Chapter 699: The Blind One to the Rescue

"..."

"..."

You know what the most awkward scene imaginable is?

It's when two people — having just bared their souls and made grand declarations — are about to spring into action, only to realize everything they just said was for nothing, because they literally couldn't get out!

After breaking through the time-interlaced barrier, they'd lost their anchor point in the original trial timeline. No trace of reality was visible anywhere. They couldn't find a way back — let alone a way home!

Moreover, the passage to the Abyss of Desire was also severed. The isolated Bone Gate hadn't fallen, but it had become a castle in the sky — useful for nothing except providing two people a safe place to stand.

And so the clown and the "fake red monkey" stood staring at each other in frozen silence, expressions growing more embarrassed by the second, toes curling tighter and tighter.

Excruciating. Absolutely excruciating.

Those rousing cries of "let's go" and "let's get out" echoed back like the Fun God laughing at them from the Void — replaying over and over in their minds, hardening their expressions one wince at a time.

He knew that no matter what he said, the very next word from either of them would only deepen the embarrassment — until they became actual clowns.

Of course, they were already pretty close.

But... things always have a way of turning around.

Some Benefactors enjoyed mocking their followers. Others preferred protecting them.

Just as Cheng Shi and Qin Xin stood utterly lost, a clear, cool voice — like heaven's own melody — drifted in from every direction, breaking the deadlock completely.

"Qin Xin, are you there?"

"!!!"

The Blind One!

She'd come down from the mine to search for them!

Cheng Shi and Qin Xin both jolted to attention, scanning in every direction. But Cheng Shi quickly realized something was off.

Wait — the person the Blind One came looking for was... Qin Xin?

Cheng Shi blinked and glanced at Qin Xin, but the Torchbearer hadn't registered the discrepancy yet. He was too busy shouting back.

"Ming Yu! I'm here! I'm in the crevice of Existence — can you hear me?!

Ming Yu, I'm right here!"

Watching Qin Xin respond by simply... yelling, Cheng Shi rolled his eyes: "Dude, are you filming a drama? Who taught you this? Can you make some actual noise?

You're making it very hard to reconcile you with the fire-haired Super Saiyan from five minutes ago..."

Qin Xin froze mid-shout. Without a word, he turned around, grimaced at his own embarrassment, and swiftly unslung his giant bow. He fired War-flame arrows in all four cardinal directions — up, down, left, right.

These arrows flew far slower than his combat shots, but they had endurance on their side — sailing through the darkness at length without dropping.

Whether it was Qin Xin's signal that worked or the Blind One finding a method from Falling Gate — before long, a die materialized in mid-air not far from them. A pristine Destiny artifact: a Destiny die!

Not only that — this die seemed to... belong to him?

Cheng Shi was stunned. He had indeed left this die at Qin Xin's feet earlier. At the time, he'd already been planning a contingency — thinking that if this indestructible die could stay close to Qin Xin, maybe he could hitch a ride when the man "skipped class."

What he hadn't anticipated was reality shattering entirely, dumping them into Existence's crevice, where the die had seemingly plummeted out of contact.

Yet here it was — reappearing before him in this bizarre fashion!

The instant both men saw this die from the outside world, they immediately thought of the same escape method!

Without hesitation, Cheng Shi snapped his fingers. Never Lost Gambling Gear had finally found a real-world anchor target, swapping its Destiny follower directly across. Simultaneously, Qin Xin fired another arrow toward the die's location — this one trailing a tether. The instant Cheng Shi appeared on the other side, the Hero of Today seized the incoming arrow and was once again linked to Qin Xin.

And at that moment, the Blind One outside also sensed the die's change. She shouted:

"There are more out here! Hurry — come out! Swap out!"

Cheng Shi's eyes sharpened. He finally sensed his contingency dice in the real world. First he hauled Qin Xin close, then repeated the process — and this time, he felt his passage punch through some fragile membrane. His vision blazed white, and when it cleared, the Blind One stood before him, the Abyssal Volcano's cascading falls looming in the distance.

A wave of pure, heartfelt joy erupted from within.

Saved!

Cheng Shi grinned — truly, happily grinned.

And at that exact moment, the watch in his hand — returned to reality — began ticking again. The hands spun wildly for several rotations, catching up on the frozen time. Then, one second later, they ticked steadily to the next hour mark.

The hour mark — again!

Cheng Shi blinked, thinking how conveniently timed that was. But he had no time to dwell on it, because he quickly detected Qin Xin's second arrow nearby. The blazing fire-arrow was like a worm crawling beneath the surface of some massive, fleshy skin. When Cheng Shi found it, he tore through that "skin" and yanked the "worm" straight out.

As the War arrow burst back into the world, a fire-red figure vaulted from the unknown space into reality.

Both heard a resounding BOOM, and a heavy-armored silhouette appeared before them.

At last — the Failed-Class-Skippers Duo had seen daylight again.

The moment Qin Xin touched ground, he lifted his head with a warm smile, looking at the Blind One. Trust and admiration flickered in his eyes.

"Ming Yu — how did you find us?"

Cheng Shi was equally curious. He turned to the Blind One, thinking: surely this wasn't actually Destiny's guidance?

But the An Mingyu before them said nothing. Worse — she retreated half a step, brow furrowed slightly, and "scrutinized" the two freshly-freed "teammates." After a long moment, she pressed her lips together with a complicated expression.

That one sequence of micro-reactions sent Cheng Shi's pupils contracting and his heart dropping like a stone.

"Chosen One... you...

Which timeline's An Mingyu are you?"

When he asked this question, Cheng Shi's expression was deadly grave. But in his heart, he already knew the answer.

If the Blind One calling only Qin Xin's name during her search was ambiguous at best, then her guarded behavior now made it crystal clear: this An Mingyu was from the same world as the Qin Xin he'd just fought — the world where carrying the fire wasn't easy!

They were wary of everything outside!

An Mingyu had changed. She'd been affected again!

Cheng Shi broke into a cold sweat. He'd barely found one ally, and now the ink on their pact was still wet and the person was already gone. Worse — the Blind One's behavior revealed an even bigger problem: Qin Xin had changed too!

Why else would Cheng Shi's inner monologue have used the phrase "the Qin Xin from just now"?

Because the Blind One's defensive posture and refusal to respond proved she hadn't found the Qin Xin she was looking for — which meant the current Qin Xin was no longer the Hawk Eye Scout he'd just fought and befriended!

And the change had happened in that one second — right around the moment of his escape!

Time, it seemed, had no intention of sparing anyone!

"Hoo—"

Cheng Shi's expression grew heavier by the moment.

"So let's be honest with each other, Torchbearers. Which world... do you come from?"