He now had a rough idea of what the Fate Cores were. Where they were, though, he had no idea.
But at this moment he suddenly saw a goal — a goal that set his heart pounding wildly, one he longed beyond measure to attain. Or perhaps this goal had already existed in his heart long, long ago, back when she left; he’d simply been unable to find the means to reach it.
He would unravel the secret of the Hour of Eternal Fate, and then, perhaps, he might learn why she had left back then, and where she had gone. Though this might be nothing more than his own wishful thinking, so long as there was even a thread of hope of finding her, he was willing to strive and try for it heedless of all else.
The Fate Cores — a suddenly sprouting conviction told him: once he gathered all seven Fate Cores and rebuilt the true Hour of Eternal Fate, he would be able to find the answer he yearned for.
But right now, none of that was what mattered most.
Guoguo. Ye Tianxie shook his head hard. He, who had never once doubted his own eyesight, at this moment once again could scarcely believe his eyes. And the last time was likewise because of Guoguo, because of the Hour of Eternal Fate, because of Fate — where did your lollipop come from?
In the moment he turned to look at Guoguo, he’d actually seen something that had no business existing in this world — that lollipop cradled in her hands.
The ornament around his neck had appeared in the World of Fate, and that had shocked him; Guoguo had appeared in the real world, and in that instant he’d instinctively assumed he was dreaming. And now, once again, he’d witnessed a scene that shocked him nearly out of his control — that lollipop was unmistakably the one he’d bought Guoguo yesterday, a thing of the real world, which had no business appearing in this world at all.
“Hmph.” Guoguo pursed her little mouth and said, at once indignant and smug, “Master’s so mean — you clearly brought back so many lollipops yesterday, but only gave me one. So while master was sleeping, I secretly took them all. It’s no use master getting angry, hmph-hmph-hmph-hmph.”
Took them all while I was sleeping… Ye Tianxie’s forehead filled with black lines. But that’s not the point. Ye Tianxie said with a face full of gravity, “Guoguo, you can bring things from that world into this one?”
“Huh? Bring things from that world into this world — is master talking about…” Guoguo got halfway through before suddenly letting out a cry of alarm, both hands clapping over her own mouth in a panic, the lollipop she’d been cradling dropping to the ground all at once.
Ye Tianxie stepped forward and took the lollipop into his hand. It really was the lollipop he’d bought Guoguo yesterday — the wrapper still lying not far off was ironclad proof. This lollipop had plainly just been taken out; though it was covered in glistening saliva, there was no obvious change in its size.
Lollipop — A sweet treat children love to eat. Effect: after use, Hunger [reduced], HP restored by 5.
It even has attributes?! Ye Tianxie was seized at once with an urge to give his own head a hard pounding. His understanding had, in this moment, been violently overturned once again.
“Boo-hoo, it’s over, it’s over, I didn’t notice I’d already come back here and carelessly took one out to eat, boo-hoo, master found out, what do I do, what do I do, big sister said I mustn’t let him know this early, boo-hoo, what do I do…” Guoguo covered her lips, watching Ye Tianxie all nervous and jittery, her two eyes like two crystal diamonds dabbed with water. Her muttered-to-herself voice was very, very small, but Ye Tianxie had already heard it crystal clear.
Clearly, this little thing, keeping so many things to herself, wanted least of all to expose anything that shouldn’t be exposed. She shouldn’t have exposed, for instance, that she could appear in the real world, nor that she could bring things from the real world into the World of Fate — but in the space of a mere two days, that brain of hers, with who-knows-how-many fewer wits than an ordinary person’s, had led her to obediently expose it all herself, and had it not been for Ye Tianxie’s prompting, she’d have remained none the wiser.
Ye Tianxie shook his head and calmed the surging tide in his heart. “Guoguo, it seems you really can bring things from the real world here. Just who are you?”
Guoguo’s eyes were pitiful, her voice small. “Master… boo-hoo… I can’t tell you.”
“Why can’t you tell me?”
“Because master hasn’t found the seven Fate Cores, so master isn’t qualified to know. Otherwise, if master knew, master would die…”
Ye Tianxie: “…”
“Anyway, I’m just not telling master, and master’s not allowed to ask, not allowed to ask, not allowed to ask!” Guoguo puffed out her cheeks and shouted with all her might, then dissolved into white light in an instant and vanished before Ye Tianxie. Ye Tianxie was left speechless at once, sinking into deep thought.
Suddenly, white light surfaced before his eyes, and the Guoguo who’d just vanished reappeared. Without waiting for Ye Tianxie to speak, she swiftly floated over, snatched the lollipop from his hand while he wasn’t paying attention, and then hurriedly vanished.
Looking at his empty left hand, Ye Tianxie was rather caught between laughter and tears. Guoguo seemed to have some strange fixation on lollipops that he couldn’t comprehend.
The World of Fate — was it really just a simple game?
Recalling those cryptic, mystery-laden words Prometheus had spoken at that final press conference, recalling his sudden passing and his suicide note, and connecting them with all the inconceivable things that had happened over these two days — he could now shake his head with firm conviction and say: No.
Then, what was the answer?
He raised the Hour of Eternal Fate and charged the distant blood wolf pack. The truth — only the strong were qualified to know it; fate was forever held in the hands of the strong. No matter which world, this was an eternal, unchanging law. He wouldn’t press Guoguo for answers, nor was it basically possible to learn anything from this tight-lipped little thing; he only wanted to use his own strength and effort to learn everything he wished to know. And this — was this not the very principle he’d always held to?
At high noon, beneath that crook-necked tree, Ye Tianxie expressionlessly handed the thousand wolf eyes to the strange old woman. Having been gathering all this time, the experience for his Basic Gathering skill had climbed a good deal; if he kept up such a high gathering frequency every day, in under a month his Gathering skill would reach the Intermediate level.
“Ding… You have completed the quest ‘The Sealed Old Woman’s Request.’ Quest reward gained: 1,000 experience, 10 gold.”
“Thank you, young man. These wolf eyes will be a great help to me. Young man, I can see you’re very warmhearted, and very brave — would you be willing to gather 10,000 more wolf eyes for me?”
Ye Tianxie: “…”
(End of Chapter 31)