Chapter 117 Yin Peach Blossom (47) At that time, the sect and Xie Tan's alliance...
"That's amazing?" Xi Rui sat down opposite Qi Shiheng. "Then please, the greatest wizard lady, enlighten me?"
The witch gathered several bone fragments and arranged them in a circle.
“The sun.” Qi Shiheng picked up the bottommost bone fragment, the first one, “and considered it ‘impermanence.’ In this formation, it is both the beginning and the end.”
After all, the formation is a circle, just like the sun, and the starting point of the circle is the ending point, which is easy to understand.
Qi Shiheng rubbed her fingertips together, and the second bone fragment appeared from behind the Sun Card, placed in the center of the circle. "'Impermanence' gives birth to an 'eye,' and at the same time, you can also understand the 'eye' as the cause of 'impermanence.' They are mutually dependent."
Xi Rui said, "Impermanence can be seen as the sun itself."
"Yes, the sun represents impermanence. You can use 'sun' to replace 'impermanence' in this interpretation without any problem."
"That is an eye born from the sun, and this eye is the 'impermanence' that gave birth to the sun."
Qi Shiheng exclaimed in surprise, "Well said! You have talent!"
Xi Rui became smug after being praised, striking poses and fidgeting.
Qi Shiheng commented: "Then why haven't you obtained your Taoist certificate yet?"
“…” Xi Rui stroked his chin. “Maybe I should learn Tarot.”
“The tarot is different from mine.”
“Indeed, Tarot has a long history and many schools of thought; it’s a very large and systematic discipline.” Xi Rui said with a smile, propping his head up. “But this skill of yours, Miss Wizard, is something I’ve never seen or heard of anywhere else. It’s a completely unique skill. I was even wondering if you were a fraud back then.”
"You have to differentiate yourself by incorporating local characteristics; no industry is easy." Qi Shiheng feigned modesty, but there was also a hint of pride. "But your reputation is quite impressive, isn't it?"
"Yes, the most powerful fortune teller in Art Harbor, who's been famous for decades, who would have thought he'd be so young?"
Qi Shiheng shut up. It was their first meeting, and this guy had seen through her right away.
That's right, she's a real wizard who achieved her status through a false legend... Who knew that the rumors would actually work?
As long as it works, that's fine!
She had a vague idea of what was going on, but adhering to the principle that curiosity killed the cat, she decided to pretend she didn't know and focus on making her money.
So she continued with her professional attitude, explaining, "You can also interpret it as this eye being gouged out of the sun."
Xi Rui's heart skipped a beat; sure enough.
The Eye of Observation is a portion of the divine power that the Black Sun has bestowed upon it.
“And this circle is the ‘field of vision’ of this eye, what it can see.” Qi Shiheng pointed to each one one by one, “Past, present, and future, which means ignoring time; the five directions of east, south, west, north, and center, which means ignoring space; this one is a solar eclipse, which means it is close to the darkness and can more easily capture the darkness; and going back to the first and final Sun card, it is born from the sun, so it can naturally see the sun itself.”
Xi Rui recalled that the black goat's appearance was due to a prophecy of unusual activity, so he asked if the prophecy would change.
Qi Shiheng pointed to the bone fragments representing directions: "The only thing that can change here is this place. These few directions themselves form a small array. When this eye is born, it can point to something. The two directions are connected, which should be from the mid-mountain area to the art harbor, along this mountain and water line."
This matches the direction of the last large-scale black goat swarming out; most of them were along this line.
After speaking, the witch fell into a strange silence. Xi Rui processed this information and confirmed that it was indeed a prophecy about the Eye of Observation: "Is there anything else?"
Qi Shiheng hesitated.
“Add more money,” Xi Rui said. “Besides, you are my friend, and naturally also a friend of the religious order.”
Qi Shiheng's eyes flashed; this meant she could use the reputation and resources of the cult.
“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it, it’s that I’m not sure either,” Qi Shiheng said. “There are two points. One is that the circle it forms might have another meaning, especially with the sun, which is both the creator and the destroyer, as the starting point. But I might be limited by my knowledge, so this part of the interpretation might not be accurate… This circle could also mean a cycle or something similar?”
She said thoughtfully, "That does fit the characteristics of Aztec mythology."
Xi Rui: "What about number two?"
"Secondly... I suspect that a piece is missing here."
"One piece missing? Which one is missing?"
“I don’t know about that. When I saw it, it wasn’t neat. After all, it was just placed there by Mr. Xie. The most obvious thing is that the circle has a missing piece,” Qi Shiheng said. “So this sentence is missing a key word. If you want to know what it is, you’ll have to ask your friend.”
Xi Rui smiled and agreed.
He thought to himself, Xie Tan was indeed showing off the bone fragments to him.
Their last conversation at Art Harbor was intended to explore what the prophecy was, but in the end, he asked who the fellow believers were.
However, Xie Tan did not answer, but instead told him the direction of the prophecy, which was "observation".
This time... Xie Tan used him to lure Chang Mingai, allowing him to confirm with his own eyes who it was, and that Xiao Ai in that state, with the clock hands reflected in her eyes.
Xi Rui had been wondering how useful that pointer could be that Xie Tan had gone to such lengths, but now that Xie Tan had revealed the contents of the prophecy, it all became clear to him.
The time, accuracy, range, and success rate of adjusting the hands of a clock are all limited. If used alone, it can only stop time for a moment to find a chance to survive. But it is different when used in conjunction with other things. For example, if placed in a large ghostly space like Wonderland, it can reverse a year of Xiao Ai's time.
The Eye of Observation focuses on observation. Although it has the ability to ignore time and can probably influence some time, its use alone is likely limited.
But if the hands of the clock are aligned with the eye of observation... wouldn't that be precise positioning and precise strikes? There would be absolutely no more limitations.
Xi Rui recalled the card castle game in Wonderland, and the final adventure when Xie Tan asked him to give the golden pocket watch to Chang Mingai. Suddenly, he felt a chill in his heart and was extremely terrified.
Did Xie Tan already plan this far back then?
Or even further back... He knew that Xie Tan's file was forged, and he even joked that the official had chosen his major based on Xie Tan's temperament, but the official just smiled and said, "If he were to choose, he would only choose this."
Art history happened to be Chang Mingai's major, and they became classmates.
He suppressed the coldness in his eyes and bid farewell to the witch with a smile.
Since leaving the tomb, he and Xiao Ai haven't had a proper conversation... They've been avoiding each other, unsure how to face one another.
secret.
"Among friends" is a terrible word.
But he really wanted to know why she had gotten involved.
Whose idea was this? Whose conspiracy was it?
He returned to Diqiu University, finished his last class, strolled back to the club base to pack his things, and waited for the club members on duty to leave before entering the mirror world.
“My lord,” Xi Rui said respectfully.
Ripples spread across the black mirror, and fragmented images flashed by, seemingly unrelated, but Xi Rui observed for a while and discovered that they all occurred in the darkness of night, many of them scenes of death.
Yun Song's eye floated out of Xi Rui's pocket and merged into the mirror, creating a few more images, but fewer in number and even more blurry.
Finally, a great fire engulfed the town, and the bones leaped about.
This scene looks familiar.
Xi Rui had a sudden inspiration, but he didn't forget the proper etiquette in front of his superior: "Congratulations, sir, the ceremony is complete. This must be the scene observed by the new observers?"
After he took on the task, the vice-leader gave him an even more important one.
Assisting with the human sacrifice was secondary. The vice-leader instructed him on two things: first, Yun Song had an eye on his body, and if anything happened to him, remember to retrieve it; second, Su Zhi must be sacrificed, and she must die in the sun's fire.
Therefore, Xi Rui originally thought that Su Zhi was the chief priest, and that he could use her to observe the Twelve.
But it turned out to be Xie Tan.
The tomb collapsed, and he turned back to pin Su Zhi down, thus completing the ritual of refining her.
“Yes, the Black Goat held Su Zhi’s bones captive for many years in order to lure out Su Shao. Without refining Su Zhi, Su Shao would always be one step away from observation. It was also to finally help her reclaim her family.” The Vice Master said, “Unfortunately… it was only observation, only able to glimpse some incomplete fragments, and could not compare to the true eye of observation.”
The vice-leader was aloof and indifferent, mainly because this person never showed his face, and his voice was flat when he delivered messages, making it impossible to tell if he was male, female, young, or old. He always handled matters strictly by the book, only caring about the results, and few dared to be playful or bargain with him.
But Xi Rui had followed him for many years and was still a confidant, so he could sense something... The Vice Leader was in a good mood.
However, the human sacrifice ritual was not completely successful, resulting in the loss of a group of believers. Could it be that the master only wanted to use the power of other observations and recovery to completely refine this half-finished observation that the cult held in its hands?
This is not like his boss at all.
To be honest, Xi Rui has always been wary and cautious of Xie Tan because Xie Tan sometimes resembles his elders.
With such a large mobilization, it's impossible that the master would only be doing this for one thing.
Xi Rui: "My lord, could Yun Song's eye also be...?"
"There are eighteen observers, but not all of them are capable. Rather, most of the original owners of these eyes were useless. It was only because they were tainted by the karma of the Smoke Mirror that their fate took a turn for the better. Yun Song killed an observer and stole one of his eyes, which is why the cult took him in."
"He used this as a pretext to surrender?"
"He thought he had hidden it well."
Xi Rui understood immediately. Yun Song hadn't mentioned that he had an eye for observation, but how could he possibly hide it from the adults?
"Can the eyes of observation be stolen and used?"
"Observation is the refinement of the soul; merely having the eyes is useless."
So the adults didn't bother with Yunsong; they just waited for the moment when he was most valuable before pushing him out.
The new observer, Su Shao, should be another confidant of the Vice Master, so that she would be under the control of the sect and Xi Rui would know who she was.
He thought to himself, "As expected, the Vice Master knew about the existence of the observation all along. So last time, when Xie Tan asked him to bring back only the word 'observation,' it wasn't to give him intelligence, but rather to exchange coded messages."
Clearly, the password verification was successful, and the cooperation was agreed upon.
The sudden surge of flames eventually refined Su Zhi, giving the cult another observation point of its own; and Yun Song's eye also seemed to have recorded certain scenes during the altered ritual.
The vice-leader did not suddenly change his mind and decide to kill Xie Tan as a sacrifice.
After Xi Rui conveyed Xie Tan's message, the cooperation began.
The Vice-Sect Leader intentionally appointed Xie Tan as the chief priest to help him complete the ritual he wanted to achieve.
Xi Rui recalled the witch's interpretation of the prophecy, and combined it with the observed images, suddenly asked, "Sir, has the world ever restarted?"
For once, the vice-leader smiled slightly: "You're always so clever."
“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have thought much of me.” Xi Rui flattered, “I’ve always wondered, I’m always courting death, I could die a hundred or a thousand times and it still wouldn’t be enough for me to live such a wild life, and my luck isn’t that great either, so how did I manage to survive all this time and meet you, my benefactor? Maybe in my past that I don’t remember, you saved me many times.”
“Perhaps you’re right,” the vice-leader said. “The world hasn’t restarted; it’s just that there are countless possibilities at every moment. As you said, you could die every time you encounter danger, which would create a new ‘line.’ Occasionally, observation can detect them. Yun Song had a dream about another worldline because of that eye…”
"And can the true eye of observation see them clearly? The difference between a complete product and a defective one." Xi Rui sighed, then said, "So Xie Tan is not only an observer... but also the eye of observation that the Black Goat is looking for."
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