Silence. An eerie silence.
With everyone gone, not a single sound remained in the hall.
The quiet persisted for so long that ti itself seed to have forgotten this place, as though the entire space would sink into the sea of mory at any mont.
Then, from a point far beyond the naked eye's reach in the upper seating tiers, a footstep echoed.
Soone was descending from the farthest reaches of the gallery!
And not just one person!
Two sets of footsteps answered each other— one heavy, one light, rising and falling in perfect harmony. Before long, the heavier tread grew louder and louder, reverberating through the entire hall.
As the footsteps drew near, two silhouettes gradually erged from the darkness.
In front walked a man clad in battle armor. He wore no iron helm, but war boots encased his feet— which explained the thunderous weight of his stride.
This armored figure wore his hair at an awkward mid-length, brows drawn in a perpetual furrow. As his gaze swept the ruins of the central stage, a sharp glint flashed through his eyes.
"Your prophecy said nothing about this kind of situation..."
He didn't turn around. He kept walking, but the comnt was clearly directed at the woman behind him.
She wore a star-speckled dress of deepest black, stepping delicately into each of the armored man's footprints. Her expression was strange as she nodded:
"[Fate] rely guides. Until change and divination have settled their contest, no one can be certain what the future holds.
"I simply never imagined this Fate Weaver would possess such... unexpected strength."
The woman's voice was crystalline and ethereal, lingering in the empty hall like wisps of mist, draping the vacant space in a veil of mystery.
The only imperfection was the strip of black cloth bound over her eyes. The coarse fabric clashed jarringly with the delicate silk of her dress.
The armored man nodded, then halted at the front row. He studied where everyone had been standing, then glanced back with a raised brow toward the spot where Cui Qiushi and Zhang Hao had been, his expression pensive.
The woman in the black dress followed his line of sight, looking mildly surprised as she nodded, but said nothing.
The armored man chuckled softly: "You noticed it too. Why the silence?"
The woman in black smiled back: "I never imagined the person who set the Torchbearers on the right path... would be him.
"He's... well, to use Xin Xin's words, very unique— but also very solitary.
"Though his relationship with Baldy seems rather good."
The armored man burst into laughter:
"Aside from her rivals and Zhen Yi, Hong Lin gets along with practically everyone. She's soone who treasures personal bonds.
"Unfortunately, what she treasures are small bonds, not the greater ones.
"Otherwise, I'd have invited her to join the Torchbearers."
The woman in black smiled faintly: "I'll take that as a complint."
"Hahaha, you don't quite qualify either. You're like Hong Lin in that you value personal bonds, but your ambitions run far deeper than hers.
"We're rely walking the sa road for a stretch. Sooner or later, we'll part ways.
"I only hope that when that ti cos, we can go our separate ways peacefully. Ming Yu, I ask only that you stay your hand— even if you won't give us a push, at least don't tear up the road behind us."
Indeed— the woman in the black dress was none other than An Mingyu, the Chosen One of [Fate], known among peak players as the Blind One.
Which made the armored man's identity easy to guess: Qin Xin, founder of the Torchbearers!
An Mingyu shook her head with an amused smile: "I've told you— I've seen that my future and the Torchbearers' future converge. But you don't believe , and there's nothing I can do about that."
Qin Xin returned a wry smile: "If you and Zhen Xin weren't best friends, I'd believe that ninety percent. But knowing you're acquainted with her, I can only believe ten."
"Oh? Is it ten percent you believe, or one Cheng?" An Mingyu asked with amusent, clearly playing on the homophone to gauge the Torchbearer founder's attitude toward Cheng Shi.
Qin Xin caught the wordplay. He fell silent for a mont, then sighed:
"I truly never expected him to save Qiushi. Even though that was only a projection of my mories, Cheng Shi clearly knows Qiushi.
"Sigh— just from the fact that Qiushi doesn't recognize him, I can already deduce that the benefactor my Fire Seeker anxiously chose to forget... was him!
"The way things played out... the Torchbearers owe him a debt.
"Fortunately, it's not too late to make ands. This misunderstanding may require Zhen Xin to suffer a little for it."
An Mingyu let out a quiet sigh of her own: "At least Zhen Yi can take the bla. Xin Xin shouldn't have underestimated him."
"Those who deceive will always be deceived in turn. Zhen Xin knows that saying as well as anyone."
"Of course she does. She's probably the person in this world who understands it best.
"But let's set that aside for now. How do you plan to face the Torchbearers' benefactor?"
"I shouldn't face him at all," Qin Xin said, his expression grave. "Since my Fire Seeker chose to forget him, I should not learn his identity at this stage either.
"But tonight's misunderstanding— I will express my apologies with sincerity."
"Should I thank you on behalf of the Learned Poet for your unwavering principles? Or should I curse your stubbornness on my own behalf?"
At that, Qin Xin laughed aloud.
"You think I shouldn't forget Cheng Shi's identity?"
An Mingyu nodded without hesitation:
"One who orchestrates the ga board should survey the entire field.
"If you forget who he is, and when you place your next piece you discover this Fate Weaver standing in the Torchbearers' path once again— wouldn't that move be wasted? Wouldn't it simply invite another tragedy?
"You are not [Fate]. You are [mory]. Your duty is not to enact [Fate]'s tragedies, but to rember everything you know."
Qin Xin's gaze sharpened. Then a smile surfaced on his face.
After a long mont, he turned and studied the blindfold covering the Blind One's eyes. His smile faded, replaced by solemn gravity:
"You're wrong.
"The Torchbearers must first protect each mber's individual ideals— only then can they collectively defend their shared ones.
"It's true that most of our mbers possess selfless dedication. But that dedication ans sacrificing one's own principles, not soone else's.
"I cannot make decisions for my Fire Seeker, and I will support every decision she makes.
"Because that is the ideal I choose to protect, and the founding purpose of the Torchbearers."
"But in the end, I'm still not a qualified Torchbearer?" An Mingyu smiled.
Qin Xin faltered, then sighed: "Just think of
as an old fossil."
"Not exactly. You're rather endearing, actually. To use Xin Xin's words: adorably foolish."
An Mingyu laughed softly and stepped toward the exit.
She walked to the edge of the stage ruins and looked down at this place that had been jointly demolished by mory's projections and deceit's illusions, the corners of her lips curling upward despite herself.
"Whenever I picture Xin Xin and this Fate Weaver swapping identities, I can't shake this sense of [Fate]'s inevitability.
"I suspect this won't be the last ti they swap. But this Fate Weaver... is truly brave!
"Daring to provoke even Zhen Yi."
"Zhen Xin went alone into Hu Wei's ga. Aren't you worried about her?"
"Worried? The one who should worry is the Grand Marshal and his group. What do I have to worry about?
"What concerns
more right now is that Zhen Xin has fallen into Cheng Shi's hands. This Fate Weaver doesn't seem like the accommodating type."
Qin Xin raised an eyebrow: "Because of Zhen Yi?"
An Mingyu nodded with a smile: "Yes. Because of Zhen Yi."
"So the rumors are true. She really is [Deceit]'s test subject."
"Test subject? No— Xin Xin wouldn't agree with that phrasing." An Mingyu seed to recall sothing, her expression growing complicated. "Zhen Yi existed long before the Faith Ga descended.
"It was only when [Deceit] cast its gaze that it gave Xin Xin an extra opportunity— or rather, gave Zhen Yi an opportunity.
"It intended for Zhen Yi to pick up the Die of Fate. But who could have guessed? Right in front of a god, Zhen Yi changed her mind and chose the sa mask as her sister."
Qin Xin's eyes lit up with sudden understanding, and he laughed:
"Of course! I suspect [Deceit] wasn't angry at all— in fact, it was probably delighted?"
An Mingyu pressed her lips together in a smile and didn't reply.
But her expression said it all: 'You guessed right.'
Qin Xin shook his head in amusent. Letting go of the topic of Zhen Xin, he looked into An Mingyu's eyes and asked with gravity:
"Zhen Xin said he'd had an audience with [Fate]. Cheng Shi's reaction to that was very telling— he didn't seem to reject the claim at all. So, Ming Yu, what do you think?"
At those words, An Mingyu's smile vanished instantly.
She furrowed her brow in thought for a mont, arriving at no conclusion. Then she produced a twenty-two-sided die and tossed it casually to the ground.
The Die of Fate tumbled back and forth until it finally slowed to a stop at her feet, showing...
One.
"..."
"..."
Qin Xin froze, then chuckled:
"What did you divine?
"His audience?
"So I was overthinking it?
"It seems [Fate] truly is indifferent. Perhaps it simply dislikes summoning anyone..."
An Mingyu's face beca extraordinarily complex. She gently shook her head, then "gazed" at Qin Xin and said with utmost seriousness:
"I need to tell you a secret first:
"This should be only the second ti since I embarked on [Fate]'s path and received the Die of Fate... that I've rolled a...
"One."
"?" Qin Xin's gaze sharpened, pupils constricting sharply.
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