Chapter 453: The Silent Infant Bell

Foolish Game of the Gods

While marveling at this Fate Weaver's commendable courage, Hu Xuan didn't answer directly. Instead, she flashed a radiant smile and asked:

"So... what?"

Cheng Shi faltered, his expression sheepish.

'I can't exactly say: "Hey sis, you need to give me another whistle, or I won't be able to find you when I 'have needs.'"'

'That would be walking right into the trap myself!'

'This Eternal Sun— when did she start playing mind games?!'

But such trivial challenges could never trip up a clown who performed on stage on the regular.

Cheng Shi cleared his throat and stated with absolute seriousness:

"After our three-way meeting, I now have a way to contact Aph Ros and exchange information with him at any time.

"So I wanted to ask: whenever I obtain intelligence about [Birth] or anything else that interests you, would it work if I left it with Aph Ros and then called to notify you to pick it up?

"Is that... feasible?"

"..."

Hu Xuan blinked, then shot Cheng Shi a look that was half-smile, half-skepticism.

"It seems the night really is more alluring than the day. But I ought to remind certain people: what flows through the darkness isn't only moonlight. There's also desire and filth."

With that, she extended her hand and produced a new token!

But this time, it wasn't a Night Curtain Spring Whistle. It was a small white round bell!

Cheng Shi had been sweating from her rebuke, but the sight of the little bell shocked him instantly.

"This is... an Infant Bell Flower?!"

Hu Xuan nodded:

"Yes. A Silent Infant Bell.

"Cheng Shi, you're not an obedient Fate Weaver. You've got too many schemes racing through your head. A whistle is too shrill— for someone who always wants to hide something, it's hard to manage.

"So I made this instead.

"The Life Era has many ancient tribes with strange and wondrous forging arts. I prayed for a trial and had them craft this using the Infant Bell Flower as a template.

"Now you can shake it anytime, because this bell makes no sound. I've already asked a Ranger to seal the 'wind element' inside."

'Wait!'

'Ranger? What ranger?'

'A Wind-Taming Ranger?'

'Li Bola?!'

Cheng Shi went blank. He asked in surprise: "You're still in contact with her?"

Hu Xuan smiled and nodded: "Yes, and we're in frequent contact. She covets me, the same way I covet you."

"..."

'Lady, I really can't have a conversation when you put things like that.'

But honestly, this Infant Bell was leagues better than any Night Curtain Spring Whistle!

Cheng Shi was outwardly awkward but inwardly grateful. Hu Xuan had truly been thinking of him, so he shouldn't betray this... trust. Yes, trust.

Still, something felt slightly off, because the bell's design didn't exactly scream "respectable token."

After all, the Night Curtain Spring Whistle already had certain... functions. So this bell wouldn't happen to...

Seeing that Cheng Shi had guessed, Hu Xuan smiled and didn't bother hiding it.

"Correct— there is a tiny side effect that couldn't be eliminated. Though it's not really a side effect. It's just that when you ring it, the air fills with the scent of Infant Bell Flowers."

"..."

"The fragrance may carry a trace of my Lord's aura, but I trust your endurance can handle it."

"..."

'Should? Nice "should!"'

'I knew you had ulterior motives!'

But even with ulterior motives, any object that could summon the big boss for an emergency rescue had to be accepted.

And so Cheng Shi pocketed the bell with a shameless grin, thanked her with a dry laugh, and then returned to a serious tone:

"I've accepted the gift. Now then— shall we start the script?

"I know you and Hu Wei's friend might have some... minor friction, but from what I can tell, the operation he mentioned is extremely important. I suspect he learned something from a higher intelligence channel, so I've decided to go have a look with him."

Of course, Cheng Shi couldn't directly say he was going for the amazing thing Hu Wei had promised wouldn't disappoint him. So his words were... polished somewhat.

"So, if I could trouble you to—"

"There's no need for such formalities between us. I'll play my part. But are you truly not interested in the Grand Marshal's missing friend?"

Cheng Shi paused, then shook his head: "If you're willing to share, I might be interested. But if you'd rather not, everyone has their own secrets. Don't they?"

Hu Xuan smiled. This was one of the reasons she admired Cheng Shi.

Respect.

In a world where you could never see what lay within people's hearts, this Fate Weaver still understood respect.

Unlike certain people, who had absolutely no idea how to respect others.

Hu Xuan smiled and began to speak unhurriedly about the Grand Marshal's friend.

"Your Grand Marshal brother has a wide circle of friends. That particular friend of his is a shrewd and calculating...

"Fisherman."

Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened. He fell into thought.

A Fisherman— [Chaos]'s hunter class.

Among all [Chaos] followers, Fishermen were the least chaotic themselves. They excelled at fishing in "troubled waters," were even better at creating those troubled waters, and loved goading others into tearing each other apart within the murk— then reaping the spoils after the rivals destroyed each other.

Though [Chaos] and [War] belonged to opposing Paths of Fate, in a certain sense, these two faiths were... actually a perfect match.

"Although I've received His approval, I still need to seek [Birth]'s enlightenment through various trials.

"In one such trial, I was matched with him, along with one of his enemies— a follower of [Order].

"The Elemental Judge clearly had beef with this Fisherman. But the Fisherman couldn't seem to take his opponent down, so he turned his schemes on me.

"More precisely, on everyone.

"He set up a scheme that scrambled everyone's consciousness, making every teammate become hostile toward the Elemental Judge. Including me.

"I'll admit the Fisherman was formidable. Both me and my teammates fell into cognitive chaos. Just as he'd planned, we joined forces to suppress the Elemental Judge, and the Fisherman took the opportunity to finish off his enemy.

"But even after the man was dead, the dust hadn't settled. His heart was too ruthless— he actually wanted to pull up the roots and kill the Elemental Judge's child as well.

"Why are you backing away? You should know me by now: that child was me. Even if it wasn't at the time, I couldn't possibly let him kill a future version of myself.

"So I killed him.

"Just that simple."

"..."

Cheng Shi fell silent. 'Simple isn't really calculated that way, sis. You don't even need to tell me the details— just tell me how many children you gave birth to during that trial, and I'll know exactly how "simple" it was.'

Hu Xuan seemed to read his mind, but she made no effort to downplay [Birth]'s "madness." She simply smiled with elegant composure:

"Six."

Six?

6.

'Your squad only had five other members. Even if each one had a child, that's still one short. Where did the...'

But a moment later, Cheng Shi figured it out: including Hu Xuan herself, the trial party had exactly six people.

6!

'Makes sense. Makes perfect f*ing sense. It's not like she hadn't done it before.'