Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 1588: Chapter 1583: Workshop (20)

The probability of being punished for desecration, becoming unrecognizable, and then receiving a corresponding ”weapon” as a gift is not nonexistent, but it feels quite unlikely.

Adding to the fact that the belt design looked familiar, and seeing Ice wearing three pieces of equipment, Fu Qian’s first thought upon seeing the woman in the pool, who seemed to be Sophia, was to wonder what she was used for.

Including himself, three newcomers were previously used for something else.

The exploration activity suffered a major setback, and the reason for returning to develop the organization to seek a comeback seems plausible.

However, the three finally gathered around happened to correspond to the three pieces of equipment on Ice, which is hard to dismiss as a coincidence.

Moreover, when sending himself here and hearing Ice say the people in front were getting anxious, Miss Yingzhu’s reaction was clearly strange.

It seemed like this was supposed to be an individual activity, not a group one.

In summary, Ice had a plan that required the use of the Vacuum Flower and three volunteers whose affinity matched her equipment to proceed.

And back in the initial building, after recognizing the pattern on Ice’s equipment, he decisively chose and found the corresponding Gold Coin, filling the final gap perfectly.

This progress made Ice extremely excited, to the point where his less restrained attitude was tolerated, and action was promptly arranged.

For some reason, she was indeed in a hurry.

Unfortunately, with the personnel in place, the Vacuum Flower seemed to have vanished.

This forced Ice to temporarily halt the plan and find it at all costs, including someone as suspicious as himself.

Is it a coincidence or not, but he was also looking for the trace of the Vacuum Flower.

This is why, up to now, the atmosphere has remained so pleasant.

...

Sorting through the experiences along the way, Fu Qian remained silent.

It wasn’t to avoid interrupting his own train of thought, but to avoid interrupting Lady Ice’s train of thought.

Because it was evident she was also sorting through her experiences on this journey, as well as deducing his true purpose for being here.

”Night Watchman?”

Fortunately, they were not kept waiting long; after only a moment, Lady Ice’s voice came through with gritted teeth.

”No.”

Fu Qian, not wanting her survival instincts to affect her performance in the quest for the Vacuum Flower, shook his head decisively.

”Then, why are you here?”

”Don’t try to fool me with your childish antics. I won’t believe a dreamy young person could achieve this level solely through self-hypnosis.”

Ice’s tone was already quite wary, with a hint of impending attack.

”Unfortunately, whether you believe it or not, I did come here in response to destiny’s call.”

With a sigh, Fu Qian expressed a sentiment that even he found hard to assert.

”Heh... I’m really curious, what did destiny send you here for?”

Of course, as a seasoned worldly person, Lady Ice wasn’t going to buy that.

With a series of cold laughs, she didn’t linger on it, instead pointing directly to the core question.

”So you admit what I said earlier? That she is Sophia?”

This time, Fu Qian didn’t rush to answer; instead, he surveyed the body, which had become faintly red from the heat after the water’s removal.

”What does this have to do with my question?”

Ice’s vigilance was clearly at an all-time high.

”Of course, it does. If you’re sure she’s Sophia, then I’ll have to continue my investigation.”

”Because my goal is aligned with yours, which is to find the Vacuum Flower.”

There was no discernible emotion in Fu Qian’s words.

...

”Why are you looking for it?”

Fu Qian was open with his intentions, but Ice hesitated for a moment, still doubtful.

”Destiny’s call, haven’t I mentioned it numerous times?”

”That reason lacks credibility.”

Ice was clearly dissatisfied.

”Why do I need to be credible? You absolutely have to find that thing, don’t you? And what I’m about to do is precisely what you’ve been guiding me to do along the way.”

”I just hope that things proceed in a more candid manner from now on. What do you think?”

In terms of persuasiveness, it was quite evident that Ice’s experience was lacking compared to Fu Qian, who made her aware of her mistake in an instant.

”...How do I know you’re not using me? Will you still be this polite after actually finding something?”

Ice’s voice had unconsciously lowered during her response, even tacitly admitting she was indeed searching for the Vacuum Flower.

”You don’t know whether or not I have the ability to be impolite to you.”

”But the choice before you is simple: try to eliminate me before finding the Vacuum Flower and seize the opportunity to search alone... or after jointly finding it, deciding whether it’s necessary to eliminate me, which is the more prudent choice should be easy to discern.”

Fu Qian’s response demonstrated exceptional emotional stability.

”Or... if I confirm you’re really eager to find it, then perhaps I can consider using collaboration as leverage for some gradual trade-offs with you.”

In the end, being the favored pupil of a Sage, Lady Ice was not easily fooled by mere words. She quickly calculated the pros and cons and coldly proposed another possibility.

”But you’re in a hurry.”

The only unfortunate thing was that she still picked the wrong opponent.

Fu Qian almost responded instantly to a crucial point.

”Naturally, you could attempt denial, or speculate that I’m in more of a hurry.”

...

”Exactly... I suspect the Vacuum Flower escaped, and now I must do everything possible to find it.”

This is the beauty of communicating with intelligent people; often, you provide a keyword, and the interlocutor fills in the details.

Upon proposing the urgency assertion, Ice wrestled psychologically for about half a minute until a blister on the nearby body nearly splashed on her, prompting her final decision.

”So she truly is Sophia?”

Such a simple question carried a wealth of confirmations, leaving Fu Qian notably satisfied with the progress, as he gestured towards the mass of flesh.

”Yes.”

”So what did you do with her?”

”You’re already very close with your guess.”

Once forced to decide on cooperation, Ice’s accommodating stance was remarkable.

”The belt is indeed a ’weapon,’ but it didn’t originally belong to her. I demanded she wear it to confront the Vacuum Flower directly.”

”You suspect the Vacuum Flower took the opportunity to escape through her at that time?”

Fu Qian slightly nodded.

”But that leads to a small issue: if the Vacuum Flower is so transcendent, why wouldn’t it simply stroll out on its own? That door looked quite ordinary.”

”The door isn’t important; what’s important is the container built with special materials behind it.”

Ice explained coldly.

”But aside from a somewhat winding path, that giant box doesn’t seem to have a door, and even if there is one, opening it seems inevitable when entering or exiting.”

Fu Qian, however, wasn’t someone to be easily convinced.

”That’s because the winding passage itself is a barrier.”

In response, Ice finally provided an interesting explanation.