Chapter 681: Can I Trust You, An Mingyu?

Qin Xin left. Clean and decisive.

But from his departure, Cheng Shi could still read quite a lot. At the very least, this version of Qin Xin was still a Torchbearer. At the very least, he harbored no malice. And he'd clearly sensed that the trial he was facing had changed — he knew that Time's "discrepancies" had begun affecting the players.

None of this surprised Cheng Shi. After all, if even the founder of the Torchbearers weren't perceptive enough, the organization would have crumbled to pieces at its inception.

As things stood, it seemed he could trust one more person in this chaotic Time trial.

But only on the condition that Time's discrepancies didn't strike again.

After Qin Xin left, Cheng Shi slowly walked to the Blind One's side. The warehouse was large. The Folly and Truth followers were running their experiment with meticulous attention at the center — the three of them cared about nothing beyond the work before them.

Seeing this, Cheng Shi smiled and mused:

"It seems desire and worry are directly proportional. The fewer desires, the fewer worries.

Take the Doctor. All he wants is to replicate this Divinity extraction experiment. Beyond that... he likely couldn't care less."

"!"

Of course — the Blind One knew too. Evidently, Qin Xin's anomaly had made both Torchbearers realize the trial had changed.

This was good news — at least it saved him the trouble of explaining. But... it wasn't all good, because it meant that before long, every player would know exactly what was happening in this trial.

"He... is he still worth trusting?" Cheng Shi asked, his tone slightly strained.

"..."

The Blind One paused, then shook her head with a wry smile.

"My, my — Cheng Shi, you're certainly honest.

First, I should thank you for your trust. But — Fate Weaver — I think you've asked the wrong person.

Qin Xin and I are both Torchbearers. Naturally, we're closer. I trust him far more than I trust you. So when you ask me something like this, what kind of answer do you expect?"

Hearing this, Cheng Shi let out a merciless scoff:

"Stop deceiving yourself, Chosen One. If you trusted him more than me, you wouldn't have stayed silent when he left.

Yes — he may still be a Torchbearer. But he's not the Torchbearer you know.

The fire he passes cannot light your dreams.

And your fire — he's never passed it.

So stop testing me. I'll ask you just one question: do you want to go back?"

"Go back where?" The Blind One tilted her head.

"Back to the place where you've always been passing the fire."

"How can you be certain that place isn't the ground beneath our feet?"

Cheng Shi laughed — a full, open laugh. He looked at the Blind One with a faintly mocking edge in his eyes and scoffed once more:

"So you're saying you know where you are?

What — did our Benefactor tell you?

Did He tell you that you haven't been disturbed by Time's 'discrepancy,' that you're the sole lucky one in this trial?"

"..."

"Apparently not. Let me guess — your divination failed again?

How many pips? Let's see them."

The Blind One pressed her lips together and extended her hand. In her palm lay a page inscribed with a Silence domain, and resting atop it was an eighteen-sided die showing two pips face-up.

The Blind One had once said that she rarely rolled a one except when divining about Cheng Shi. So two — for her — was the strongest negation Destiny could bestow.

And seeing those two pips, Cheng Shi's heart lurched and sank.

He'd been preparing himself for the possibility that Time had affected him — that he'd stumbled into the trap. But those had been worst-case defensive contingencies. Now, hearing confirmation from the Blind One's own divination, a genuine tremor of dread surfaced from the depths of his heart.

Just as he'd feared — the world had changed!

Or rather: he himself had been cast out of his original timeline and deposited in an unfamiliar world.

Cheng Shi's brow darkened. His steadfast heart stirred once more. Terrified of misinterpreting the result, he fixed the Blind One with a dead-serious look and asked: "What did you divine?"

The Blind One's expression was equally grave: "I asked Him a second time whether I belong to this starry sky. But this time... He said no."

"!!!"

"A second time? When was the first?" Cheng Shi froze, then realization struck: "You also have a Master of Deception Card!"

The Blind One nodded, though her expression was far from pleasant.

"The first was the moment I was revived. Being resurrected inside a Time trial — I had to stay cautious, to confirm I hadn't fallen into some temporal trap. So I deliberately cast a divination."

"..."

The worst-case scenario had finally materialized!

Now Cheng Shi wasn't just dealing with teammates from different timelines — he had to find a way back to his own timeline as well.

He refused to be inexplicably "exiled." He was not going to let Time toss him around like a juggling ball in a clown's hands.

And to achieve any of that, he had to quickly identify the conditions that triggered each "discrepancy" — and use those same discrepancies to find his way home.

So Cheng Shi decided to stop wasting time playing riddle games with the Blind One. He took out his own die, placed it in her palm, let its eternally fixed one-pip sit side by side with her two, then clasped her hand around both dice. His burning gaze locked onto her sealed eyes with absolute gravity and sincerity:

"Can I trust you, An Mingyu?"

This was the first time Cheng Shi had ever spoken the Blind One's real name. Her brow creased faintly. Feeling the warmth of the dice in her palm, she replied, word by careful word:

"You... can trust me. At least for the duration of this trial — you can trust me completely.

But once this trial ends, Cheng Shi... I won't remember what happened between us. And I can't be sure whether I'll still trust you then."

"!!!"

It was her. It was really her!

The Blind One hadn't changed. She'd heard through his probe and responded once again with the most genuine, honest answer!

Cheng Shi was overjoyed. This long-awaited confirmation — meeting an old friend in a foreign land — brought a measure of solidity back to his heart. Thank heavens. Amid all this misfortune, the slenderest thread of mercy held: the original Blind One had never changed.

"Then — Fate Weaver — can I trust you?" she asked.

Cheng Shi smiled. Broadly. Brilliantly.

"Of course. Whether it's a memory exchange or a heart-to-heart — you can trust me."

The Blind One finally let a genuine, knowing smile cross her face. She nodded, wasted no words, and gave Cheng Shi the most direct frame of reference she could.

"Qin Xin was swapped in the Shanty Area. The current version of him... comes from a world where carrying the fire is not easy.

And the me from that world has already become a true Torchbearer."

A true Torchbearer?

"That Qin Xin comes from the future?" Cheng Shi exclaimed.

"I'm not certain. A brief conversation isn't enough to pinpoint where he's from. But I lean toward... yes."

Cheng Shi nodded grimly.

"I can't pin down where Li Wufang comes from either. But I know he belongs to an organization called the Destined Ones — and in the present, that organization shouldn't include him."

"The Destined Ones?" The Blind One froze. She turned the name over in her mind, eyes widening: "That sounds like an organization devoted to Destiny."

"Correct. It is exactly that — an organization devoted to Destiny. But what they worship isn't the entirety of Destiny. They worship Destiny's Fixed Destiny."

"You know about this organization? No — you joined this organization?"

The Blind One was stunned. She'd assumed someone like Cheng Shi would never join any organization. Otherwise, given the Torchbearers' "generous" terms, he wouldn't have been completely unmoved.

Cheng Shi smiled. He shook his head and tightened his grip on her hand.

"Yes — and no. I didn't join this organization. I... founded it."

"What!!??"

The Blind One went blank. And amid the shock written across her face, Cheng Shi reclaimed his die, casually tossed it at his feet, and extended the most sincere invitation he could to the Destiny follower before him.

"Chosen One — you are one of the precious few fortunate enough to learn of this organization. And now, I officially invite you to join us. To join the Destined Ones."

As he spoke, Destiny's die slowly rolled to a stop at his feet — showing a one.

And in that moment where destiny stood fixed, Cheng Shi bowed his head in reverent prayer:

"The paths we come from, the roads we take — all are destined!"