Asylum of the Gods.

The swaying shadows of the trees flickered in the wind. Beside the black and white chessboard of the stone table, a figure stood motionless like a stone sculpture.

Those grey eyes reflected the position of each chess piece. There was a faint light flickering in the depths of his eyes, sometimes with doubt, sometimes with understanding, and it was unknown what he was pondering.

"What did you see?"

A voice came from behind him, and Lin Qiye, who was wearing a white coat, put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked to his side.

An Qingyu didn't raise his head, but asked in confusion:

"Who did you play this game of chess with?"

"【chaos】."

"No wonder……"

Lin Qiye's eyes fell on the dusty chessboard. This chessboard was left behind four years ago when he and [Chaos] were fighting for control of the hospital. There was no special meaning behind it. Later, [Chaos] seemed too lazy to play chess, so he just left it here and never moved it.

"What do you see?"

"It's so disorganized that you can't tell anything."

Lin Qiye sat down on the other side of the chessboard. "When was the last time we played chess?"

"About four years ago." A trace of reminiscence appeared in An Qingyu's eyes, "When we were at Shangjing University, I was still trying to recover from the trauma of my soul."

"Only four years have passed... It feels like ten years have passed."

Lin Qiye glanced across the chessboard and waved his hand gently. All the chess pieces automatically floated back into the two chess baskets. The dust on the surface of the chessboard instantly dissipated.

"Next round?" he asked.

"Can."

"Just playing chess is a bit boring... How about we add some gambles?"

An Qingyu glanced at him and said, "So, you came to me to get information."

Lin Qiye smiled but said nothing.

"Okay." An Qingyu didn't hesitate. "If you win, I can answer one question for you... but not all questions."

"This standard is too vague. It's up to you to decide whether to answer or not."

"Then don't go down."

"...Okay, what if you win?"

“If I win, I want to go somewhere.”

"Go somewhere?" Lin Qiye paused for a moment, "Okay, but not everywhere... And, I want to go with you. If you make any unnecessary moves, I will take you back."

"make a deal."

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, this time the chess basket in front of Lin Qiye contained black pieces... He picked up a black piece with his fingertips and dropped it somewhere on the chessboard first. An Qingyu followed closely and dropped a white piece next to the black piece.

Seeing this scene, Lin Qiye's brows raised slightly. He placed another black piece in another corner of the chessboard, and the second white piece followed closely, also falling next to it.

"Your chess style... seems to be different from four years ago." Lin Qiye narrowed his eyes slightly.

“People always change.”

The breeze blew through the shadows of the trees, making a crisp rustling sound, and the two of them played chess in silence in the yard. Li Yifei, who was holding a cup of tea, was about to come forward, but seeing that the two of them were extremely focused, he hesitated for a moment, and then quietly walked to the stairs and sat down.

Before you know it, the black and white pieces on the chessboard have been arranged in a dizzying array.

When Li Yifei suddenly woke up from his sleep, the two people beside the chessboard had already withdrawn their hands, as if the game was over.

Li Yifei immediately stood up and walked over, asking curiously:

"How was it? What was the result?"

"draw."

Li Yifei shrugged and said helplessly, "You guys have been playing here for so long, and it ends up being a draw? How boring..."

Lin Qiye and An Qingyu looked at each other and fell silent at the same time...

Their previous bets were all based on "winning", and now that it was a tie, neither of them would get what they wanted.

“…Actually, a draw can also be seen as a win for both sides.” Lin Qiye spoke hesitantly.

"I agree." An Qingyu nodded immediately.

"In that case, answer my question first." Lin Qiye looked into his eyes.

"Why did you betray Daxia?"

An Qingyu seemed to have guessed that Lin Qiye would ask this question, and without the slightest hesitation, "I refuse to answer."

"How does Cthulhu Mythos plan to deal with Daxia?"

"I refuse to answer."

"What's your trump card?"

"I refuse to answer."

"How do you solve the time maze?"

Hearing the last sentence, An Qingyu's eyes narrowed.

He stared at Lin Qiye closely, and after a long silence, he spoke in a deep voice:

"You... found the door to truth?"

"I'm asking you."

Under Lin Qiye's gaze, An Qingyu finally spoke:

“The time maze is essentially the time field left around the wreckage after the [Key to the Gate] fell into eternal slumber… There, the boundary between time and space will be broken, so any form of spatial movement will become a dual-state change of time and space.

If you want to crack the time maze, you either have to use a force stronger than the [Key to the Door] to directly shatter the time field, or you can only find the rules of the maze through constant trial and error and leave it. "

Hearing this, Lin Qiye frowned tightly.

Using a force stronger than the [Key to the Gate] to shatter the time field, almost no one in this world can do it... [Chaos], as the strongest of the three pillar gods, may be able to succeed. Apart from this, the only one who has hope is Zhou Ping in the Sword Hut.

The combat power of the Three Pillar Gods is far higher than that of the Supreme God Realm on Earth. Back then, the three Heavenly Lords and Michael joined forces to almost kill the [Black Goat]. The sword that Zhou Ping used to shatter the sea before showed that his combat power was likely higher than Michael's, but it was hard to say when compared with the Three Pillar Gods...

Even if Zhou Ping could break the time maze with his sword, Lin Qiye would not let him do so. After all, doing so would cost him his life, and it would be a waste to use his sword on a maze.

"What's the difference between your answer and not saying anything?" Lin Qiye frowned.

"..." An Qingyu thought for a moment, "In general, there are only two methods, but in fact, the second method also has a simpler way..."

"How is it simple?"

"Let's put it this way. The time maze itself is not a three-dimensional entity. It is made up of countless mazes from different times, stacked up one above the other. You can imagine it as a skyscraper. The first floor you enter is the 'present', all the floors below are the 'past', and the floors above are the 'future'.

Every step taken in this maze will send you to the corresponding location of any floor upstairs or any floor downstairs. Generally speaking, people who enter cannot control which floor of the skyscraper they will arrive at after taking a step. It is completely random.

But since it is a floor, there must be something like a 'safe passage'. As long as you find this 'safe passage', you can freely choose which floor to go to..."