Fang Yuan slept deeply.
When she woke up again, she instinctively reached for her phone.
When her fingers failed to find the familiar feel of it, her mind recalled that last night, to prevent Wang Wei from waking up and locating her through phone tracking, she had casually smashed it and thrown it away.
Anyway, she wouldn't need a phone once she entered the 【God Selection】, so throwing it out didn't matter.
However, Jiang Qiehuo had given her a basic PHS handset that could only make calls, saying they would use it to stay in touch when the time came.
Not bad—she hadn't used a PHS in a long time anyway.
Sitting up in Jiang Qiehuo's rented apartment, she ran a hand through her messy hair.
This was a new place Jiang Qiehuo had rented behind Meng Ying's back. She rarely came here before, but after Meng Ying's death, she spent almost all her time here.
Yawning, Fang Yuan walked into the bathroom for a quick wash, then grabbed a piece of bread off the table and started munching.
Judging by the light outside, it was probably past ten in the morning, wasn't it?
Pulling back the curtain slightly, her gaze locked right onto Wang Wei, who was opening a car door and stepping out below.
Fang Yuan: “Huh?”
That fast? Jiang Qiehuo had vowed that this place would definitely never be discovered, claiming it was her secret base.
Turns out her base wasn't reliable at all. Oh well, it wasn't like Fang Yuan had planned to hide here forever anyway.
Fang Yuan simply pulled the curtains fully open and waved at Wang Wei, who was aiming a gun upward.
A team of inspectors entered the building with guns drawn. The street had been quiet to begin with, and with Wang Wei's team clearing the area upon arrival, it looked even more desolate and empty.
Wang Wei stood below holding her gun, her eyes narrowing slightly against the harsh sunlight.
“Fang Yuan! Did you help Jiang Qiehuo escape?”
“Hand over Jiang Qiehuo. If she is truly innocent, I will ensure she receives justice.”
Fang Yuan rested her chin on one hand, her fingertips brushing across the tabletop to grab a fruit knife. “Maybe. I don't really remember!”
The knife blade reflected the sunlight, casting a flash of golden light outside that arced right above the pitch-black gun barrel before plunging violently into Fang Yuan's neck.
Fang Yuan curled her eyes into a smile and blew Wang Wei a kiss.
She gave the knife in her neck a ruthless twist, and her vitality instantly vanished.
Fang Yuan opened her eyes in the suburbs.
She rotated her neck, stretched, and scrambled up a nearby tree in a few swift motions, leaning back against a thick branch.
The PHS in her pocket buzzed. Fang Yuan flipped it open and answered Jiang Qiehuo's call.
“It's done. At most, seventy percent of the people can enter the illusory dream. When you're ready, open the pendant under the PHS.”
Fang Yuan acknowledged, “Your place is already surrounded. Figure something out on your own. Bye-bye~”
She hung up, in no rush to open the gourd pendant.
Standing up on the branch, she carefully surveyed her surroundings. After confirming that no one would be coming near this area for the time being, she concealed herself deeper among the foliage, curled up, and opened the pendant.
She pried open the gourd pendant with her fingertips. The moment she touched the small plastic ball inside, her vision went dark, and a gentle yet irresistible sense of weightlessness enveloped her.
The next second, a strange, soft sensation of support rose under her feet.
Fang Yuan stood atop a cloud as her vision cleared once more.
All around her was a vast, serene light-blue void. There was no wind, only a dreamlike stillness that felt almost frozen in time.
Flexing her feet, she sat down cross-legged on the cloud.
This illusory dream is woven quite well. Jiang Qiehuo's 【Blessing】 feels pretty awesome too.
It'd be great if I could steal it.
Resting her chin on her hand, Fang Yuan looked down below the cloud.
Below was the familiar Hero Square, where nine divine statues solemnly encircled the divine pillar. The square was packed with crowds of people kneeling low; from her vantage point, they looked like a dense swarm of black ants.
Gu Ruohua, the Director of the Inspectorate, stood at the very front of the crowd. With her head bowed low, she knelt on the ground alongside a horde of inspectors.
They had originally been conducting their daily oath in front of the Museum of Divine History. As they bowed and kowtowed, they had felt a pitter-patter of light rain on their heads.
She had assumed the gods had finally heard their daily oaths and rained down sweet dew upon them.
A blessing!
So she pressed herself tightly to the ground, feeling the patter of sweet dew fade away.
Just as she raised her head slightly to thank the gods for their blessing, she discovered she was no longer at the Museum of Divine History, but had appeared at Hero Square together with a multitude of believers.
“Have the gods heard our wishes? Are they taking us to the 【Fertile Land of the Gods】?”
Someone asked.
“Are the gods planning to make me a Candidate?”
Someone hoped.
“The gods have seen us! They have seen our devotion!”
Someone exclaimed in excitement.
Their voices were quickly hushed by their own restraint, leaving only the synchronized sound of kowtowing.
Gu Ruohua's body trembled slightly with excitement. Keeping herself pressed to the ground, she extended both arms forward, palms facing up toward the sky.
“O Gods! You must have heard our devotion and sacrifices! Are you taking us to the 【Fertile Land of the Gods】?”
“Whatever the cost, we are willing to offer it! Please bestow your favor upon us and grant us the right of eternal life!”
Having seen enough of their absurdity, Fang Yuan cleared her throat and let out her voice toward the crowd below.
That voice was not her familiar, personal voice.
Jiang Qiehuo had altered her voice masterfully inside the illusory dream.
It sounded ethereal and limpid, as though resonated directly by a deity, overflowing with majesty.
When this ethereal sound rained down from above the clouds, every person bowing, kowtowing, and kneeling in silent reverence across Hero Square froze at once.
It was as if time itself had been paused.
Suppressing their desperate urge to look up toward the clouds, they bowed their heads even lower.
The god spoke.
“I am the God of Destiny, listening to your wishes here.”
“I am moved by your piety; faith so pure has long reached my ears.”
“Thus today, I shall bestow a blessing upon you.”
Fang Yuan leaned back, watching indifferently as her body gradually became translucent.
She floated down lightly from the cloud and placed her palm on Gu Ruohua's head.
Gu Ruohua shuddered all over. She saw no figure before her, yet the vivid sensation told her this was no illusion.
A god touched her head!
“I shall take Gu Ruohua, Director of the Inspectorate, to the 【Fertile Land of the Gods】. Her mortal body on earth shall sleep forever, while her true self attains eternal life.”
Fang Yuan lightly touched Gu Ruohua's neck, her fingertips feeling the warm pulse and throbbing blood vessels beneath the skin.
Her wrist jerked inward with a sharp snap as her other hand slammed lightning-fast against the back of Gu Ruohua's head.
Gu Ruohua.
The primary representative of the God Supremacists, and the main culprit who had turned the Inspectorate into a toxic cesspool.
The Inspectorate had once been the place where Grandma showcased her talents. Yet ever since Gu Ruohua became Director, she had opposed Grandma at every turn, eventually forcing Grandma out of the Inspectorate.
No matter. I'm sending you to your death.
A sudden, violent, irreversible twisting force erupted from her arms in an instant.
A dull, sickening snap echoed clearly from deep within Gu Ruohua's neck.
Fang Yuan released her grip.
Deprived of all support, the body collapsed limply to the ground, head tilted at a hideously unnatural angle, without another sound.
Rate on N.U.
