Chapter 686: Probing

Qin Xin couldn't figure it out. All he knew was that he had to seize this opportunity — because the whole reason he'd jumped out of his original world was to find a new chance for that shattered world!

He was searching for "the future" and seeking guidance from "the past." He hoped that within Time's "discrepancies," he could glimpse hope from another timeline and replicate it in his own world.

And this also meant that in his world, the Torchbearers had almost no fire left to pass. Otherwise, he wouldn't have traveled to another world in search of new kindling.

Qin Xin's goal was crystal clear. He knew exactly what he wanted. So from the start, he'd been observing the Blind One and Cheng Shi. Through his exchange with the Blind One especially, he'd confirmed that the Torchbearers in her timeline — while not yet without fire — weren't burning particularly bright either. They... were not his target.

Wang Mou was even less of a prospect. Qin Xin knew Wang Mou's true identity. A person with no sense of belonging could never inspire the Torchbearers.

So his current target was singular: Li Wufang, sitting motionless in that other room.

No matter what, he had to meet this Investigator. He had to determine whether the man was what he suspected — a "discrepancy from the future." So shortly after leaving the warehouse, Qin Xin made his way toward the room where Ad Ric was being held.

The hunter inside had heard activity long before Qin Xin arrived. Before the Torchbearer had even reached the door, Li Wufang considerately pushed it open and warmly ushered him in.

Looking at the intensely familiar face, Qin Xin smiled casually: "You remind me of an old acquaintance."

"No — not from trials. An acquaintance from home."

Hearing this, Li Wufang's brow creased imperceptibly. A flash of gravity passed through his eyes, but he quickly piled on another smile: "What — you were from the north too, before the Faith Game descended?"

Watching Li Wufang play dumb, Qin Xin dropped the probing and cut straight to the point:

"You've probably guessed it's me. I didn't expect to run into you here either. Interesting. I always knew you belonged to some mysterious organization, but I never imagined you people were the ones studying Time. What are you... looking for through Time?"

Li Wufang scoffed: "Oldest trick in the book, Qin Xin. Listening to you spout things I can't understand is exhausting."

"How interesting. Let me think..."

In truth, every one of Qin Xin's deductions about Li Wufang's identity had come from reading Cheng Shi's reactions. When Cheng Shi had arranged for him and the Blind One to take the first watch while "taking" Li Wufang away, Qin Xin had sensed the two had something to discuss.

It just so happened that in his own world, those two had a rather good relationship. So he'd been wondering whether Li Wufang might be from the same timeline as himself.

But there was a wrinkle. In Qin Xin's experience, given the Investigator's keen perception, he shouldn't have misidentified Cheng Shi.

The current Cheng Shi clearly wasn't from Li Wufang's timeline. If Li Wufang showed no reaction to Qin Xin's words, it either meant he hadn't yet realized that Time's discrepancies had affected the players, or he'd already noticed the anomaly — and perhaps, as Qin Xin was probing, had come here the same way — deliberately, through Time's flaws.

If the former, it would mean Cheng Shi was an extremely skilled impostor. If the latter, things got truly interesting. What on earth was Li Wufang's organization doing?

"Never mind. I must have mistaken you for someone else." Qin Xin smiled, then pointed at the body at his feet: "Who's he?"

"A john who snuck in at midnight trying to assault a miner. I couldn't stomach it, so I killed him."

"?

But the wound on his neck looks like it was made by a scalpel?"

"What — can't an Investigator carry a scalpel?" As he spoke, Li Wufang actually produced a scalpel and began spinning it between his fingers, flipping it up and down — just like Cheng Shi. In that moment, even his speech and posture carried a whiff of the clown.

"Very well. It seems Falling Gate's stowaways are a spirited bunch. Even when they're not chasing wealth or tickets, they'll climb a mountain to assault a rough-looking miner. Mm — this place is truly fascinating. As fascinating as you and Cheng Shi.

I see your bloodlust hasn't been fully vented. I won't intrude any further. I'll go find somewhere to sleep."

With that, Qin Xin waved and turned toward the door with a smile.

But the instant his back was turned, the smile vanished from Li Wufang's face. His eyes blazed with ferocious killing intent, and the hand hidden behind his back was a hair's breadth from pulling a longbow out of his personal space.

He clearly wanted to kill — and the target was the retreating Qin Xin.

But in that lightning-fast instant, Qin Xin suddenly turned his head back toward Li Wufang, wearing a half-smile:

"The Fate Weaver went through a lot of trouble to revive Ad Ric. Before you strike, think carefully — if Ad Ric dies, would our priest friend really be willing to save him a second time?"

That said, Qin Xin glanced at the hand Li Wufang had hidden behind his back, then turned and walked straight out the door. Li Wufang's expression shifted several times, but ultimately, the arrow in his hand never flew.

He stared at Qin Xin's departing figure, brow knotted, and spat:

"If you weren't on the boss's whitelist, I wouldn't care what Chosen you are.

Damn. Annoying.

What are you looking at? Enjoying the view? I'll give you something to look at!"

"???" Off to the side, the cowering, silent Ad Ric began trembling even harder. The stench of urine wafted through the room once more.

After leaving the room, Qin Xin didn't go to rest. He stood casually on a small mound, gazing up at the distant cascading magma waterfall, brow deeply furrowed.

He too was pondering the cause of Time's "discrepancies." The "folk remedy" he'd received before coming specified that in a Time trial, you simply blunder around blindly. He'd indeed blundered into a discrepancy. The problem was that none of his current teammates represented the future. He'd yet to glimpse anything about the players' future in this trial.

So this founding Torchbearer couldn't help but wonder: what kind of manifestation on a player would qualify as "the future"?

Before multiple timelines collided and overlapped due to Time's errors, their states must have been extremely similar — possibly identical at a certain moment. Only then could the players caught within them fall into the trap without noticing.

But this created another puzzle. In this temporal discrepancy, "past" and "present" were both easy to understand. "Past" simply meant the same player with different life experiences. "Present" was presumably himself. But what about "the future"?

How would something that hadn't yet happened manifest at an extremely similar point in time?

And even if he found a discrepancy from the future — would that future timeline truly contain the Torchbearers and the answers he sought?

For a moment, Qin Xin was lost.

And just then — the Blind One arrived.