And just when you thought it was over — there was more!
...
Poison hadn't arrived by coincidence. She too had attended the gathering at Dolgod.
Corruption may not have had a Divine Throne, but Corruption did have a Chosen One.
When the Dragon King was assembling everyone on Cheng Shi's behalf, he hadn't known how Cheng Shi planned to handle this Chosen One without a throne. But regardless of Fixed Destiny's plans, at the very least soone from Corruption's side needed to be present. So the Dragon King had sent word to Poison as well.
He sought her opinion. Poison did not refuse.
Yet her attendance — much like Corruption's situation itself — was painfully awkward.
From start to finish, perhaps because of the Doctor's discovery or Big Cat's farewell, the gods had not imdiately paid her any attention.
Poison didn't mind. She had lost her desires, and with them, the capacity to care.
But when she watched all the gods co together, working as one to find a future for this world, her heart gave a single, uncontrollable lurch. She wanted to join in — yet she couldn't find the drive to do so.
Everyone knew desire was a terrifying thing. What they didn't know was that the absence of desire could be equally terrifying.
Poison kept stirring with the thought of belonging, but such thoughts were like rootless duckweed — impossible to build grand aspirations upon. So even after Cheng Shi left and the gods busied themselves, she still stood rooted to the spot, lost and directionless.
Until she faintly overheard the Destined Ones' and the Jokers' conversations, then quietly followed them to the Sea of Desire's edge.
This was her "ho turf."
Poison took her place beside Qin Xin, a smile blossoming on her face. But everyone knew the smile was a mask — a person who had lost all desire could feel no emotions. Poison was simply playing the part of who she used to be.
Qin Xin couldn't deny Poison's courage. He only furrowed his brow and said worriedly:
"You haven't inherited a Divine Throne. You're still mortal. The Sea of Desire is this dangerous — you..."
Poison glanced at Qin Xin, lips curving upward.
"Is it any less dangerous for a god?
I've only ever heard of gods dying in the Sea of Desire. I've never heard of a mortal dying there. Who knows — maybe mortals actually have the advantage inside?"
"..."
The remark left everyone speechless. It was true — they didn't yet know the Sea of Desire's effect on mortals. But then again, no sane person would take a swim in the Sea of Desire for fun.
Zhen Yi, upon hearing this, leaned toward her sister and muttered under her breath: "No matter how you spin it, that sounds like a Clown's sophistry. As expected — he really is the universe's greatest source of contamination..."
Speak of the devil.
While the standoff over who would enter the Sea of Desire continued, Cheng Shi returned — and Hong Lin was with him.
They hadn't said their final farewell yet. Cheng Shi, recalling the mission that the other Hong Lin had ntioned in the Real Universe, felt her departure was too rushed. He had gently asked her to stay a while longer.
Hong Lin wanted to spend more ti with her friends, of course. But she declined Cheng Shi's approach and stood alone at the farthest edge.
Tao Yi saw Hong Lin arrive, bit her lip, and forced herself to stay put, fighting the impulse to rush over and say goodbye. She watched her best friend from afar. Hong Lin, seeing the little fox hold together so bravely, felt a swell of relief.
It was amid all this that Cheng Shi walked slowly to stand before Poison. His face — like soone who had truly lost all desire — was devoid of joy or sorrow.
"This isn't about faith, and no one person is indispensable for this. We may still find a better way. When the future arrives, you may yet find the aning of who you are. Poison, you..."
Before he could finish, Poison let out a bright laugh.
"I don't like your current identity. I prefer the little Priest you used to be.
So tell , little Priest — will you rember ?"
"..."
Cheng Shi gazed out at the distant Sea of Desire, his lips moved faintly — and as always when Poison drew close, he gave no answer.
Poison smiled. A smile radiant to the point of blinding.
"Then let the world rember . And you'll rember
by default."
With that, she stopped looking at Cheng Shi and turned to face everyone standing at the Sea of Desire's edge.
"Ever since the gods descended and the ga began, I've been satisfying everyone's desires, using that to speculate on Corruption's Will and draw closer to the divine.
Now it's ti to show myself a little tenderness.
Since we're all such good friends, won't you satisfy one desire of mine? Even though I've long since lost my desires, I still 'want' to find the person I used to be.
Let
go in your place. It satisfies the world's need, and it satisfies my own 'pursuit.' Everybody wins.
Besides, I may not even bring back an answer. The Sea of Desire is boundless — I can't guarantee where its currents will sweep . If you don't hear from
for a while, you can resu fighting over that spot. It won't diminish your spirit of sacrifice one bit.
So give
this chance. It's settled. Rember to miss ."
With that, Poison swept aside her fading-green bangs with effortless grace, and without a backward glance, strode toward the Sea of Desire.
The instant she turned away, every trace of her smile shattered. Her face beca identical to Cheng Shi's at this mont — utterly expressionless.
Qin Xin startled, reaching out to pull her back, but Poison nimbly dodged. Then Cheng Shi's voice rang out from behind:
"Poison!
Rember — if you discover anything connected to the Creator inside the Sea of Desire, and that thing is contagious, then from the mont you discover it, don't speak another word.
We'll be waiting for you at the Sea's edge..."
There was one more sentence Cheng Shi left unspoken, murmured only in his heart: 'We'll see you off one more ti.'
Cheng Shi had already ford a vague guess about the Sea of Desire's secret.
Whether mortal or divine, anyone who ca into contact with what lay inside the Sea of Desire would likely not escape death. But the timing and manner of that death were very telling.
Cheng Shi re-examined everything he knew about the Sea of Desire, and finally uncovered a few more telling details.
Order and War had entered the Sea of Desire long ago, yet they didn't die until the current Epoch — a gap spanning several Epochs.
Deceit, on the other hand, went from entering to dying in a span so short it could be counted in days. Drasilco was even more extre — he died practically the mont he erged.
This ant the "contamination" inside the Sea of Desire had no fixed "shelf life."
And the strangest part: none of the aforentioned gods had died from the "contamination" itself!
They had either self-destructed or died by external forces — and even when external forces were involved, those forces had been invited by the gods themselves. War, for example.
All of this led Cheng Shi to believe that the "contamination" itself might not be lethal. It was more like a curse — or, seen from another angle, it looked more like the resolve of those gods to "free themselves from the contamination"!
Cheng Shi's line of reasoning wasn't unfounded. Drasilco's dying words had led the Jokers to connect the Sea of Desire's secret to the Origin. And as it happened, among those gods: Deceit was Fear Faction. Order had said He sided with Deceit — Fear Faction as well. War wasn't exactly fear-aligned, but His resolute charge at the Origin certainly wasn't the Approach Faction either...
All three had sought to distance themselves from the Origin, and all three had chosen death after being "contaminated." Did that an the secret hidden in the Sea of Desire was truly inseparable from the Origin?
...
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