Chapter 1233: Wengfalusi 3.3 (274)

……"Don't say any more, Safaliya."

Aglaea's voice was soft; she bent her waist, looking levelly at the girl covered in thorns before her, her eyes holding no blame, "I will give you clothes, help you warm up. Then……"

"Then… stay here, stay in my workshop until your wounds heal."

……"Tch." Saifeier turned her head aside, "Aren't you going to ask me? Ask how these injuries came about?"

……

Aglaea silently shook her head.

Saifeier lowered her head, self-mockingly said: "Heh, that's right, what's the point of asking? I'm so good at lying, I could even fool your golden threads—since we can't tell truth from falsehood, why bother asking another question?"

……"I don't need to interrogate, nor use the golden threads' measurement. I know everything you've done is for survival, without regard to cost." Aglaea said word by word, "Stay here. Here you need not suffer hunger and cold anymore. By my side, you can learn to mend your already shattered self‑esteem."

Saifeier's shoulders trembled slightly, she lifted her head: "You… aren't afraid I'll bring you a bad reputation? Aren't you afraid I'll secretly steal your valuable clothes and sell them off outside?"

Aglaea smiled: "If I were afraid of these, I wouldn't have invited you."

"Seamstress, you're really strange. Adults often say, a child who lies often cannot change their nature…… I've tried hard not to become what they say. But honestly? That's too exhausting… I've long wanted to give up."

"Because I can feel it——" Aglaea took out a brand‑new garment from under the counter, gently continued, "It's not relying on demigod power, but on the heart beating in my chest—you love this place. That's why you pass by often. That's why you feel ashamed to linger, because you fear you're unworthy of the 'Goldweave' sign."

……

Saifeier lowered her head, her nose red.

"After taking over Moneita's divine office, I've grown accustomed to letting the golden threads discern sincerity from falsehood. But I want to fulfill that mission, and it happens to require me to learn to trust and rely with my heart."

"Safaliya——you are the true heart I have entrusted to this world… and also a challenge it has thrown at me."

"Stay by my side. You have a beautiful face; it shouldn't constantly be accompanied by scars and mud."

Saifeier sniffed, clenched her lower lip tight, trying to suppress the sour sting rushing up her nose, but her blue eyes were already brimming with tears.

……

"Your words are really roundabout, leaving people clueless." Saifeier rubbed her eyes, "Then we'll… agree on this. I'll give you one day to change your mind—once the deadline passes, trying to drive me away will be too late!"

——

Is it wrong to seek an encounter in the dungeon?

"Waa waa waa…… Their past is still chasing me!"

Hesitiya covered her cheeks with both hands, shoulders shuddering as she sobbed, her whole body curled up on the sofa like a wronged little animal.

"Obviously Aglaea treats her so well! But, but…… waa waa waa!"

Bell hurried over, fumbled to grab a tissue from the table and handed it to her: "Great Divine One, please don't cry……"

"How could I not cry!" Hesitiya snatched the tissue, roughly wiped her eyes, "Mainly I really can't bear to watch Aglaea leave with regret! She'll never know why Saifeier left her. This feeling of helplessness…… is too painful!"

"Yeah, but the more I understand their past, the more curious I am about why Saifeier avoids her." Liriluka frowned slightly, "…As far as I can see, Saifeier is definitely not an unfeeling, unjust person; on the contrary, she deeply values her feelings for Aglaea and cherishes that past when their lives intertwined. Otherwise, these memories wouldn't still shine brightly in her mind after a thousand years."

"Moreover, she isn't that afraid of her own prophecy…… I always feel she's wary of something." Werelf added, "If she truly feared that prophecy would come true on her, she shouldn't have agreed to Aglaea, but should have stayed far from the Fire Pursuit Journey."

"But I still think she actually wants to join the Fire Pursuit Journey, for if the Fire Pursuit fails, Wengfalusi's future will be completely swallowed by the Black Tide; for now she might still be able to sneak some treasures from Aohema's people, but once Aohema falls city‑wide…… she'll have no way out." Liriluka sighed, "…All the regrets of this life, it seems, can only be made up for in the next life."

"Don't speak too presumptuously."

Werelf bluntly interrupted Liriluka's optimism, tossing the oil cloth used to wipe his sword aside, "We still haven't found a way to defeat the Sky Titan, the Fire Thieves are eyeing us hungrily, and Aohema's interior is full of contradictions…… Wengfalusi is now a powder keg; if another spark falls, it'll likely blast everyone's hopes to smithereens."

——

"……These black‑clothed folks…… neither respond to provocation nor seem intending to fight——what exactly are they waiting for?"

Danheng looked around, discovering these Purifiers had surrounded him from afar, maintaining a wary stance but none taking the initiative to attack.

"Applying pressure. Creating anxiety. Planting worry. It seems this is their chosen strategy," Laigushi said beside him.

Danheng's gaze sank: "…Hmm. An organization whose mission is to exterminate the Golden‑born…… I've read some shocking stories claiming that the Purifiers force‑imprint memory fragments on successors through alchemical techniques, to perpetuate 'identity' and 'hatred'……

"As far as I know, this is fact. The Kaines councilor we know, strictly speaking——is actually the twenty‑seventh 'Kaines' in history." Laigushi said blandly, "Objectively speaking, the emergence of the Purifiers is both necessary and inevitable. But their vicious, malicious tactics are despised by all, landing them in the trash heap of history."

"But they still persist as an organization to this day, even trying to obstruct the Fire Pursuit Journey." Danheng paused, "Are they really that afraid of the Golden‑born's pursuit of the 'Recreation of the World'?"

"Even in a tumultuous age, someone always profits from the predicament." Laigushi said, "To make the vested interests abandon this world's status, wealth, and ambition for a distant rationality——that might be no easier than working a miracle."