The group set out. Their first stop was the earthen cell where A Rad had previously been found.
The plan was to cut off the serpent's head first — deal with the Proxy Hand's leader, fulfill Shi Lolin's request, then proceed straight to the mine and take over all of the Proxy Hand's assets.
The party had exactly doubled in size. Cheng Shi took point, Qin Xin brought up the rear, and the Blind One commanded from the center. The two wise n fell obediently in line behind Cheng Shi, trailing him step for step with not the slightest thought of escape.
Part of that ca from their reading of the situation. But more importantly, Cheng Shi had confiscated Zangier's finger, leaving them no choice but to raise their own level of cooperation.
Shi Lolin had been fully healed. Cheng Shi rely produced a bottle of Prosperity of Yesteryear and the one-ard boss was restored to her forr allure. Though her charm was now reserved exclusively for Qin Xin and the Blind One — whenever she looked at Cheng Shi, a naless dread still lingered in her eyes.
The party of six left the Shanty Area and headed swiftly toward the Proxy Hand's territory. As for the Shanty Area lackey who'd participated in the earlier discussion — to prevent information leaks that might jeopardize the players' plans — Qin Xin had found a spot and buried him underground for the ti being.
Everything proceeded smoothly. One thing, however, warranted special ntion: a cautious player like Cheng Shi would normally never take the lead. But today he had a skeletal bodyguard. "Gongyang Jiao" was patrolling ahead at a suitable distance, sweeping the path for his master. And it was precisely the Screaming Servant's presence that emboldened Cheng Shi to walk ahead of the Torchbearers.
"I keep feeling that Cheng Shi's Death summon moves in a familiar way. I just can't place where I've seen it before. Ming Yu — does it ring any bells?"
Hearing Qin Xin's puzzlent, the Blind One replied aningfully: "No. If even a Mirror Person can't recall the movent patterns, then I — a Void walker — am even less likely to have any impression."
Qin Xin caught the tease and laughed ruefully: "Fair enough. It seems I'm not much of a mory follower either."
The two Torchbearers exchanged a peculiar "glance" and seed to arrive at so unspoken understanding.
The little episode was quickly forgotten. Before long, the group reached the spot where Cheng Shi and the Blind One had first discovered Ad Ric. But before they even arrived, the Screaming Servant brought back unwelco news: A Rad was no longer in the cell. There was movent toward the mine — he'd evidently sobered up and headed there.
With their quarry gone, Cheng Shi had no choice but to redirect the group toward the mine. This ti, however, they didn't take the main road through town. Under Shi Lolin's guidance, they found a shortcut threading through the residential district.
The group moved quickly. Cheng Shi stayed busy along the way, constantly observing how the local residents and stowaways lived, and how their ecosystem differed from the Shanty Area's.
This wasn't idle curiosity about Falling Gate. He was deepening his understanding of the area. Cheng Shi suspected that Ti's answer wasn't as simple as it appeared, aning any detail might beco the key to his analysis. Though the Blind One knew this place like the back of her hand, secondhand knowledge from texts could never rival seeing things firsthand.
He needed to carefully log everything in case the right mont ca — so he wouldn't miss the best window for a clue or a crucial tifra.
As they walked, he actually did notice sothing in this district that differed from both the city center and the Shanty Area.
The little globeflowers — those decorative clusters planted in front of many houses — looked sowhat different here than the ones he'd seen earlier.
He raised an eyebrow and voiced his curiosity.
"An Shenxuan, do you know why people here like planting these colorful globeflowers at their doorsteps?" Cheng Shi pointed at a patch of green globeflowers in front of soone's ho.
The Blind One "looked" over, frowned, and shook her head:
"The History School doesn't record absolutely everything. It's already impressive that anyone managed to unearth Falling Gate's history. They're piecing together the fractured spine of the Land of Hope's history — they're not going to care about how many differently-colored 'calculi' are growing on so stray rib extending from it...
But this flower — I do recall it."
An Mingyu's "recollection" was, of course, the sight of Cheng Shi plucking a globeflower and stuffing it up Ad Ric's nostril. She ntally reviewed all the globeflowers she'd noticed in town today, thought for a mont, and answered:
"My guess is factions? They're using colors to mark territorial boundaries?"
Factions?
Cheng Shi paused. Recalling the red globeflowers in the city district, the orange-yellow ones in the Shanty Area, and the green ones before him now, he blinked — it actually made sense.
Just as the two of them were discussing, the wise man who'd been silently trailing Cheng Shi and watching him the entire way suddenly spoke up. Allendor couldn't hold back his "disdain" any longer and let out a snort — but he quickly realized he was in no position to look down on anyone. He hastily swallowed his contempt and said in a low rumble:
"This is the Abyss Rainbow Orchid. It was created jointly by the Creation Alchemy Departnt and the Life Extension Departnt when the Tower of Logic was hunting for Abyss Colorful Crystal.
It's drought-resistant and heat-tolerant. It thrives by absorbing thermal energy in extrely harsh high-temperature environnts and changes color to indicate the ambient temperature. Using the rainbow spectrum as a guide: the closer to the high-spectrum wavelengths, the lower the heat. Green indicates the current temperature isn't suitable for finding Abyss Colorful Crystal — those crystals are typically only found when the Orchid turns red.
The seeds here were likely scattered and lost by the Tower of Logic within the Abyssal Volcano, falling into the Underworld. After all, aside from this flower, nothing else grows in a place like Falling Gate."
Cheng Shi listened, stunned, suddenly realizing he'd been ignoring the gradual environntal changes along their entire route. He focused on the current temperature and noticed it was indeed cooler than at the trial's outset. So this was a natural thermoter?
"Mr. Allendor certainly is erudite. But everything you've shared cos from your forefathers' days in the Truth camp. Could you perhaps share sothing new — so fresh insight your people discovered after converting to Folly?
Otherwise, I can't shake the feeling that Folly seems... inferior to Truth."
"..."
Cheng Shi's barb left both wise n at a loss for words. Allendor was about to fire back, but then rembered the core experintal tool was in this man's hands. He opened his mouth silently, expression stiff, and swallowed his "disdain."
Seeing Folly once again descend into Silence, Cheng Shi burst out laughing.
Qin Xin, however, having observed Cheng Shi the entire way, shook his head with a smile: "This Fate Weaver is... quite different from what I imagined."
"Different how?" The Blind One paused slightly to ask.
"He's far sunnier than he appears." Qin Xin offered that single observation and said nothing more, smiling as he gently pushed the Blind One forward.
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