Hearing this, everyone turned to Allendor with curiosity. But Allendor had gone silent again. It was Mo Rabic — who hadn't spoken earlier — who answered instead.
"Lun Zol is my father. Scholar, the portrait you saw may have had the na mislabeled."
Wang Mou was stunned. He continued shaking his head:
"It can't be wrong!
To find leads, I forced Tower of Logic scholars to sketch their likenesses and cross-referenced with scholars from several different eras just to prevent errors. I—"
"Hey, hey, hey — doesn't matter, doesn't matter!" Cheng Shi intervened hastily. He'd wanted to lighten the mood, not freeze it solid. How had the conversation gone off the rails?
The Grand Scholar who looked like Mo Rabic was Allendor's father. The scholar with Allendor's face shape was Mo Rabic's father...
'Wait — are you people doing cross-family inheritance here?'
'Given the circumstances, who's whose father is... really not sothing you want to think too hard about.'
'And here I thought the Tower of Logic was full of research-obsessed ascetics who couldn't care less about worldly matters. Turns out you're right on par with Falling Gate!'
Cheng Shi's mind went blank. He imdiately cut Wang Mou off, fighting down the urge to dig for more gossip, and motioned for everyone to settle down:
"Let bygones be bygones. mory isn't that interesting. What we should be enjoying is the present.
Co on — let's start the experint. The mont of miracles is upon us. Once this experint succeeds, I'll personally concede that Folly has beaten Truth this round.
As for you, Doctor — if you wish to continue observing, kindly shut that Truth-leaning mouth of yours. This is Folly's stage now."
"..."
Nobody present was a fool — and the only two non-players were intellectually brilliant Folly followers at that. Everyone knew what the discussion had really been about, and everyone fell silent over the conclusion forming in their minds.
Mo Rabic and Allendor threw themselves wholeheartedly into preparing the experint. The five players, anwhile, each privately mulled over the two wise n's tone when answering. They hadn't seed to think this was anything unspeakable — they'd even emphasized their bloodlines. So in the Tower of Logic... this kind of thing wasn't considered shaful?
Every player's eyes widened. They studied the two wise n with amused, knowing smirks, then cast aningful glances at the only Truth follower in the room. Even the usually quiet Blind One couldn't suppress a smile, ducking her head as her shoulders shook with silent laughter.
This was absolutely Truth's worst episode ever!
The experint began. Mo Rabic replicated his earlier procedure, dutifully serving as the experintal stand. Allendor operated the legendary Grand Scholar's finger with ticulous care. Wang Mou stood closest, holding his breath in rapt concentration as he recorded every operational detail the two wise n perford.
But the Divinity extraction was painfully slow. As Allendor had ntioned, drawing out the Divinity from a head-sized chunk of Abyss Colorful Crystal would take at least an entire night.
The players saw no reason to waste the whole evening here. So after enduring two full hour-marks together, they devised a new rotation plan.
Wang Mou obviously wouldn't leave — he intended to observe the entire experint from start to finish. Of the remaining four, the Investigator suggested that one person watching the Doctor would suffice; a pair could essentially guarantee no accidents caused by personal greed during the experint.
But Cheng Shi played it safe. He recomnded three watchers at once. That way, no matter how the remaining four were combined, at least one person from each camp would always be present — the most secure arrangent possible.
The two Torchbearers naturally had no objections and volunteered for the first watch. This freed Cheng Shi and Li Wufang to rest for a while before returning in a few hours to swap shifts.
Cheng Shi was very pleased, because he also wanted to find ti to probe this Investigator who had inexplicably begun warming up to him — to ask what exactly had happened in the mine to cause these behavioral changes.
But to avoid arousing suspicion and make his approach seem natural, Cheng Shi casually invited Li Wufang to join him in visiting Shi Lolin's target — A Rad.
He wanted to use the Investigator's hands to deal with the Proxy Hand's boss.
Li Wufang readily agreed. And so, two players wearing fake smiles left the mine outpost warehouse — now designated as the experint site — one behind the other, heading toward the hut where A Rad was being held.
Night had fallen by now. Though the sky in the far distance had visibly darkened, the entirety of Falling Gate remained illuminated by the inverted magma waterfall cascading from the Abyssal Volcano. It wasn't quite as bright as day, but "mountain fire blazing" ca close enough.
The Fate Weaver and the Investigator walked in single file. Neither spoke first. Neither made any unnecessary moves.
Cheng Shi's brow was faintly creased as he kept his senses trained on Li Wufang behind him. But the Investigator showed no reaction whatsoever. He seed to be simply following an invitation, trailing behind Cheng Shi with an easy smile, as relaxed in both posture and expression as could be — with no intention of quickening his pace to walk alongside Cheng Shi, and not the slightest desire to start a conversation.
The eerie atmosphere only deepened Cheng Shi's uncertainty. They'd already put so distance between themselves and the experint warehouse, and the hut holding A Rad was just ahead. Cheng Shi decided that if he didn't speak now, initiating conversation later would feel too deliberate. So he found a pretext, stopped walking, turned around with a smile, and began:
"You—"
But he'd barely gotten one word out when the quiet of the mine night was shattered by the soft crunch of footsteps.
Cheng Shi and Li Wufang exchanged a startled look. Their expressions hardened simultaneously as they whipped around toward the back wall of the hut holding A Rad. The footsteps crunching through dirt were coming from just behind it!
Soone!
Judging by the sound, not a careful person — yet whoever it was had sohow circled around the Screaming Servant's periter, approaching from the mine's far side.
Cheng Shi's brow tightened. He looked toward "Gongyang Jiao," still standing sentry at the outpost entrance. Sensing its master's summons, the Screaming Servant imdiately shot toward the back of the building.
Li Wufang watched the skeleton go and smacked his lips: "Death's toys sure are handy, huh?"
"?"
'Are we that close?'
'Buddy, don't you think you're being a little too familiar?'
Cheng Shi grumbled internally but kept his expression neutral, pointing casually at the source of the noise with a smile: "What — you expect a priest to scout for you?"
The mont Li Wufang heard this, his expression snapped from playful to deadly serious. Without a word, he shot forward like a bolt, chasing after the Screaming Servant toward the intruder's position. Watching that strange reaction, Cheng Shi's already furrowed brow deepened three more degrees.
Why had the Investigator beco so... agreeable?
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