When saying goodbye to the deities, Su Cheng could not help but ask if they had found a way.
"After all these years," she said, "has there been any progress with your plan?"
"I believe so—"
Loki looked at her with a smile. His blue eyes, which seemed to hold infinite possibilities, carried a hint of undisguised appreciation.
"Although there have been some twists and turns," he said gently, "I think it will be resolved."
A strange thought popped into Su Cheng's mind, and for a moment, she didn't know whether she should speak up.
After thinking for a moment, she hesitated and asked, "I met His Highness the God of Love earlier, and he said my journey wasn't over yet. What about now?"
"There is someone else who wants to see you," Loki said. "Perhaps you can continue heading north."
"Alright," Su Cheng nodded. "Goodbye then. Oh, Camus, although you will most likely have forgotten me the next time we meet—"
"That is not my name," the blond man said speechlessly, "and I don't need to."
"Ha, we'll see about that."
Under the God of Memory's baffled gaze, Su Cheng could not help but look at his teachers again.
Su Cheng asked, "Why is it that even though they are both subordinate gods, his personality is so much like a human's, while the God of Joy is, well, how should I put it, you must know what I mean—"
Camus did not look angry. Clearly, to him, being described as human-like wasn't a bad thing.
However, when she said the last sentence, he seemed a bit displeased, as if he was unwilling to be compared to another subordinate god.
Loki raised his eyebrows slightly. "Happiness is a state, memory is existence. The power of the Apostle of Joy lies in the present moment. As for my student, he is forged from shattered dreams, tampered truths, faded pain, and illusory sweetness. Humans will feel sorrow or joy over a memory, and agonize for half their lives over things that do not exist—this contradiction and chaos is the core of his authority."
Su Cheng looked at Camus thoughtfully.
He looked even more displeased and simply vanished from the spot.
Su Cheng was speechless.
There seemed to be no difference between this guy being a god and being a human.
"For every intelligent creature, memory is yourself. It is the path you have walked, the wounds from your falls, the brand of your victories. It is not the fleeting emotion of a passerby, but the craftsman who builds the temple of the self alongside you. It is the embodiment of all the contradictions that shape you—"
Loki obviously knew his student very well. Seeing a certain someone leave, he was not surprised in the least and did not even pause in his speech.
Su Cheng inexplicably found it a bit funny. "He is indeed quite contradictory."
After saying goodbye, she bought a bunch of random desserts.
From easy-to-carry candies to lava bread wrapped in oil paper, as well as two skewers of candied fruit—the one strictly selected by the Ancient God.
After teleporting to the north, Su Cheng appeared on a gravel path. A freight carriage slowly drove up from behind her, carrying barrels of fragrant wine.
The driver was clearly used to the bumps and was leaning back in his seat yawning. "Want a ride? Give me a few copper coins and I can take you to Hilpedian."
Su Cheng had absolutely no idea where that was.
Although this was within the borders of the Silver Moon Empire, the empire had over a dozen large cities and hundreds of small and medium-sized ones, and she couldn't even spell more than half of them.
"Thank you for your trouble," she said, taking out a silver coin. "Also, I'd like to taste your wine."
The driver turned around, rummaged for a bit, and tossed two glass bottles to her. "This is all there is. You can't touch what's in the barrels; those are for the tavern!"
Su Cheng then got on the carriage, drinking the sweet sparkling wine while munching on her bread.
The wheels rolled over the fine gravel on the road. The fields on both sides rolled like golden waves, and the sweet scent of wheat drifted in the wind.
Scattered on the hillside were stone houses with pointed roofs. Wooden fences were covered with roses and asters, and curling blue smoke drifted from the chimneys.
She leaned against a wine barrel, lost in thought, gazing at the beautiful pastoral scenery until the buildings along the road became denser and a distinct residential area appeared.
More freight carriages came from the opposite direction. The driver shouted greetings to them at the top of his lungs, and the sound of their voices gradually faded away.
Su Cheng wasn't entirely sure what would happen next.
She didn't remember Lin Yun having a similar encounter, but then again, judging from various clues, it was hard to say whether this entire world was actually a book.
She just couldn't figure out the connection between it all for the time being.
"Little girl!" the driver said loudly. "We've arrived at Hilpedian! Hearing your accent, you don't sound like you're from the east. The west gate is the dock area. If you like lively places, you can go to Riverfront Avenue..."
Su Cheng thanked him, got off the carriage, and walked through the dock where white birds fluttered about. The air was filled with the salty, damp smell of rust, fish, and seaweed. Sailors and workers hurried past.
She walked along the main road deeper into the city.
This was clearly an ancient city with a long history. The red walls of the buildings on both sides of the flagstone street were mottled and covered with emerald green vines. The smell of tobacco and oak drifted from the windows, mixing with the scents of various spices, leather, and the sweet, musky aroma of flowers.
Carriages belonging to nobles and wealthy merchants drove past on the road. There were also mercenaries accompanied by their magical beast partners, and small vendors carrying crates of goods on their backs. It looked quite lively, but not noisy.
Su Cheng's mood inexplicably brightened, and she unintentionally turned onto a wider, more solemn tree-lined avenue.
Along the roadside were two rows of lush fig trees. Their verdant branches and leaves overlapped overhead, casting shimmering spots of light that danced on the ground.
Walking through this road, she saw that the surrounding buildings became increasingly towering and majestic, featuring ornately carved stone pillars and massive arcades.
Theaters and museums faced each other across the street, while the city hall and courthouse stood at opposite intersections. The aura of wealth and power settled everywhere. Pedestrians became scarce, and the lawns were increasingly neat, displaying a strong sense of order.
In the shade of the trees by the road, a few people were standing together talking. A plain green carriage passed by them.
Su Cheng suddenly felt a fluctuation of spatial power.
Almost at the same time—
She dodged the incoming attack, avoiding having her face sliced in half, and then swung her sword and charged forward.
Clang!
Someone jumped out of the green carriage, holding a scimitar that gleamed with a toxic blue-green luster.
At that moment, the thin blade was struck by the heavy sword. The thick edge of the sword's back jerked upward violently, and two streams of battle aura clashed in a flash of lightning.
Amidst a crisp shattering sound, the blade, flashing with a gorgeous, venomous light, shattered into pieces, turning into splattering fragments.
The greatsword slashed down with a majestic wind pressure.
Space distorted again.
The assassin clearly wanted to escape; however, the person he faced could use the same power, so the rift he created failed to stop her.
The pitch-black blade tore through the air, like a hot knife cutting through butter, slicing the assassin's body diagonally in two. The splashing blood stained the clean flagstone road red.
The assassin's remains fell to the ground.
The group of people nearby had long since stopped their conversation. At this moment, their expressions varied; some looked terrified, some had flickering gazes, and one person simply walked over.
"Well," Su Cheng looked at the corpse, "sorry, should I have kept him alive? After all, his target seemed to be you, and he just wanted to silence the others in passing."
"There is no need to apologize, Your Excellency," the man looked down at the corpse. "He showed you no mercy either."
After speaking, he looked at her again.
Su Cheng was originally still staring at the assassin, because although this person was already dead, some kind of power seemed to linger within the corpse.
She casually looked up and glanced over, then froze.
He was a young, handsome man dressed in noble attire, wearing a double-breasted dark blue long coat. He had curly hair as dazzling as molten gold, strictly tied behind his head.
His face was strikingly beautiful, and his demeanor was dignified. When he spoke, his expression was peaceful, yet it carried a sense of steady authority.
"...Furthermore, I must thank you."
His eyes, sharp as a falcon's, were the azure color of the sky after rain, or like mountains in the morning mist, carrying quite an oppressive presence when looking at someone.
Su Cheng slightly raised her hand. "Could you close your eyes for a moment and feel if there is any discomfort in your body?"
The blond man was slightly taken aback. He wasn't a magician to begin with, and at this moment, thinking the assassin from just now had cast some evil spell, he couldn't help but comply.
Su Cheng looked at that handsome face, resembling a classical sculpture, and the way his eyes were closed, matching this image with someone in her memory.
"...Alright."
Isn't this His Highness the future God of Law?
Although right now he just looked like an ordinary noble who had cultivated battle aura.
Of course, given the intensity of this battle aura, it was considered quite good, probably a bit stronger than Little Ma.
However, his age was obviously a few years older.
"If you don't feel any discomfort," Su Cheng said without blushing or skipping a heartbeat, "then there's no problem."
The blond man gave her a look.
He might have felt something was amiss, but couldn't think of a reason for such a prank, so he could only believe her.
"...Your Excellency! Lord Kurt!"
Several other people quickly gathered around, and even from the buildings further away, people kept approaching this side.
"Lord Kurt! Are you alright!"
"Thank goodness, Lord Chief Justice, you aren't hurt, are you? I have magic potions here—"
"Thanks to this brave lady—"
Those people were dressed differently; some were just ordinary citizens, while others looked like civil servants from the city hall. At this moment, they completely surrounded the blond man, asking about his well-being in various ways.
Their faces were full of reverence and relief, their emotions very sincere, clearly not wanting him to be hurt.
"Wait a minute!"
Su Cheng raised her hand. "This person might not be dead yet. No, well, he did die just now—"
The two mutilated halves of the corpse on the ground suddenly shook violently a few times. Gray-black smoke billowed from the severed ends, and flesh and blood began to regenerate bizarrely.
However—
That was quickly interrupted by the black flames that ignited.
Su Cheng didn't make another move. It was just that she had taken him down with her battle aura earlier, and right now, the battle aura was still lingering in his body, suppressing this self-healing.
The assassin couldn't fully recover, but he regained a breath, entering a state of severe injury and near-death, emitting strange noises from his throat like a broken bellows.
He propped up his upper body and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "Hahahahaha—"
The assassin began to curse amidst his mournful laughter, his bloodstained cheeks twisting, revealing a hint of mockery.
"Look, this flock of stupid sheep... still caring about the butcher..."
The assassin cursed loudly, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing. "Do you hear that, Kurt! They are singing your praises, for your hands stained with the blood and tears of the innocent!"
His voice suddenly rose, carrying a desperate madness. "They don't know what you've done. You hanged a worker who robbed five gold coins, not knowing he wanted to buy a magic potion to save his son's life. Your law says robbery is robbery, but it doesn't say how to help a desperate father and a severely ill child! You stripped Viscount Lisaway of her title and family property just because she forged that insignificant trade document. Your law says that's the crime of forging official documents, but it doesn't mention that hundreds of people lost their livelihoods because of it, and a thousand-year-old noble family lost its glory. She slit her throat with her ancestral sword in front of your courthouse, and you didn't even blink!"
The assassin's breathing became more and more rapid, and his voice turned into a scream. "You cruel monster, heartless puppet! Kurt Fairness! You only serve that code of law written in stone and human blood! You butcher! The blood of commoners, the blood of nobles, all dry up under the steps of your court, all adding bricks and tiles to your altar of justice. Those with nowhere to go, those with no way to retreat, have all been driven to death by you! Their livelihoods ruined by you! And you still claim this is order—"
His voice gradually weakened. "How can anyone still cheer for you? You love him only because you haven't broken the law, so he upholds 'justice' for you. Sooner or later, you will be strangled to death by his legal noose..."
"Wait a minute," Su Cheng couldn't help but say. "You were just trying to kill an innocent passerby. If I wasn't a spatial mage, my head would be split in two, wouldn't it?"
The assassin was interrupted by her and looked even angrier, but because he had no strength left, he couldn't curse aloud.
"You," he said weakly. "Your battle aura is very strong, and I was afraid you'd cause trouble. After all, he's not easy to deal with either. If you were an ordinary person, I wouldn't have attacked you..."
"Oh," Su Cheng rolled her eyes. "So walking down the street and almost having my head smashed is all my own fault."
The assassin ignored her.
"Kurt, you won't be this lucky every time. I curse you, you will die in agony... at that time your laws will no longer be effective... your enemies will trample those rules with power..."
This curse seemed to exhaust his strength.
The assassin's head tilted, the anger in his eyes completely extinguished, and he died completely.
The tree-lined avenue also fell into a dead silence.
The blond man glanced at the corpse on the ground, his face showing no emotion. "...I will have someone investigate this."
He looked at Su Cheng, gesturing for her to step aside to talk.
Su Cheng walked over. "Your Excellency?"
Kurt looked at her, his face still cold and dignified. "...I have a guest at home. The aura of power he displayed feels somewhat similar to yours."
Su Cheng was quiet for a few seconds. "Sorry, I have too many auras on me. You might need to be a bit more specific."
He also fell silent. "That person asked me if I wanted to become a deity."
Su Cheng nodded in understanding. "Then I can probably guess. Have you studied illusion magic?"
"A little bit." Kurt hesitated for a moment. "Is that the World Reflector?"
Su Cheng realized that people in this era were just different; they didn't seem particularly shocked about an Ancient God descending beside them.
"I'm guessing," she spread her hands, "did He say He was waiting for me?"
The blond man nodded slowly. "There were indeed words to that effect, but at the time I wasn't sure who He was referring to."
He then took her back to his mansion.
As the Chief Justice of Hilpedian, Kurt was originally of noble birth.
His mother, Marquis Fairness, came from the lord's main family. Because she was not the eldest daughter, she failed to inherit the hereditary title, but later received a reward after advancing to Battle Venerate.
Currently, the Lord Marquis was still in secluded cultivation, attempting to break through to the ninth tier.
Kurt became a judge entirely of his own volition—otherwise, many wealthy nobles like him would never bother going to work.
Now, he had also moved out of the Marquis's castle and purchased a small manor for himself.
"Speaking of which..."
On the way to that manor, Su Cheng asked casually.
"That assassin said all those things in front of so many people," she said, looking at His Excellency the Chief Justice. "I thought you would have responded with something."
"Respond?" Kurt's expression remained calm. "I certainly could have said a few things. For instance, the hanged worker stabbed the bakery owner during a robbery, and had her children not come out in time, she would have inevitably bled to death. Or how Viscount Lisaway, in order to seize an exclusive spice supply channel, tampered with clauses on forged permits, restricted purchasing rights solely to his own family, counterfeited the Maritime Authority's crest, and then forcibly intercepted the spice ships of all the city-state's merchants, reselling the intercepted raw materials at five times the price. A merchant in debt, who had hoped to turn his fortunes around with that opportunity, was driven to jump into the sea and commit suicide—"
He paused for a moment. "But I do not want to say those things. I sentence criminals not because I find them detestable, but simply because they broke the law."
