Chapter 589: Entering the Dream |
Big Cat was fast. Even tunneling through a mountain, she arrived ahead of the Dragon King on the surface.
The two of them arranged Chernosly and the other two prisoners by the riverbank and waited quietly. They could already see Li Jingming atop the mountain—half a minute at most before he'd reach them.
Right on cue, the violent jostling revived Chernosly and his teacher La Quis from the Order chains' earlier punishment. When they saw they were no longer in the dungeon—and recognized the familiar silhouette of Prologue Holy Mountain in the distance—a flicker of bewilderment crossed their eyes.
But their reactions couldn't have been more different.
Chernosly's eyes blazed with mania. He glared fixedly toward Katouting, seething with impotent fury:
"Running is the coward's choice—and I'm no coward! Let me go back!
I am First-Class Inquisitor Chernosly, student of the greatest Grand Justice in history, La Quis himself! I cannot let the Grand Tribunal lose its justice!
These termites gnawing at Order's foundations must be exterminated! Factional infighting and political games can exist—but they must exist within Order's rules!
They shattered Order!
He betrayed me!
Why did he betray me?!"
Chernosly still hadn't grasped the real problem. Some unknown force continued to influence him, and he remained convinced that all of this stemmed from an internal crisis within the Grand Tribunal.
La Quis seemed not to hear his student at all. He stared skyward with those clouded old eyes, his voice saturated with the bleakness of despair and the grief of shattered faith.
"Why... would you let this world... lose Order.
Oh, supreme Order... why..."
Watching the scene, Cheng Shi let out a soft scoff.
There was no pity in his heart. When gods erred, mortals had no obligation to mourn for them. He wasn't mocking the Grand Justice's devotion—he was mocking the order that the Grand Tribunal championed.
Hong Lin raised an eyebrow with curiosity: "What's funny?"
Cheng Shi spread his hands: "The Grand Tribunal."
"How so?
For all its problems, the Grand Tribunal is still better than most other nations in recorded history. At least there's order here. Ordinary people can enjoy a modest measure of the justice and fairness they dream of."
Cheng Shi shook his head. "What kind of order do you think the Grand Tribunal maintains?"
Hong Lin furrowed her brow and considered: "Citizens' lives and liberty? Social progress and stability?"
"No. Not even close.
Strength protects life. Power begets freedom. These things concern citizens, but citizens don't get to decide them.
I've visited many of the Grand Tribunal's cities, gone deep into numerous local prisons, and carefully observed their enforcers and convicts. I reached a personal conclusion:
The Grand Tribunal took a wrong turn.
They don't defend the people and protect the faithful because they champion rule of law. They do it to ensure those people retain the right to be judged!
To ensure that when his followers stand before his judgment, they accept their guilt willingly, allowing Order's radiance to shine forth without obstruction.
They never cared about what's below. They only ever cared about what's above. The order they want to maintain isn't the order ordinary people depend on for survival—it's the order required by the one seated upon the Divine Throne.
Hong Lin, you're right—the Grand Tribunal is better than other nations. But that's not because the people in power love their citizens or govern wisely. It's because these people were lucky enough to encounter a deity whose will isn't entirely dark and destructive!
From everything I've observed about the Civilization gods, Order may have genuinely championed order once. But he never corrected his followers' deviation—and that derailed the entire Grand Tribunal.
Fortunately, a will that champions order, even when it drifts slightly off course, still benefits civilizational development more than wills of chaos and annihilation.
But the hidden dangers were planted long ago. So when this deity developed a problem, order ceased to be order entirely.
Because the Grand Tribunal's rulers were devoted to his will. When he himself was no longer orderly, what meaning did order have?
Look—the Supreme Inquisitors threw the Grand Justice in prison. That's the most absurd consequence of this change."
"Quite the 'Order Doctrine' you've constructed. Impressive. I imagine you and Mo Li would have plenty to talk about."
Li Jingming had arrived. He'd caught the tail end of Cheng Shi's speech, and a light of appreciation gleamed in his eyes.
Cheng Shi glanced up, rolled his eyes, and sneered: "He's already gone to find War. What's there to talk about?
Besides, I walk the Void path. Everything I think, say, and do is meaningless. I have nothing in common with Civilization's kin."
Li Jingming blinked, taken aback, and looked at Hong Lin.
"You two... really don't keep secrets from each other."
'Intelligence gathered is meant to be shared with friends. If you hoard everything, what makes you different from a Folly follower?'
Hong Lin shrugged with a casual smile and waved—another informal greeting.
Cheng Shi wasted no more time. He produced the remaining Dream Peeping Candle flame and pointed at Chernosly:
"Let's pick up the pace, Dragon King. The trial's about to end."
Li Jingming nodded in agreement. Without bothering to listen to whatever Chernosly and La Quis were saying, he traced several symbols in the air and sent both men into slumber.
Cheng Shi watched the trick with raised eyebrows, admiration plain on his face:
"Now that's way more useful than Deceit's hypnosis talent. But 'Dragon King,' you seem awfully practiced at putting people to sleep.
Tsk, Memory really does play dirty."
"..."
Li Jingming auto-filtered out "Cheng Shi's" commentary, sat cross-legged on the ground, and pulled a small wooden bird from his storage, setting it beside him.
"A Time trinket. Before the trial ends, it'll sing a hymn that wakes us up. When we hear the song praising Time inside the dream, that's our cue to find an exit."
The other two nodded and sat cross-legged as well.
The cooperation was now unavoidable. Hurrying to work together and make the most of the remaining time was the most pragmatic course.
But Cheng Shi eyed the motionless wooden bird on the ground with unmistakable interest: "Single-use?"
"..." Li Jingming gave Cheng Shi a look of profound complexity, then sighed. "It's just a B-rank item. You can have it."
Cheng Shi's face lit up. He rubbed his hands together: "Oh, I couldn't possibly—"
His mouth said one thing, but his rear was already scooting closer to the bird.
"..."
Li Jingming took one look at this, wordlessly closed his eyes, and adopted an out-of-sight-out-of-mind policy.
Hong Lin, on the other hand, chuckled softly, pointed at the little wooden bird, then pointed at herself, and mouthed silently:
"Cute. Gimme."
"?"
Cheng Shi's expression immediately soured. He was about to refuse—but then he reminded himself that Big Cat had gone through a lot of trouble coming with him. So he sighed, shot her a mildly disgusted look, and scooted away again.
Once all three were ready, the Dream Peeping Candle flickered to life. Taking advantage of the moment when the other two had their eyes closed, Cheng Shi quietly gave himself a mental cue, undoing the psychological trap he'd set earlier—the one that prevented him from dreaming.
And so, a dream quietly descended upon them all.
Comments 1