A Terrifying Agenda

"Before raising any questions, I think it's best to clarify the current situation first," Yu Xing tilted her head. "To avoid any misunderstandings that might cause problems when we meet later."

The Tree Witch stood there, like an exquisite statue.

"First of all... you are actually Witch, aren't you?" Yu Xing lifted her leg and walked towards the Tree Witch, looking her over closely, a smirk playing on her lips. "The reason you're expressionless and so cold is because you can't make any other expressions. This is just an immature, empty shell, a puppet you left behind in the Underground City."

The Tree Witch puppet, with its Tree Witch face, replied, "Yes."

She admitted it quite readily.

"Secondly, you don't have any special stance or actions towards me, but you really want to help Yu Fengchen. You secretly tricked Ruben before because Ruben destroyed Yu Fengchen's copy on the ground." Yu Xing crossed her arms and sat comfortably next to the Tree Witch.

"Yu Fengchen himself was unaware of this, but in these three days, you found him, explained your intentions to him, and supported him in going to the tree roots to resolve all the hidden dangers caused by this Ghost Tree at their source."

"The reason the black mist shrouded the area for four days is because it took him four days to reach the bottom. I think he's probably already touched the core of the Ghost Tree and will soon succeed with your help."

The Tree Witch turned to look at Yu Xing, who was standing close by, and nodded. "Very clever."

"Thirdly..." Yu Xing's mockery deepened, "You came all this way to see me, hoping to back down and let me, who put in some effort, get a share of the profits, but the more important purpose is to imply that Yu Fengchen is cooperating with you."

"Actually, he's not cooperating with you; they just share the same goal and can temporarily use each other, right?"

This time, the Tree Witch's silence lasted significantly longer.

Like a puppet sitting quietly, its body covered in control threads, and now, at the other end of those threads, the person controlling them pauses, momentarily at a loss for words.

Yu Xing, however, still had much to say, and continued on his own, "Then why did you give me the wrong hints? Because you wanted me to conclude that you and Yu Fengchen share the same goal. As long as I firmly believe this, no matter how much I guess, I won't stray from your rhythm."

"For example, if we share the same goal, it means you also want to destroy the Ghostly Ghost Tree, so I'll never guess that you're the one who created it."

The atmosphere suddenly plummeted to freezing point, and the Tree Witch's head twitched, somewhat eerily.

"Perhaps you used the same method on Yu Fengchen, making him wary of you while simultaneously probing for the possibility of mutual exploitation. However, he didn't realize that his goal was to absorb the power of the Ghost Tree to strengthen himself, while your goal..."

The Tree Witch spoke up, "Your guess is interesting, but..."

"And your goal is precisely to make Yu Fengchen stronger and stronger." Yu Xing ignored her interruption and insisted on continuing, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. For you, the stronger Yu Fengchen is, the more helpful it will be to your true goal."

The Tree Witch fell silent again, Yu Xing laughed, "That's precisely why you didn't deny it when I said that your kindness to him might lead me to misunderstand that you like him. On the contrary, if I really did have such a misunderstanding, that would be exactly what you wanted, to cover up your complete deception of him."

"So what is my purpose?" The Tree Witch's tone changed, abandoning the argument she had just been about to make, and becoming increasingly calm.

"I don't know. How could I possibly know about the things happening on your side of the system?" Yu Xing shrugged. "It's beyond my scope of responsibility. I have a ton of things to do on my own. But my intuition tells me that what you're trying to do will also affect our Absurdity side, so I have no choice but to reluctantly get involved."

"Do as you please, I don't mind." The Tree Witch revealed her arrogance, forcing a stiff smile as if paying homage to Yu Xing with this puppet body. "You are indeed very clever, but some things, even if I play my cards right, you are powerless to change the outcome."

"Who can say for sure? Even if you could travel through different points in time, I don't believe the ending is irreversible." Yu Xing shook her head, her expression meaningful. "Time may be omnipotent, but it's not necessarily controllable."

As soon as the words were spoken, the boundaries of the Underground City began to subtly shift.

The black mist was slowly and imperceptibly dissipating, Yu Fengchen, at the tree roots, might have already begun to absorb the curse.

Yu Xing didn't know what methods the Witch used to render the enormous Ghost Tree powerless, but since the Witch was the one who planted the Ghost Tree, she naturally had her own methods.

"I will send you to the tree roots in twenty minutes, and the remaining power will be yours," the Tree Witch suddenly said.

Yu Xing looked at her sharply, only to find that the Tree Witch who had been there just moments before had vanished, as if she had never been there at all.

"Oh, he's gone," he muttered. "Xiao Jiang, you don't have to hide under the bed anymore."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a strange sound suddenly came from the room, which seemed to be empty except for him. The boy, carrying his plush rabbit, crawled out from under the bed in a somewhat disheveled manner.

"Tsk tsk, you look like a lover who's rushing home to hide under the bed after his wife's death." Yu Xing watched him in the dim light, still in the mood for a joke.

Jiang Jieleng: "..."

He climbed out completely, tidied his messy hair, carefully dusted off the plush rabbit, and then snapped, "Don't speak recklessly in front of minors."

"Also, remove your curse, I feel so cold all over," the boy said coldly.

To conceal his presence, Yu Xing injected a large amount of cursed power into his body, assimilating his aura into the surroundings.

Yu Xing smiled and transferred her increasingly skillful use of curse power, ruffling the boy's hair under Jiang Jieleng's very displeased gaze. "So, did you catch anything while eavesdropping?"

"... I've guessed the Witch's purpose." Jiang Jieleng, as expected of Yu Fengchen's specially brought-down "brain trust," spoke with an unusually Jiang Jieleng tone, "It's indeed a very large scheme."

"Oh? What is it?" Yu Xing felt that it was easier to figure out things from another system than from people in that other system.

Jiang Jieleng rubbed the rabbit's ears, paused for two seconds, and said, "Don't you think this Underground City resembles something?"

"Believers, branches connecting different worlds, quests to the earth, Tree Witch who deliver divine pronouncements."

Yu Xing was taken aback.

The boy said solemnly, "Don't you think... the way the Underground City operates resembles the prototype of a new system?"