Chapter 14

Fate is a bitch?

Rewind time a little, to the moment Cheng Shi shouted that "Fate is a bitch."

Above the Continent of Hope, within a plane unreachable by mortals, three pairs of eyes opened simultaneously.

The first pair of eyes were heterochromatic; the left eye was burning fire, the right eye was flowing blood.

The moment He opened His eyes, a passionate musical movement resonated in the void, every note making one's soul surge and fighting spirit boil.

"This is... My trial... you... broke the rules..."

The second pair of eyes were cold and silent, devoid of emotion. The whites of the eyes were filled with swirling spirals, and the pupils were engraved with divergent star points.

Just by meeting His gaze, one would feel their soul being pulled toward the endless void.

He glanced at the first pair of eyes and said coldly:

"When did you trade authority with 【Order】?"

"..."

It was clearly a taunt, and the other party was indeed silenced.

Just as the two were confronting each other, the corners of another pair of eyes curled up slightly, emitting a pleasant low laugh.

The third pair of eyes looked similar to the second, but the divine light within them was more vibrant—or rather, more like the eyes of a "person."

He watched the two confront each other silently, not speaking, just laughing.

"What... are you here for..."

"I heard blasphemous wild words and felt the mocked fate. I shall exercise my authority and banish the ignorant sinner."

"This is... My trial... you... broke the rules..."

"..."

This time, it was the other one's turn to be silent.

The third pair of eyes suddenly burst into laughter.

"Interesting, too interesting. An idiot who believes in himself, and a fool who can't chat outside of war. Hahaha, too interesting."

"Is it funny?"

"Isn't it funny?"

The second pair of eyes narrowed slightly, glancing coldly at the third pair.

"Why have you come?"

"And why have you come?"

"He believes in me, yet blasphemes me. I can naturally revoke his qualifications. Do you want to violate the 【Convention】 to protect him?"

"But he has already been snatched by me, so he naturally counts as my believer. Do you want to violate the 【Convention】 to banish him?"

That gaze that pierced the void glanced coldly at Him once more, was silent for a moment, and then slowly dissipated.

The third pair of eyes laughed again.

"What... are you here for..."

"Me? I'm naturally here to save my cute follower."

As He spoke, a finger as crystalline as jade reached out, piercing through endless planes, and arrived before 【Wrath of Abomination】.

He just gently placed His hand there, and the fire filling the sky contracted and tightened, avoiding it in haste.

【Wrath of Abomination】's venting was interrupted by a "person," and He became furious. But when He saw the eyes behind that finger, the full rage instantly cooled, and His massive body trembled imperceptibly.

He quietly and precisely pulled the prison door shut a little, so that not a single meteor fell where the finger pointed.

The first pair of eyes widened a fraction; the blood in the pupils was boiling, the fire was roaring.

"... You... broke the rules..."

The third pair of eyes blinked and blinked.

"And then?"

"..."

The eyes of blood and fire gazed at Him for a moment, then also fell silent.

"Tsk, your believers are waging wars everywhere just to beg for a glimpse of you, and you, as the master of war, wearing the divine name of 【War】, don't even dare to have a fight with me."

"... The 【Convention】... cannot be violated..."

"Heh, boring."

He looked toward the unknown starry sky and instantly dissipated into the air.

Everyone was tired from running, especially Chen Chong and Xia Wan.

When they realized they had truly escaped the danger, they refused to move another step, just lying on the ground gasping for air.

Chen Chong had been healed by Nangong along the way, so his state was maintained well enough, but it was Nangong who had been dragged along in his hand who suffered, her face as pale as if she had been dragged the whole way.

Xia Wan, however, because of Cheng Shi's constant healing, had once again become a "mother" ten months "pregnant."

Dealing with this kind of problem still required the abortion specialist, Song Yawen.

He consciously hid beside Xia Wan; every time a new twisted life was born from a burst of skin, he would be the first to hack away this "monster" that hadn't yet had time to open its eyes.

While hacking, he would complain:

"Why do the newborns of 【Birth】 look so sanity-draining? Do the True Gods like this look?"

Xia Wan pursed her lips, didn't speak, and turned to look at Cheng Shi.

The meaning in her eyes was clear: Cheng Shi has high points and knows more than I do.

There was no discussion about 【Birth】 in Cheng Shi's faith channel, and he didn't know the reason at all, but he still gave an explanation with great certainty, though his face was somewhat ugly.

"When you haven't been born yet, if you could change your appearance, what would you want to become?

These newborns who worship 'My Lord' are just trying to become what 'My Lord' likes, it's just that...

They don't know what 【Birth】 likes, so they start using their own imagination.

As for the result, you've seen it."

This was the first time everyone had heard such an explanation, but Cheng Shi's confidence didn't sound like a guess at all; it sounded more like an explanation after knowing the cause and effect. Plus, he had saved everyone from desperate situations again and again, so everyone was instinctively willing to believe him.

Only Cao Sansui widened his eyes and confirmed again:

"The consensus among 【Birth】 players I know is that the newborns already know the appearance of 【Birth】, but with their abilities, they can only restore a part of it.

This is a completely different concept from what you said. Do you mean that even the newborns born under the influence of 【Birth】 don't know His appearance?

Is this true?"

Everyone looked at Cheng Shi, waiting for his answer.

The reason everyone took this so seriously was that this answer concerned the relationship between 【Gods】 and 【Believers】.

If newborns knew the appearance of 【Birth】 and tried their best to restore Him, it would mean that gods could accept the admiration of believers, and the rumored "becoming close to gods, saving oneself" would also become possible.

But if newborns didn't know the appearance of 【Birth】 and were just trying to please Him, then the relationship between 【Gods】 and 【Believers】 might be much colder.

And coldness meant that humans and gods were different.

Those who beg for divine gifts might perhaps only be able to fall into the gods' games forever, living as a surviving player.

Cheng Shi didn't know if what he said was true or false, but lying had become his "habit" and "constraint." Even if he didn't want to lie sometimes, his mouth would have its own opinions.

His smile was a bit forced, but his tone was unquestionable:

"Absolutely authentic."

Xia Wan was stunned, looking at the "tentacle" newborns constantly being born within her body, and asked with a shocked expression:

"You... where did you learn this?"

Cheng Shi smiled mysteriously: "Confidential."

Xia Wan nodded thoughtfully and didn't ask any more questions.

Song Yawen suddenly added:

"Brother Cheng, you wouldn't happen to be the 【God-Chosen】 of 【Birth】, would you?"

【God-Chosen】, the player ranked first in faith for each path in the Ladder of Audience.

Cheng Shi was startled and hurriedly waved his hand to deny it:

"I'm still far from being first on the Ladder of Audience; even if I broke my neck looking up, I wouldn't be able to see their feet."

After saying this, Xia Wan and Nangong beside her looked at Cheng Shi's feet at the same time, the same conjecture rising in their minds:

"Cheng Shi, could he really be the God-Chosen of the 【Birth】 Ladder of Audience? Only a 'God-Chosen' would have such an incredible method of escaping danger..."

Cheng Shi guessed their thoughts, instinctively shrank his neck, and continued to deny it.

But Xia Wan didn't believe it at all. She peeked at the 【Ladder of Audience】 for 【Birth】 and 【Filth】, and saw that the ID of the 【Birth】 believer ranked first was called "Specialist in Infertility."

"..."

That tone... it's similar, very similar.

Seeing that the topic of conversation kept revolving around Cheng Shi, Chen Chong, who had rested for a while and regained his strength, responsibly interrupted their speech.

"Um... can we find a safe place first before discussing the God-Chosen issue?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, saving our lives is the priority."

The group looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

The joy of surviving a disaster finally erupted here.

"Generally speaking, after solving the trial, the danger coefficient will drop sharply, but we should still be careful.

Let's go southeast. Whether according to the battlefield orientation of the Continent of Hope or the marching direction of the Terror Demons, the southeast should be far from the center of the war vortex.

Let's walk a bit further and see if we can see the Blizzard Mountains; that place might be able to avoid all disputes and let us survive until the trial ends."

Cao Sansui recovered his steadiness and erudition, dragging Chen Chong and leading everyone toward the southeast.

After dodging the Meteor Fire Rain, everyone's mood was clearly much better, but their vigilance remained.

Along the way, Chen Chong took the lead, Song Yawen kept watch, Cao Sansui coordinated from the center, and Nangong drank health potions while healing Xia Wan.

As for Cheng Shi...

He was like an old man on his first group tour, urgently wanting to understand everything about the Continent of Hope, catching the "tour guide" Cao Sansui and asking him a ton of questions.

Familiarity with history might increase a player's survival rate in trials. He hadn't understood it before because there was no valid information in the faith channel, and the news in the profession channel was hard to distinguish as true or false, so he had just skimmed through it and hadn't paid attention.

Now that there was a "living history textbook" in front of him, it would be a waste not to ask.