Choice

Wei Ke's enthusiasm didn't last long. As the door behind him slowly closed and everything went dark, his passionate heart cooled down as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over it, and his steps involuntarily slowed.

Darkness and emptiness are the most immediate feelings here. The sound of each step and the dragging of chains echoed in this enclosed space.

It was as if he were the only person left in the whole world, yet it was also as if there were people everywhere.

Wei Ke took a deep breath, whispered to himself "It's okay" before continuing on his way.

Without a light source, one can no longer walk as freely as before; every step must be taken with utmost care.

The half-meter passage isn't particularly wide or narrow; as long as you're careful enough, you can safely walk to the other side without any worries.

That's what Wei Ke was thinking.

Before he could take two steps, Wei Ke was drenched in cold sweat.

The pressure was immense; every step forward required him to probe the boundary with his foot to avoid slipping, which made Wei Ke feel very insecure.

Or maybe...

Wei Ke for a moment, and then, as if possessed, bent down and got on all fours.

In an instant, I felt safe again.

Yes, yes, that's it!

Wei Ke was overjoyed, feeling he had found the right way, and even considered going back to tell Yi Weina the method.

But just then, he heard someone say to him.

"Don't go any further, A De."

Wei Ke's body stiffened instantly; the words that seemed to be right next to his ear made his hair stand on end.

"Who!"

He shouted.

But what came out was not words, but a roar.

Bai Wei walked in the darkness.

Unlike Wei Ke next door, who seemed to struggle with every step, Bai Wei walked calmly, as if the darkness had no effect on him.

Of course, it really had no effect; his eyes were enough to see through the darkness.

Before he had taken two steps, Bai Wei heard someone speaking to him in his ear.

"Don't go any further."

Bai Wei stopped in his tracks.

He wasn't scared at all; instead, he showed an expression of great interest.

"I was wondering if there was any chance I could get in touch with you," he said with a smile. "And you actually came."

The sound disappeared, and everything returned to silence, as if what had been heard before was just an illusion.

"Playing tricks?" Bai Wei pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "No, that shouldn't be the case."

So he continued forward, and the sickening creak of chains being dragged along rang out again.

He took a few more steps forward, and the voice rang out again.

"You're not from here. Who are you?"

"I'm from out of town," Bai Wei replied familiarly, as if chatting with an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time. "I come from a place you don't know."

The sound disappeared again, only to reappear after Bai Wei had walked a while further ahead.

"There's no place in this world I don't know." His voice was deep. "Outsider, you don't know what you're really facing."

Bai Wei replied with a smile, "I think no one knows better than me."

The sound disappeared again.

He was like a slow-reacting machine, never able to respond to Bai Wei immediately. He could only react slowly after Bai Wei took a few steps forward or after some time had passed.

"You are arrogant," he said. "Arrogance is often built on ignorance. Only those who know everything can know fear."

"So that's why you were so afraid of Visas back then?" Bai Wei raised an eyebrow, "So much so that you even abandoned your own master in the end?"

I don't know if it was just my imagination, but this time he paused for a longer time than before.

It was unclear how much time had passed, to the point that Bai Wei began to wonder if he had disconnected, when the sound finally came back on.

"You do know a lot," he said slowly. "I underestimated you, outsider. Since you know what you're facing, you still dared to come here. I admire your courage."

"Isn't this because you haven't taken the final step yet?" Bai Wei said with a smile. "I'm not stupid either. If you really became a god, I definitely wouldn't have come... at least not now. Right, Wildfire?"

Wildfire failed to grasp the hidden meaning in Bai Wei's words; his reaction was indeed slow, and he could only understand the literal meaning.

"You think you can stop me?"

"I'm trying it, and it's a very effective one," Bai Wei said with a smile. "Otherwise, why would you be arguing with me here instead of going straight to find that child?"

Wildfire remained silent for a while before speaking again.

"I must admit, you are indeed extraordinary, outsider," he said. "You have shaped far too many identities in the mind of my Saint, successfully delaying his awakening process and hindering my intervention, but do you think that is enough?"

His voice gradually grew louder.

"He will eventually wake up and remember who he is. He is not Hunter, not a hound, and not the boy who refused to become a monster. He is Saint, and he will eventually become Saint of God. When that time comes, you will find that all the identities you imposed on him were nothing but a joke."

"Before God, mortals can only bow their heads."

Bai Wei listened quietly without refuting, but asked a question as if changing the subject after Wildfire finished speaking.

What are your thoughts on this Trust Hall?

"The Trust Hall?" Wildfire was momentarily confused, seemingly not understanding why the topic had suddenly jumped to this point.

"Yes, the Trust Hall," Bai Wei said with a smile. "This is one of the things that your former master, the Senro God, valued most. As the one who knows Him best, I would like to know your opinion."

Bai Wei's words elicited a cold laugh from Wildfire.

"It's nothing but a joke," he said. "Courage? Trust? How pleasant, how noble. Unfortunately, only I know why He emphasizes these things."

Why?

"He wants to create a group of madmen who believe in Him unconditionally, who can throw themselves into the endless battle with Him. Anyone who retreats even slightly will be killed by Him first," Wildfire said in a low voice. "He despises anyone who is afraid to fight or unwilling to fight. If He has the opportunity to drag the whole world into a battle that He can never win, He will not hesitate, because He is the biggest madman."

"That sounds a bit exaggerated."

"Outsider, if you truly knew what He had done, you would understand that what I'm saying is true," Wildfire said calmly. "Do you know why He was designated an evil god by the other major deities?"

"Why?"

Wildfire was about to answer Bai Wei, but whether he felt that this question-and-answer session was too much of a burden on Bai Wei, or whether the answer made him wary, he didn't give an answer. Instead, he said coldly, "If you really have that ability, then go find the answer yourself. The answer is right in front of you, but I advise you to give up. This is your last resort."

"Are you saying your Saint are about to wake up?"

Wildfire did not answer, which was an admission of agreement.

"Courage and trust. The Senro God sees them as tools to govern his subordinates, while you see them as lies of the Senro God. In other words, neither of you believes in them," Bai Wei said with a smile. "In that case, why not give it a try? See what these two things will do to the child, and whether it will turn out the way you want."

Wildfire remained silent for a while before speaking again, but this time his tone was tinged with contempt.

"If this is your confidence, then I'm very disappointed, stranger," he said. "You think you're the first to try? Look at your feet, stranger, this is reality. And he's about to find out."

Although he could still see down below, Bai Wei stopped upon hearing this and threw down a ball of flame.

The fireball bounced and leaped in the darkness, illuminating the countless skeletons below.

The skeletons of the Hunter.

The fireball eventually disappeared into the darkness, as if everything before had been an illusion.

"This is the truth about trust and courage," Wildfire said. "You are destined to lose, stranger."

Bai Wei smiled.

"Let's wait and see."

Was that... my voice just now?

After the initial panic, Wei Ke gradually calmed down.

He recalled the voice that had told him not to go any further; it was clearly his own.

That was what he said to A De.

What's going on?

Is it a memory from half a month ago?

Wei Ke felt his head start to ache again, as if a knife was stabbing him from the inside out, causing him to involuntarily bend over and hug his head like a shrimp.

This also triggered the chain around her waist, causing it to rattle and clang.

But Wei Ke was suffering from a headache, didn't realize that he was the one who was moving the muscle, and subconsciously assumed that it was Yi Weina on the other side.

Is the Saintess about to fall?

He was startled.

No, no, no, that's impossible. Saintess is very cautious.

That's what Wei Ke was thinking.

But the next second, another voice rang in his mind.

Why not?

Wei Ke was stunned.

Why do you think she won't fall?

Wei Ke clutched his head tightly and hissed, "Who are you?!"

The voice didn't answer Wei Ke, but continued to say to itself, "This isn't a fair game."

"...That's fair!" Wei Ke said. "My life is in the hands of the Saintess, and her life is in my hands!"

"That's because you only know how to move forward, not how to betray, or rather... rebel," the voice said. "Have you never considered why this has to be a combination of hound and Hunter?"

The voice paused.

"Because hounds only know how to move forward, while Hunter know how to betray."

... The hound only knows how to move forward, while the Hunter knows how to betray?

"What are you talking about?!" Wei Ke stood up, unable to contain himself any longer, and roared, "Who are you?!"

Due to the excessive movement, the chain under his foot tripped his thigh, instantly causing Wei Ke, who had just stood up, to fall.

Tripping on this half-meter-wide passage could be fatal. Wei Ke immediately tumbled towards the abyss on one side. In a panic, he grabbed the passage with his hands and barely managed to keep his body from falling directly down.

Even so, half of his body had already fallen outside the passage, and the iron chain around his waist made an even louder friction sound as it was instantly stretched.

Why not just let go?

The voice echoed in Wei Ke's mind once again.

"The chains will hold you back."

Wei Ke gritted his teeth. "Why should I let go?"

"You've made a scene," the voice said. "The person on the other side has sensed it. She knows you're about to fall, which means she knows you almost killed her."

Wei Ke's expression froze, then he shouted, "This is all your fault! You're the one who caused this!"

"Oh? Is that so? Do you think she would think that way?" the voice said with a hint of mockery. "There's clearly only one person in this passage."

"Then what exactly are you?!"

"I am you."

"You're talking nonsense!"

The voice chuckled, "Instead of worrying about who I am, you should think carefully about whether you want to let go. As I just said, the people over there already know you almost killed her. So what decision will she make now? Will she let you have another chance, or will she... never have another chance?"

"The Saintess wouldn't do that!"

"Really? Saintess wouldn't do that."

The sound first faded, until Wei Ke thought it was about to disappear, then suddenly exploded.

"It's because of this foolish trust that we were destroyed! That we died needlessly! That we vanished silently into the darkness! Why don't you understand even now?!"

The increased noise was so sudden that Wei Ke almost lost his grip and fell. The jolt caused the chains to rattle again, transmitting the vibration to the other side.

"Look! Look! In her eyes, you want to kill her again!" the voice said. "She doesn't care what you've been through, she doesn't care what kind of predicament you're facing! She only cares about one thing: whether or not to kill you before you kill her! Everything else is meaningless!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Wei Ke, pushed to his limit, glared angrily and said, "The Saintess doesn't want to kill me, and I don't want to kill her! This is Trust Trial between us!"

"Oh? Is that so?" The voice suddenly returned to its normal tone. "So you didn't intend to kill her?"

"Certainly!"

"Then why aren't you going up now?"

Wei Ke was stunned.

"Look ahead," the voice said softly. "Look at your body; it has already made its choice, hasn't it?"

Wei Ke seemed to sense something and struggled to lift his head.

In the darkness, he suddenly gained vision and saw his own hands.

It's unclear when it started, but one of his hands still belonged to a human, while the other had undergone wolf transformation, becoming a strong and powerful wolf arm.

The thin, weak human hand gripped the edge of the passage, while the other strong, powerful wolf arm simply rested there quietly, like a lone wolf observing coldly.

"I am you," the voice rang out again.

This time, however, it didn't come from inside his mind, but from... Wei Ke's own mouth.

Wei Ke said, "I've already made my choice, haven't I?"