Foolish Game of the Chapter 648: An Mingyu: I Had an Audience with Death

What did she see?

A good question. The smile gradually faded from the Blind One's face, her brow furrowed slightly, and a flicker of worry crossed her features.

She suddenly realized just how little she actually knew about Them — even after having audiences with several of Them, she still knew nothing about Them. No — about the one beyond Them. The Origin.

So there was actually a god in this world, in this ga, that no player had ever known about?

And one that could not be gazed upon, could not be fathod, could not be prophesied!

If the Origin was so mysterious, then how had Cheng Shi co to know of it?

Who had told him?

The Blind One's mind was in turmoil. She wasn't just afraid for her own ignorance and recklessness — she was far more worried about the Torchbearers who walked alongside her.

She had seen her own future standing with the Torchbearers, so she feared that this divination attempt might have exposed the secretive Torchbearers to the gaze of so irresistible existence.

This god that Cheng Shi called the Origin must hold a higher Status than the sixteen existing Them — otherwise it couldn't have directly shattered her Destiny die and taken her life through her Benefactor's own protection.

What kind of existence was the Origin, and what did it look like...

The Blind One's thoughts circled back to this question. She had always been searching for her own cognitive anchor point among all existences in the universe. Destiny's "vision" had helped her accomplish this feat — but this ti, she had failed.

Because she had seen nothing. Not even darkness!

The mont she'd shaken the die, she was already dead.

As for what number her twenty-three-sided Destiny die had landed on before crumbling to ash — she hadn't the faintest idea.

All she knew was that her largest die... probably wasn't coming back.

"I'm sorry, Qin Xin. Until I've fully investigated this matter, I can't share it with you," An Mingyu said, shaking her head apologetically at Qin Xin. "The Torchbearers are special. Until the cost can be properly assessed, they should be kept as far from danger as possible."

Qin Xin raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. He seed to have already guessed sothing, but since even the Fire Seeker wasn't sure whether to share with him, he naturally wouldn't press for answers.

So he nodded and smiled at the two before him:

"Likewise, I apologize — this identity of mine creates weighing difficulties for you. In that case, I'll just go stand guard outside like a proper bodyguard. At the very least, a burly bodyguard won't let anyone disturb you."

And with that, the founder of the Torchbearers actually left without a shred of curiosity, even rembering to take the unconscious Alo Manni with him. Now only two followers of Destiny remained in the room, and a conversation between riddlers began anew.

But this ti — was it really riddles?

No!

Not at all!

The mont Qin Xin closed the door, An Mingyu shook her head with a bitter expression: "I didn't see anything. This ti, there wasn't even darkness."

Cheng Shi's expression shifted slightly. The heart that had been hanging in suspense finally sank. He wasn't surprised by her answer — if a single suicidal divination could reveal the Origin, then during those fervent ages of faith when Aph Ros was active, so Servant God would surely have already attempted it.

Soon enough, a smile returned to Cheng Shi's face. Since the weightiest topic had yielded no results, it was ti to discuss sothing lighter — such as how this Destiny Chosen had been resurrected with the help of that certain soone.

'Your recklessness killed you, and I saved you. Regardless of what drove your recklessness — An Shenxuan, shouldn't you show a little gratitude for saving your life?'

That was exactly what Cheng Shi was thinking. He knew he didn't need to needle a Torchbearer, but passing up the chance to snag a bonus while he was at it — that would be doing a disservice to his very nature.

So Cheng Shi opened with a classic Deceit-style backhanded remark, a single sentence that completely overturned the heavy atmosphere in the room.

"Are you a fan of Liang Jingru?"

"?" The Blind One blinked, her mind still whirling with a thousand thoughts. She didn't imdiately grasp Cheng Shi's aning, and simply nodded: "I don't listen to her often, but sure, I suppose so. Why?"

But the mont those words left her mouth, both she and Cheng Shi fell silent at the sa ti.

The Blind One fell silent because she realized her foggy brain had made her miss the joke entirely. Cheng Shi fell silent because he was genuinely stumped.

'Seriously, sis? You can't tell a loaded question when you hear one? You actually took it at face value!'

'What — one death and resurrection in Falling Gate and you've synced up with the local brain frequency? You're on the sa wavelength as that married couple now?!'

Cheng Shi rolled his eyes in exasperation, then burst out laughing in spite of himself. He found a stool and plopped down, tilting his head to signal the Blind One to be sensible and share everything that had happened to her, so the person who'd saved her could at least appreciate the full scale of his own heroism.

The Blind One got the hint. She sat down at the table as well and began recounting with a serious, asured expression:

"I... had an audience with Death."

Cheng Shi's brow quirked. No surprise there. He silently thanked Brother Mouth in his mind — but soon realized he'd expressed his gratitude a bit prematurely.

"He... seed sowhat disgusted with . No — it was more like He was disgusted by the stench of death on .

Although my consciousness was in utter chaos at the ti, as if soone had taken over my body, under Void's protection I could still sense faint changes in the outside world. Especially after entering the Void — that perception amplified slightly.

So I sensed His disgust. And I felt His refusal.

He did not want to resurrect .

At that mont, genuine terror took root in , growing stronger by the second. I thought my recklessness had buried my path forward in this ga. But for so reason, after a long silence... He chose to save

after all.

Praise be to Death.

If one has never lost, one cannot truly appreciate the beauty of life.

No wonder He is the finale of Life. Before that rest composed of a thousand vibrant lives, what He gives the universe has never been an abrupt silence — but rather a lingering resonance that invites deep reflection.

I suddenly understand why you want to draw closer to Death, Cheng Shi. Have you also truly... died once?"

Died once?

Cheng Shi twitched the corner of his mouth and let out a silent scoff.

'If I hadn't died enough tis, I wouldn't have the nerve to sit beneath the boss's Bone Throne and claim I had career ambition.'

'Besides, you can't call an audience with that great one "dying."'

'That's called answering the call!'

'But you — you genuinely died. Your kind of death and my kind of death are different. Yours was courting death.'

Cheng Shi pursed his lips and studied the Destiny Chosen before him, who had lapsed into silence once more. He waited for a good while before realizing that... apparently, that was it.

"That's it? That's all?"

The Blind One looked up, a hint of bewildernt on her face: "What... were you still expecting?"

"Your audience — didn't you say you had an audience?

He didn't even chat with you a bit?"

"?" The Blind One frowned faintly, puzzlent rising between her brows. "Being granted an audience is already a blessing. Whether He bestows words is entirely the gods' will — how could that be my decision?"

'Wait — what...'

Cheng Shi nearly choked. He stared at the Blind One in slack-jawed disbelief. "So you just... appeared in the Fishbone Hall, He glanced at you once, and then sent you back?"

"Yes." The Blind One nodded, then added thoughtfully: "So the place where Death dwells is called the Fishbone Hall..."

???

Huh?

'Sis — are you ssing with

right now?'

'You didn't even know about the Fishbone Hall, and you call that an audience?'

'Oh — well, actually, fair point. Strictly speaking, the one waiting for resurrection was Gongyang Jiao, exposed to the bone. The fact that you, a dead person, could sense anything at all was already a stroke of Destiny's favor.'

'But still — wasn't that audience a bit too bare-bones?'

'And besides, wasn't that great one supposed to be neutral? Why would He be disgusted by the Blind One's death? Was that genuine disgust, or was it just her misreading things?'

'And what made Him change His mind and resurrect her? Don't tell

it was actually because of the ssage I delivered?'

'Hiss — am I really that influential? No way... right?'

'Brother Mouth, are you screwing

over again?'

'And that great one isn't going to put this on my tab as a huge debt, is He?'

'Am I going to be working on loan from now on?'

'Absolutely not! Saving soone is one thing — but I can't just take a massive loss for nothing!'

'Who's going to make up for this deficit?'

Cheng Shi felt numb. He scratched his head, his speechless gaze landing squarely on the Blind One before him.

"You..."

"What?"

Cheng Shi opened and closed his mouth for a long while, but in the end let out a sigh and decided not to "fleece" this Torchbearer after all.

"Your previous audiences — were they like this too? They took one look at you and sent you back?"

As they talked, the Blind One had gradually regained her sharpness. Hearing Cheng Shi's question now, she nodded with a smile: "You want to know who I've had audiences with?"

Cheng Shi dropped the pretense. Having taken such a big loss, he needed to recoup sothing elsewhere. Gathering intelligence was its own form of recovery. So he nodded directly: "Yes. Can you tell ?"

"War, Folly, Ti, and... our Benefactor's sibling god within the Void — Deceit."

"...?"