'How dare she?!'
What kind of player, at the very mont of divine descent, would announce to the gods' faces that she intended to "spy" on them?
'You think this is a dream?'
Even though many considered that afternoon a dream—even so, when you lacked the ability to wake up, how did you muster the courage to confront a "dream-maker"?
Cheng Shi was numb. Scalp-tingling numb.
He gazed at the composed Blind One as if staring at a monster.
Her tone was so casual. She'd just casually narrated sothing terrifying.
Yes—prophesying a deity was terrifying enough. But when the target of said prophecy was the one who governed Fate and bestowed the power of prophecy in the first place, the horror beca almost conceptually infinite.
Still, the Blind One had paid the price for her "blasphemy." The cost of staring directly into the Void was permanent blindness—seeing nothing but darkness ever after. For anyone, that would be a lifelong shadow. For many, the instant of transgression would have been their last.
But she'd survived. More than that—she'd beco Fate's Chosen.
'Hiss—'
'This Chosen... is pretty hardcore.'
"Do you regret it?" Cheng Shi asked, his tone complicated.
"Regret what?"
"Void stripped your sight."
"It wasn't stripping. It was a gift.
Though I can no longer see the world's surface, I've drawn closer to the universe's essence.
Fate... is guiding
toward understanding all that is real."
"..." 'Confird lunatic.' Cheng Shi sucked air through his teeth. "So how do you perceive the world now? For instance, —when you look at , do you see any specific image?"
"Perception is abstract—it has no concrete form. But combining my pre-blindness understanding of the world, I can roughly align the two sensations.
For you, Cheng Shi, my perception is... hmm, strange. It's a vast spider web."
"!!??"
'Mockery and Jeering!'
The instant she said "spider web," Cheng Shi's mind leapt to the Fun God's creation deep in the Void—Mockery and Jeering.
His brow furrowed. Sothing felt deeper than surface level. He probed further:
"What about the Grand Marshal? How does he appear to you?"
"Hu Wei? Why bring him up?" The Blind One seed mildly surprised.
"I'm on good terms with the Grand Marshal. Just curious. If a Fate follower looks like a spider web, that's sowhat logical. So what does a War follower look like?
Surely not a weapon?"
The Blind One frowned and shook her head: "No. Hu Wei gives
a very chaotic impression—no fixed or distinct form. He's more like a constantly shifting, unpredictable fog..."
'Fog... The yellow fog of Chaos...'
Very close.
If only the Blind One had seen that chaotic yellow fog before losing her sight, she'd have identified Hu Wei's true faith in an instant!
Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened. He suddenly found himself believing that rumor he'd heard—"only the Blind One can see through Fate."
This Fate Chosen was genuinely sothing else.
"Is this a talent bestowed by Fate?"
"No. It's not a talent. As I said—it's a gift from the Void."
"..." Cheng Shi shot her a strange look.
'Right, right—you're all Fate's darlings, so impressive. anwhile, a certain unlucky Fate Weaver still doesn't know whether his Benefactor is actually upset.'
'But as long as Fate didn't summon the Blind One recently, it probably ans it's not as petty as—it's very magnanimous!'
Cheng Shi hastily derailed his irreverent train of thought and switched tracks:
"Got it. Now—tell
about the diocre Person Society. How did you kill Lao Deng?"
The Blind One paused, then "looked" into his eyes with a rueful smile:
"Whether it's mory's exchange or a con artist's heart-to-heart, there's never been a rule where one side only asks and the other only answers. Cheng Shi—your turn. I answered your question. Now answer mine."
His bluff having failed, Cheng Shi dry-laughed and looked up: "Ahem—naturally. Sincerity is my specialty. Ask away."
"Why did you help them?"
"Who?"
"Torchbearer Fire Seeker Fang Shiqing and the other two City Defenders."
The mont he heard this, Cheng Shi's gaze hardened. He imdiately realized it wasn't a mory malfunction after all. Fang Shiqing and the others probably hadn't recovered those mories. The Blind One had clearly learned the details from elsewhere—otherwise she wouldn't be unaware of his past relationship with them.
Connecting this to her previous ntion of the diocre Person Society, it clicked.
'Cui Qiushi!'
'My interaction with Cui Qiushi at the diocre Person gathering caught soone's eye—and that's how the Blind One pieced together my identity?'
'No, that doesn't fully add up either. Even if I'd deliberately approached that Torchbearer, how could she know the details of a story that had been erased from mory?'
"Lost in thought? You're not fabricating an answer to brush
off, are you?" The Blind One watched his furrowed brow with a knowing smile.
"No—just rembering that trial. Feeling a bit wistful.
But since when does helping people require a reason?"
The Blind One blinked. Then she smiled: "So you're saying you're the helpful type?"
"No. It has nothing to do with being helpful—more like pleasing myself.
I'm only responsible to myself. Act on impulse, save when I feel like it. And honestly, my motivation back then wasn't even rescue—it was mischief.
I simply gave them a little push. Let them approach and discover the truth themselves. Then I erased my traces, leaving them mired in confusion without even knowing why.
I was fabricating the mystique of Fate—making those lost souls marvel at destiny's grandeur, offering that wonder up to our shared Benefactor.
So if you insist on labeling that behavior, I'd suggest not 'being helpful.' Try 'devout faith' instead."
"..." The Blind One's face froze.
Shalessness among peak players wasn't unheard of. But soone spinning this length of sophistry to justify himself while simultaneously gilding his own reputation? That was rare.
For a split second, Zhen Yi's shadow crossed her mind.
'They're... actually sowhat alike. No wonder he dared impersonate Zhen Yi right in front of the real one.'
Reviews
All reviews (0)