"I'm only guessing. For one thing, the pointer was far too precise—there could only be one target."
Faced with the Witch's probing question, Fu Qian didn't keep her in suspense. He quickly shared the thoughts he'd already had.
"The moment I arrived here, I confirmed that you were the only one inside."
"Rather than believe it was randomly grabbing powerful creatures as fuel, I'm more inclined to think you're special to this masterpiece."
"And there's another reason I think so. Though the Law is of lofty standing, even I can find ways to avoid confronting it. You seem to have put up far too little resistance. It doesn't make sense."
"Very clever!"
The Witch had clearly listened very attentively, and her smile grew brighter by the moment.
Of course, after praising him, she couldn't resist ruffling Fu Qian's hair.
"You guessed right the first time... Want to guess why you're special, too?"
"When the barrier was broken, you didn't even exist yet. In theory, you shouldn't have had anything to do with it."
Fu Qian wasn't about to take offense at the Witch's opportunistic attempt to get a moment's advantage. He focused on accepting the challenge.
"But you once mentioned someone you called your mother. And when you gave me the paint, you said, 'As powers of the same origin, they're fundamentally no different.'"
"So I wondered if this bloodline might be what the Law, reappearing after all these years, had locked onto."
"And since your 'mother' had already died, you naturally became its target."
"But that leaves a small contradiction. You said she was hunted down, and her blood was used to paint the World Within the Painting."
"That doesn't seem quite in keeping with her being the source of the Law's power."
As he smoothly laid out his