes, it roared back to life. He nodded gravely:
"I understand Yu Xi's intent. But this matter... is not so simple.
What he wants is to contaminate his own faith!
Void chose him perhaps precisely because, despite walking the Void path, his heart holds no faith—he was never truly devoted to anyone.
Fate wanted to use this to forge the fixed. And as far as I know, the previous Deceit also wanted to use this to break the fixed.
I couldn't guess exactly what Deceit intended. I only knew the 'fixed' was equally important to Deceit. Only today do I understand—He ca from another world to plunder the fixed.
Yu Xi cannot be taken. Contaminating his faith is indeed one thod. But the mont his faith is contaminated, he also loses his identity as the fixed...
Then who would still protect him?
Would Fate still favor a Fate Weaver who personally shattered the fixed?
And where would our world go, having lost the fixed?"
Silence fell at the Fla of Hope's murmured words. Before long, heavy footsteps echoed from the hall's outer corridor.
"A world with the fixed and a world without it may differ. But those are tomorrow's problems.
Whether seeking survival or seeking righteousness—for the Torchbearers, this has never been a question.
Torchbearers will never trade a friend or sothing precious for the sake of preserving an 'old' world. Not before. Not now. Not ever.
So the answer is simple. Whether he's Cheng Shi or Yu Xi, he is our friend. That's enough.
Torchbearers will protect what is precious and shelter their friends!
That is what it ans to pass the fire.
And you, and I, and he—we are all that fire."
...
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