Chapter 157

 Inside the manga world.

“Ye… Ye Zheng!”

Wen Xiaoxing forced the name out of his dry and hoarse throat. He was sitting directly on the ground and quickly realized this position left him completely at her mercy. He tried to get up, but suddenly a heavy pressure pinned down his shoulder. Ye Zheng’s hand pressed him down with an unstoppable force.

“How did you come back? C-calm down! I only did it because someone told me to. Killing me won’t bring you any benefit!”

Wen Xiaoxing gasped for air while rapidly organizing his thoughts. He never expected that he had only existed for a little over ten days and was already facing a life-threatening situation. Why was this world so cruel to him? Wasn’t he supposed to be the favored child of fate?

He felt a bit wronged. His usually sharp and calculating eyes were almost on the verge of tears, but he knew very well Ye Zheng wouldn’t fall for that. It might even make her dislike him more and speed up his death instead.

The 【Fate Singularity】 had already collapsed. Wen Xiaoxing instinctively understood that without fate’s protection, there was no way he could defeat Ye Zheng. But he still had other cards in his hand that he could use to buy himself a little more time.

“I… I want to stand up, Saintess. Please let go of me first. I can tell you all of Wen Jian’s secrets!”

Ye Zheng looked at him for a moment, then slowly removed her hand. Wen Xiaoxing immediately sprang up and steadied his balance.

His gaze subtly drifted toward the still-unconscious Pei Xi. In his heart, he prayed desperately for Pei Xi to wake up soon so that Ye Zheng wouldn’t be able to act so freely against them.

“Hm?”

Ye Zheng tilted her head slightly, as if she couldn’t be bothered to waste any words on him. She used her eyes to signal that he should stop dragging things out.

Countless plans flashed rapidly through Wen Xiaoxing’s mind. For the first time, his young and lively face showed a serious expression. He spoke slowly, “Saintess, I’m merely a weapon created by the Pope. I had no choice in the matter. From start to finish, the one who wants to deal with you is the Pope, Wen Jian.”

Ye Zheng let out a laugh whose meaning was hard to read. Wen Xiaoxing nervously watched her expression and continued speaking.

“Not only did he send me to assassinate you, he also reached out to three archbishops. He plans to fabricate charges, accusing you of falsifying information during the Saintess selection, and then strip you of your Saintess title.”

“My life is in his hands. I don’t want to remain his puppet anymore. Pope Wen Jian is our shared enemy. We can fully cooperate to bring him down. Once that happens, you’ll become the true ruler of the Church!”

Falsifying information? Ye Zheng recalled that she had indeed left a loophole. To avoid being treated as high-grade tribute by Ye Fanjing, she had once found someone to take the official test in her place and concealed her true ability rank. She had been young at the time, so leaving some traces was unavoidable. It wasn’t strange that Wen Jian had discovered it.

The core of the matter wasn’t that serious, but the Church’s laws did not allow any clergy member to be dishonest. If all the archbishops sided with Wen Jian, then by procedure, the church really could strip her of her Saintess identity.

Wen Jian was truly vicious. He probably still held a grudge because she and Sela had once worked together to expose his scandal. Not only did he want to take her life, he even wanted to erase her reputation and status after death.

Ye Zheng lowered her gaze. Her tone carried a hint of lazy contempt. “Wen Xiaoxing, is this all the secret you know?”

Wen Xiaoxing widened his innocent green eyes and spoke slowly, “If I tell you everything at once, then my value while I’m still alive won’t be very great anymore…”

This Wen Xiaoxing really had the same scheming, cunning nature as Wen Jian. Ye Zheng silently adjusted her breathing and thought coldly.

Wen Xiaoxing stared at Ye Zheng’s expression. He had gradually regained his rationality from the initial shock and fear. If Ye Zheng truly intended to kill him, she wouldn’t have kept him alive until now. In other words, she wouldn’t make a move on him for the time being.

Even though the 【Fate Singularity】 had collapsed and he didn’t know when it would recover, he, Wen Xiaoxing, was still an extremely valuable creation. In order to deal with Wen Jian, Ye Zheng couldn’t possibly kill him recklessly. Fate was still on his side!

The two of them stared at each other in silence, both calculating and weighing their thoughts.

“You— Ye Zheng, why are you here!”

An agitated, sharp voice broke the eerie atmosphere. Ye Zheng turned her head and saw Ye Di’s loud, flustered face, just as expected.

According to the plot point, Ye Di wanted to curry favor with the Crown Prince and planned to eliminate Pei Xi alone, since he was the one most likely to threaten Sykes. Ye Zheng knew that although Ye Di had some ambition, he wasn’t particularly decisive in action. The fact that he could do this meant he had unconsciously been guided by the plot.

After seeing this plot segment in the manga spoilers, Ye Zheng hadn’t intended to interfere with Ye Di dealing with Pei Xi. She was even somewhat curious. Since she was no longer a member of the Cloud Soarers team and had no reason to protect Pei Xi, how exactly would this plot segment unfold?

After she had immersed herself in the two-dimensional world and twisted it into a Möbius strip, she had entered a strange state. With a single thought, time flowed backward beneath her feet like an illusory river in reverse. She had returned to the hotel entrance that morning and quietly used her ability to hang a mirror on the door, leaving a reminder for her past self at that time point.

Then Ye Zheng had continued forward along the flow of time. After arriving at this plot point, she felt a powerful resistance in the dark. She could no longer move forward.

She had shattered the 【Fate Singularity】 that once trapped her and entered a near-godlike state, yet she discovered that beyond the cage there was still a towering city wall. In the end, she had still been pulled back into the predetermined plot point…

Ye Di, who was standing at the bow of the boat, suddenly froze. He had originally come to deal with Pei Xi, but the moment he saw Ye Zheng, his mind went completely blank. How strange. Why did he have no memory at all of Ye Zheng appearing here?

He stood frozen in place, sinking into a strange daze. For a moment, he even forgot what he had come here to do.

Ye Zheng let out a soft sigh and withdrew her gaze. She looked at Wen Xiaoxing again. His expression carried a trace of joy from narrowly escaping death, but the moment he noticed Ye Zheng’s eyes drifting back to him, the lines of his face stiffened.

The confused Ye Di followed Ye Zheng’s gaze and looked at Wen Xiaoxing. Suddenly, he shouted loudly, “Your eye! What kind of monster slipped in here!” As he spoke, he took an attacking stance.

At this moment, Wen Xiaoxing’s left eye had already shattered into green glass shards, which he clutched tightly in his palm. Only a pitch-black eye socket remained on the left side, while his right eye blinked normally, creating a terrifying, uneven sight.

Hearing the word “monster,” Wen Xiaoxing’s face darkened completely. He had to find a way to restore the 【Fate Singularity】 and then throw this rude guy into the worst possible world!

Suddenly, his expression tightened. A strip of white cloth slanted across his left eye, covering the empty black socket. A sharp pain came from the back of his head as the cloth was tied into a firm knot, pulling his facial muscles upward in a slightly comical way.

Before Wen Xiaoxing could react, the hand he was clutching so tightly was forcibly pried open. Ye Zheng took the fragments from his palm.

Realizing what Ye Zheng intended to do, Wen Xiaoxing almost immediately lunged forward. But he saw Ye Zheng raise her arm at the side of the boat, open her palm, and let the glittering emerald-green fragments scatter and sink into the unfathomably deep lake.

Wen Xiaoxing leaned over the side of the boat, staring in disbelief at the sparkling lake surface. Then he turned his head and glared at Ye Zheng with eyes full of rage he dared not voice.

After finishing all this, Ye Zheng patted her hands as if brushing off dust. Under Wen Xiaoxing’s single eye that looked ready to split apart with fury, she gently reprimanded Ye Di in a calm, warm voice, “Ye Di, you shouldn’t speak so rudely. Apologize to him.”

“Huh? Me?”

Ye Di pointed at himself. He still had both eyes, and just moments ago Ye Zheng had taken something from the other person’s hand and thrown it away!

Ye Zheng ignored Ye Di’s reaction. She looked at Wen Xiaoxing with deep meaning in her eyes and said, “I’m truly sorry. Ye Di is like this, and I’m not without responsibility. After the competition ends, I’ll personally come and apologize.”

The word “personally” was emphasized heavily. Amid his anger, Wen Xiaoxing struggled to keep his rationality. He caught the implication behind Ye Zheng’s words: she was agreeing to the cooperation he had proposed.

At the very least, his life was safe for now. Losing the 【Fate Singularity】 didn’t matter… Wen Xiaoxing gritted his teeth. Once the competition was over, he would definitely obtain Wen Jian’s 【Mother of All Things】. That ability was no less powerful than fate itself. He would lie low for a while. One day, he’d definitely kill this detestable Ye Zheng!

Ye Zheng lightly nudged the still-unconscious Pei Xi on the deck with the tip of her shoe. She felt the boat was a bit crowded and the air somewhat stale, but it wouldn’t be good to throw people overboard. So she turned and instructed Ye Di to dock the boat at the shore.

Only after the boat reached shore did Ye Di finally react. He had clearly come to deal with Pei Xi. Even if he wasn’t dealing with Pei Xi, the competition target: the deep-blue giant eel was in the nearby waters. So why was Ye Zheng heading back to shore?

Ye Zheng got off the boat alone and walked toward the shore, paying no attention to the three boys still on the boat.

She was temporarily sparing Wen Xiaoxing’s life not only to deal with Wen Jian. To be honest, she didn’t believe Wen Xiaoxing would sincerely help her. He was only currying favor for now to save his own life.

More importantly, behind Wen Xiaoxing stood not only Wen Jian but also an existence from a higher-dimensional world. Through Wen Xiaoxing’s actions and condition, she could glimpse that world’s attitude toward her. She might even obtain some unexpected clues.

Wen Xiaoxing was a very useful monster. Ye Zheng could delay his execution, but she was still vindictive and had no intention of reducing his sentence.

Still, this counted as her first clash with the person behind the system. It was truly worth remembering.　　

Ye Zheng lowered her head and turned over her palm. The sparkling green fragments rested in her hand. These were her souvenirs.

She had just tested it. Wen Xiaoxing cared deeply about these things, so they clearly held research value.

Ye Zheng observed them for a while, then tucked the fragments into her sleeve. She didn’t notice the uneven road surface beneath her feet. Her body suddenly swayed.

A strong hand reached out and caught her.

“What’s wrong? You look very weak.”

“Does it have something to do with the strange order you just gave me?”

Wu Shu appeared beside Ye Zheng in a flash. Her concerned gaze carried a faint trace of sharp scrutiny as she stared at Ye Zheng’s face, which looked paler than usual.

Ye Zheng steadied herself. A hint of helplessness flashed across her face. This was also one of the reasons she hadn’t acted against Wen Xiaoxing immediately. She had expended too much energy. If she acted rashly, she might end up exposing her weakness instead.

“Wu Shu, do you remember what just happened?”

Wu Shu’s expression paused. Her furrowed brows carried confusion. “You suddenly spoke inside my mind. It was very strange. My reaction at that time was as if I didn’t know you, but I still carried out your order. I killed Pei Xi, the time regressed, and then you came back.”

Wu Shu said half-jokingly, “Seeing you this weak, why don’t you go rest? Otherwise I’d feel a bit embarrassed asking you to help me win.”

“Sure, I was indeed planning to rest.”

Hearing Ye Zheng’s answer, Wu Shu’s expression shifted slightly. Her voice deepened a little. “It’s really come to this point? Ye Zheng, I care a lot about our agreement.”

Ye Zheng looked back at her with a serious expression. “I know.”

Wu Shu had already fulfilled this promise across thousands of worlds. Of course Ye Zheng would not go back on her word.

“I will make you win.”

Ye Zheng paused for a moment. “I have a method with the highest success rate, but this method might be a bit… underhanded.”

If her ability were still at its peak, she could have directly assisted Wu Shu in taking down that giant fish. But right now, Ye Zheng could only think of a less honorable method that still carried a high chance of success. It would depend on Wu Shu’s choice.

Wu Shu turned serious. “Tell me.”