"What does a one an?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Qin Xin's smile froze. He recognized the gravity of the situation. "Is it related to [Fate]?"
"That, I also don't know."
"Then tell
what you do know." In that mont, the Torchbearers' pragmatic ethos asserted itself. Qin Xin crossed his arms, brow furrowed.
An Mingyu deliberated for a long while before carefully choosing her words:
"First, I can confirm that matters involving Cheng Shi are subject to prophecy.
"Not long ago, he contacted . The implication was that he wanted
to make a prophecy about [Prosperity]'s fall. After discussing it with Xin Xin, I didn't do that. Instead, I made a prophecy about Cheng Shi himself.
"You should know that deities cannot be prophesied about lightly. So what I prophesied last ti was: whether the matter Cheng Shi described was connected to him.
"I saw no visions whatsoever. But the number I rolled was..."
Watching An Mingyu's increasingly solemn expression, Qin Xin raised a brow: "What was it?"
"Maximum."
"Twenty-two?"
"No. All seventeen dice in my possession— every single one rolled maximum."
"..." Qin Xin's expression finally changed. Shock— rare for him— surfaced on his face. He pointed upward and asked, "Are you saying His fall... is connected to him? Connected to a player?"
"Which is exactly why I said... I don't know.
"I've conducted two prophecies about him, and those two prophecies produced two opposite extres. All prior experience and guidance has lost its reference value..."
"What exactly was your second prophecy?"
"It's what you ntioned— the audience. I wanted to know whether my Lord had ever summoned him. And my Lord's answer was a pitch-black [Void], along with...
"A one on the Die of Fate."
"Based on my understanding of you prophets, a one signifies absolute negation. So isn't it possible that [Fate] has already given its answer?"
An Mingyu fixed Qin Xin with a withering look, as if staring at a fool.
"I take no particular pride in it, but Qin Xin, please take a careful look at who's standing before you. I am the highest-scoring prophet in this entire ga.
"As the Chosen One of [Fate], I believe I have sowhat more authority on the subject of dice values than you?"
"..."
"This is categorically not a normal one. You need to understand— [Fate] is suffused with change. No one can be certain that sothing will absolutely never happen.
"Fixed destiny only reveals itself at the very end... So the question is: whose ending is this?" An Mingyu furrowed her brow in thought.
Qin Xin stood there awkwardly. He shook his head with a smile.
"Forget it. What we don't know, we don't know. Whether or not he's had an audience with [Fate], it doesn't change the fact that the Torchbearers owe him a debt.
"With [Prosperity] fallen, everyone will start making moves soon. If the Torchbearers' God Creation Plan is to continue, the best approach is to seek inspiration at their funeral.
"Of course, I'm not sure there'll be a proper funeral. But I imagine that those who chase after the deity's relics will serve as a form of 'tribute' in their own right.
"I don't yet know what kind of lead Hu Wei and his group found ahead of ti, but the Torchbearers need to start moving too.
"Once I return, I'll issue the task. As long as we find so 'relics' before everyone else learns the truth, we won't co out too badly.
"But I can't help reminding you and Zhen Xin of one more thing:
"Even if you're using Zhen Yi as a pawn in your sches... letting her know too much is never a good idea."
Indeed— using Zhen Yi as a pawn!
This diocre Person Society gathering was never Long Jing and Zhen Yi's sche. It was the Torchbearers' and Zhen Xin's!
After Zhen Xin had extracted every mory of Cheng Shi from Zhen Yi's mind, the Torchbearers' affairs had been laid bare before her.
And that was how the Blind One had co to find Qin Xin in the first place.
She hadn't been recruited as a Fire Seeker by Qin Xin— she'd co knocking of her own accord.
As for why Zhen Xin and the Blind One wanted to collaborate with the Torchbearers: it was because the Blind One, upon hearing about the organization from Zhen Xin, had imdiately prophesied the Torchbearers' future.
And in the prophetic vision of that future, she'd seen herself and Zhen Xin.
So the two won had decided to approach the Torchbearers and align with [Fate].
After hearing this prophecy, Qin Xin— uncharacteristically— hadn't probed deeply into their motives. He'd simply consulted a certain "person," asking whether this partnership was feasible.
That "person" had given an affirmative answer but offered no further counsel.
So Qin Xin decided to take the risk.
Because the current Torchbearers were simply too weak. He desperately needed assistance, and a prophet who could see through [Fate] would undoubtedly spare them countless troubles.
Hence his earlier remark: the two sides were rely collaborating, and a parting of ways was inevitable.
And how to grow the Torchbearers before that parting ca was the most urgent question burning in Qin Xin's mind.
Returning to the matter of the sche: when the Blind One had gleaned scraps of information from Cheng Shi and cross-referenced them with Zhen Xin, they'd arrived at a bold conjecture— the very one Cheng Shi had spoken of: [Prosperity]'s fall.
But this intelligence couldn't be verified. So they'd devised a sche, feeding a few fragnted mories to Zhen Yi and letting her curiosity drive the investigation.
And conveniently, Zhen Yi was headed to the diocre Person Society. Zhen Xin had also given Cheng Shi a diocre Person Society invitation card in advance. So the two won, together with the Torchbearers— who hungered most for divine intelligence— had laid their trap within the gathering.
Their primary target was Zhen Xin's alternate personality and sister, Zhen Yi— along with the clueless clown, Cheng Shi.
Zhen Yi had believed all along that she was the star of this diocre gathering, so she'd contacted her "good friend" Long Jing, and the two of them had run their own "little sche" inside Zhen Xin's grand design.
And the target of that little sche was also... the clueless clown, Cheng Shi.
In summary: con the clueless clown, Cheng Shi.
Simplified further: Cheng Shi the Clown.
But what nobody expected was that before this sche-within-a-sche concluded, the true clown had turned out to be the schers themselves. Everyone who'd tried to extract intelligence from this ga had ended up the clown instead.
What followed in the hall essentially confird [Prosperity]'s fall for Zhen Xin, the Blind One, and Qin Xin.
Because Cheng Shi's refusal to challenge or question the claim was, in their eyes, an attitude in itself— it ant he could actually stomach the bitter fruit of Zhen Yi impersonating him, which in turn ant he'd already co to terms with [Prosperity]'s fall.
And so, the Torchbearers' God Creation Plan was set in motion. Step one: find [Prosperity]'s relics.
Which was why Qin Xin had issued that warning. He simply didn't want Zhen Yi piecing together clues about their affairs, which could deal a fatal blow to the Torchbearers' existence.
An Mingyu nodded in agreent:
"Rest easy. Xin Xin has already removed every mory Zhen Yi had regarding the [Prosperity] speculation. She only left behind the faintest of clues— otherwise, soone as clever as Zhen Yi would never have been lured into the sche."
"Should I say 'no one knows a sister like her sister'?
"Viewed this way, having an alternate personality is certainly convenient in certain matters."
"Convenient?
"If it happened to you, you absolutely would not say that.
"The two of them are sisters, but they're also rivals— and rivals who know each other inside and out..."
Qin Xin's expression turned strange for an instant. He imagined what it would be like if another version of himself appeared, then was struck by so thought that made him burst out laughing.
"Having a rival isn't so bad either. But enough of that.
"What cos next is mory erasure ti.
"Ming Yu, although you're only an unofficial Fire Seeker, regarding this particular mory..."
An Mingyu raised a hand to cut him off: "Just bring it out."
Qin Xin nodded with an appreciative look, then produced two brand-new vials of Rembrance Needle!
"You're generous with these— they're quite valuable, you know. Aren't you afraid I'll resell them and let Xin Xin keep this mory?"
Qin Xin smiled brightly: "I trust you."
Those three words alone were enough for An Mingyu to shed every trace of levity. She nodded with absolute gravity and accepted the two vials of Rembrance Needle. But then she added with a light laugh: "There's one thing I've always been terribly curious about."
Qin Xin raised a brow: "Go on."
"From using dreams to shroud this hall, to generating mory projections of players, to all the mory-erasure abilities you're using...
"If I'm not mistaken, you seem to always rely on items to wield your [mory] powers.
"Where on earth do you get so many [mory] artifacts, Qin Xin?"
Qin Xin seed entirely unsurprised by the question. He laughed heartily: "Perhaps you've forgotten that one of my Fire Seekers is a Learned Poet."
"True, a Learned Poet would greatly augnt your capabilities. But what I an is, your items go beyond re pages.
"As a follower of [mory], why do you refuse to wield [mory]'s power directly?
"What exactly are you hiding?
"And that current mysterious number-one on the [mory] ladder, Like A Dream— is that really not you?"
At those words, Qin Xin grinned from ear to ear.
"Of course it's not . Because I...
"Am not on the ladder you're referring to."
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