Chapter 246: Garden of Frightening Dreams (15)

"Since that's the case, why didn't she voluntarily submit her resignation herself?"

"Humph, Lord Yuheng Xing, there are many intricacies when dealing with employment relations, but to put it simply, if Qingque applies on her own, she's most likely unable to obtain such a large compensation."

Looking up at Qingque's flushed cheeks from joy, Yan Fei spread his hands and said, "Perhaps Miss Qingque has truly been waiting a long time for this day?"

——

"Hehe, I also feel that I'm idly slacking off all day, playing cards while drawing a salary from the Divination Office… truly… how does that saying go again…"

"Can't get any better?" Xing interjected.

"It's a waste of life," Qingque thanked Lord Tai Bu for giving her a push, forcing her to make a change. But before the change, she still has to help Xing resolve the Divination Office's trouble.

Watching Fu Xuan, who was on the brink of madness, everyone felt a bit uneasy, because he neither intended to trap them with an illusion nor to launch an attack. If the enemy makes no move, how can one counter?

"Going astray? I am perfectly clear—actually, I've never been this clear before," Fu Xuan declared confidently. "From now on, I will devote my whole being to deducing the Celestial Vessel Alliance's destined future, and proclaim it to the world so that everyone can live plainly and clearly."

"Saying that isn't very clear,"

To deduce the Celestial Vessel Alliance's future, the causal variables involved would likely overwhelm even the most exhaustive observation array.

"I know what you're about to say—'Man can conquer Heaven,' 'free will'… but those are merely hallucinations of the human mind. From the start there has been only one path," Fu Xuan sneered, looking at Xing. "You, Xing, are nothing but a pawn manipulated by a star‑core hunter."

"All the choices you think you make of your own volition are merely tributaries that inevitably merge on the road of fate. Your assistance in helping the Celestial Vessel defeat the Illusory Haze was already scripted early on by that hidden slave behind the scenes."

Fu Xuan crossed his arms, confidence evident, and said, "Just as now, my options are only—'wield a bat and charge at me,' 'shout futilely to refute me,' or 'fall silent without a word.'"

Xing realized that the choices really were only those… she could only choose silence.

——

Silver Soul.

"Why am I suddenly feeling a bit envious…" Yin Shi sat up straight from the sofa, a flash of envy in his dead‑fish eyes. "Is there a way for this Xi Yan to possess me without completely taking over my body and consciousness?"

"Ayin, if you want to daydream, I'd suggest you change your pillow," Shen Le said, sitting cross‑legged on the windowsill while chewing pickled kelp.

"Just like in Naruto, after some cultivation we could perfectly master the Suiyang power within our bodies and use it to predict horse‑race results, stock movements, even help a rich lady foresee her husband's cheating partner… wouldn't that make us rich?"

"Huh? If we can already foresee the future, can we aim for something higher!"

Xin Ba's sarcastic voice rose an octave, "And ordinary Suiyang isn't enough, right? It has to be Xi Yan, but this guy has completely fallen into the logic that 'the future is already decided, life choices are meaningless.' Once possessed, Yin Sang you'll become a dumb puppet."

"Future decided? So the amount of pickled kelp I'm eating now is also predestined?" Shen Le suddenly fell silent, tilting her head to ask.

Xin Ba Zhi nodded.

She looked down at the bag in her hand, then dumped all the pickled kelp into her mouth: "Then I'll eat double… um, triple, A Lu! That'll make the prediction inaccurate, won't it?"

"That's the logic, indeed," Yin Shi narrowed his dead‑fish eyes to a slit, pondering, "Even if the future is fixed, isn't our discussion right now also part of that future?"

Xin Ba was taken aback for a moment, "Yin Sang, you occasionally say something reasonable."

"Of course, rather than pondering this…" Yin Shi stood up, stretched lazily, "let's think about dinner. I predict we'll have beef hot pot tonight."

"Really, A Lu?" Shen Le's eyes lit up.

"That's a lie, because we don't even have money to buy tofu," Yin Shi patted his empty wallet.

"Yin Sang, you're not predicting, you're making a wish, right?" Xin Ba sighed, "Sigh… this is the truly predestined reality."

——

"Seeing the crowd's dissatisfaction, Fu Xuan said he could demonstrate what destiny truly means."

She led everyone into an illusion where a Divination Office game sand table was set up; after pre‑programmed human commands, the mechanisms on the table could follow the instructions precisely to reach the exit.

Fu Xuan hoped that through this game he could prove that humans are merely the mechanisms within it—seeming to have choices, but in fact having none, merely moving forward according to destiny's commands.

"Exactly, in a pre‑set game any choice is a meaningless error," Qingque calmly refuted Xi Yan. "But the universe isn't anyone's game, there's no single solution, and I, existing within it, can do anything."

"Even on the same day's work, I can hide in the library to read idle books or find someone to play cards. That's freedom."

Su Shang listened, deeply impressed, and gave Qingque a thumbs‑up: "To speak so lazily yet so convincingly, making it sound so reasonable… the Divination Office's diviners are truly cultured!"

"Huh? Shang Shang, wake up, you're about to have your brain taken over by Suiyang!"

Xi Yan dismissed Qingque's remarks as contemptible, deeming her so‑called choices meaningless waste. Yet she bears the heavy burden of the Celestial Vessel and must select the single optimal path for it; any other route, in her eyes, is meaningless.

"Sigh, that really is a Tai Bu‑style emotionally clueless remark…"

Qingque let out a soft sigh, indicating willingness to play a more complex sand‑table game with Xi Yan, who readily agreed. This time, Qingque not only forged the first path but also, using Xing and Huo Huo's positions, forged a second route.

But that route provoked Xi Yan's cold laughter: "Qingque, you're merely shifting concepts. I could weave thousands of such routes for you, but they all lead to the same end—what meaning does such a choice have?"

At those words, Xing couldn't help but laugh.

Qingque slowly shook her head, her expression unusually serious: "You monster, you really don't understand humans at all."