Chapter 721: Adaptation

Reality. A museum in some unknown city.

A massive poker card materialized from thin air and dropped to the floor. The wooden door on its face burst open, and a battered figure stumbled out from the Void within, staggering several steps before collapsing onto the cold ground.

This was the Blind One — come to "call for reinforcements."

This museum wasn't her rest area. It was Zhen Xin's. The moment she appeared, the Blind One weakly called out, "Xin Xin."

Before long, a beautiful figure emerged from behind a display counter, looking mildly startled, still holding what appeared to be an unfinished block puzzle.

Seeing "Xin Xin" in this state, the Blind One's expression froze. "Zhen Yi?"

Zhen Xin frowned slightly too. She set down the puzzle and hurried over to help the Blind One up.

"It's me.

I sent Zhen Yi back. But the deal was that I'd help her finish assembling her new collection piece.

You're just in time. Help me, Ming Yu — it's almost done."

Sighing, Zhen Xin shook her head — the picture of reluctant weariness.

"..."

But what the Blind One sensed in Zhen Xin's aura wasn't weariness. It was... indulgence. They were sisters after all. No matter how they sabotaged each other, when they weren't at each other's throats, there was still a hint of "family" between them.

But now wasn't the time for that. Gripping Zhen Xin's arm, the Blind One relayed everything she'd witnessed during the trial, the crisis the Torchbearers now faced — then produced a die in her palm.

"It's extremely strange. Based on everything I know, the situation seems to be heading for collapse. Yet when I divined the near future, His response was a perfect roll.

I can't see any turning point. I can only guess that some change has occurred among Them — something beyond our knowledge. So, Xin Xin — have you been summoned by Him recently?"

Zhen Xin's expression suddenly soured. Whether she was worried about her fellow Torchbearer or thinking about something else entirely was unclear — but after her face shifted through several emotions, she shook her head.

"No. Not since a certain someone played me last time.

But recently, I did meet the One from Life."

"Birth?" The Blind One's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Mm. Him.

That 'Eternal Sun' is an extremely driven player. Though I can't endorse some of her beliefs, I have to admit her approach to getting close to Them is remarkably effective.

I wanted her as inspiration — so I helped her search for another One of Them. Birth's Envoy — the Birth Holy Voice, Lu Xia.

We found Him. And after that trial ended, Birth summoned me.

But never mind all that for now.

Ming Yu, don't rush. If you truly believe Destiny's guidance isn't wrong, then let's wait."

"Wait?" The Blind One paused, then understood Zhen Xin's meaning. "Wait for the Flame of Hope's reaction?"

"Exactly. At the end of the day, we're nothing but dolls in Their hands. When Their will isn't involved, you and I can earn our place on stage through effort.

But once Their will enters the equation, our choices become meaningless.

Lao Deng's escape clearly has something deeper going on. Even if Time wanted to intervene, there'd be no need for this petty retaliation right after you cleared His trial. There must be a much deeper game being played.

We can't participate in Their games. But the Flame of Hope perhaps can. We've never known where He comes from — and this incident gives us a chance to observe that mysterious deity."

The Blind One frowned as if to correct Zhen Xin, but Zhen Xin smiled, guided her to a chair, and cut her off.

"I know we should never test the Torchbearers like this. But Ming Yu — sometimes doing more means erring more. We can't be sure our attempts to fix things won't become obstacles for the Flame of Hope.

At the player level, our actions probably don't affect Him at all. But once it involves Them... it's hard to say.

So my advice is: wait. At least until we receive a signal that the situation has truly collapsed, don't drag Deceit into this.

I don't know if His fingerprints are on this mess. But He is Deceit — the title 'Fun God' wasn't earned for nothing.

As for your Benefactor, Destiny...

A perfect roll is probably the calming pill He fed you.

Alright — I know you could've figured all this out yourself. Stop worrying. Drink some water and take a breath."

Gently, Zhen Xin fished two dried tangerine peels from her spatial storage, dropped them into a cup, stirred briefly, and pushed it toward the Blind One.

The instant the Blind One sensed the faint aroma of tangerine peel drifting from the water, her expression turned icy. She snapped her head up to "look" at Zhen Xin, teeth clenched, voice strained with fury:

"Zhen Yi! This joke isn't funny. You know I'm allergic to tangerine peel!"

Hearing this, a tremor flashed through Zhen Xin's eyes. But almost instantly, both corners of her eyes and lips curved upward.

"Hee~

You got it wrong, Ming Yu. Right now, I'm the big sister!"

"..."

An Mingyu fled. Or rather, she had zero desire to face the person before her, and took off from the museum as fast as she could.

But when she returned to her own rest area — seeing the bookshelves and chairs she'd arranged by hand, the bed and ornaments, the flowers and fish pond, all utterly unchanged and normal — she shuddered violently, as if every ounce of strength had left her. She collapsed into a chair.

"How can this be..."

Trembling, she raised her hand and cast every die she possessed onto the desk. Moments later, the dice settled — seventeen ones stared back at her.

"No... how can this be..."

An Mingyu pressed her lips together so hard they went white. A single tear escaped from her tightly shut eyes, tracing the perfect arc of her cheek before dropping straight to the floor.

The teardrop didn't even stir a mote of dust. It vanished silently against the ground, and the room returned to stillness.

The grief didn't last long. Before long, the Destiny Chosen's composure returned. She looked at the dice on the desk, clutched one tight, and murmured to herself:

"Is this... also Your guidance?"

No one was there to answer. But An Mingyu continued asking the empty air:

"So what was Your purpose in bringing me to this world, my Lord?"