# 1251
Chapter 1251: Within the Cage
Walking along the pristine white stone bricks, Lin Qiye's eyes swept across his surroundings, carefully observing this magnificent Western divine kingdom.
To be safe, Lin Qiye did not activate his spiritual感知. During the proxy meeting, his spiritual power had been detected by two gods, nearly exposing his identity. Though he didn't know if all gods possessed the ability to sense spiritual power, given the current situation, caution was the better part of valor.
The streets of Asgard were far larger than Lin Qiye had imagined—just the width alone was approximately six to seven times that of the roads in Heavenly Court.
The main reason for this was that most of the gods here were enormous in stature.
Before long, Lin Qiye had already spotted several Western deities over ten meters tall, their feet touching the earth as they slowly passed by the group.
The stone bricks beneath their feet were made of some unknown material. Even after being trampled by these colossal deities, they showed no signs of trembling, as if they had become one with all of Asgard.
Lin Qiye curiously observed these gods, deep in thought.
According to Norse mythology, most of the gods in Asgard had the blood of giants flowing through their veins... Judging from their size,
"Thor."
Lin Qiye followed the four gods through two streets before a figure descended from the high skies, standing before the group.
It was a man wearing a pale yellow cloth garment, his hair disheveled, his brow furrowed tightly.
"Freyr?" Thor spoke in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"How did you all leave Asgard for so long? Where have you been?" Freyr asked anxiously.
"We went out to find something... What's wrong?"
"Sif has gone missing."
Upon hearing these words, Thor and the other three gods' expressions changed simultaneously.
Sif?
Hearing this name, Lin Qiye felt it was very familiar.
During his studies at the training camp, he had learned about the gods of Asgard, including Sif... If he remembered correctly, this goddess of fertility Sif was Thor's wife.
"Missing?" Thor's expression turned grim. "When did this happen?"
"About two days ago..."
Without another word, Thor's figure transformed into a bolt of thunder, shooting into the clouds and racing away toward some distant direction.
The blind god Hodr, the forest god Vídarr, and the war god Tyr exchanged glances, all seeing the gravity in each other's eyes.
"Hodr, take this intruder to the abyss Dungeon and, by whatever means necessary, extract the whereabouts of 【Gjallarhorn】... Vídarr, take these two proxies to the cage to be locked up. Wait for Thor to decide their fate." War God Tyr quickly commanded.
As he finished speaking, he pushed off with both feet, transforming into a stream of light as he hurried after Thor.
Once the two figures had completely vanished, Hodr stood in place, contemplating silently for a moment, then grabbed Jinian, who was locked in darkness, and spoke coldly:
"Let's go."
Covered in wounds, Jinian glanced back and locked eyes with Lin Qiye, then helplessly followed Hodr's steps.
"We go this way." Vídarr pointed toward another direction on the street and walked off.
Lin Qiye watched Jinian's retreating figure with complicated emotions, his eyes flickering with subtle light. In the end, he followed behind Vídarr.
...
BANG—!
With two dull thuds, the crimson prison door before Lin Qiye's eyes was completely sealed shut.
Divine power spread from the prison bars, covering every corner of the cell, solid as bedrock.
The forest god Vídarr stood outside the cell, casually glancing at Lin Qiye and Number 22 in the adjacent cell, then turned and left.
After a moment, Lin Qiye stood up and began observing this so-called "cage."
This "cage" was not in the same location as the abyss Dungeon where Jinian was being held and interrogated. It was like a massive crimson beast pen, artificially divided into countless individual cells. Some cells were enormous, housing frost giants the size of small mountains; others were normal-sized, holding humans like Lin Qiye.
These individual cells formed a wall of crimson, suspended in the air at the edge of Asgard. Below their feet lay an abyss of countless depths.
Lin Qiye tried to extend his spiritual power outward, but it could only reach the surrounding walls of divine power and couldn't penetrate through the prison cell.
"A cage that can even imprison gods..." Lin Qiye murmured to himself.
"Well? Found a way out yet?"
A voice drifted over from the cell next to his.
Lin Qiye turned to look and saw Number 22 sitting in the center of the adjacent cell, gazing at him leisurely through the crimson bars.
Lin Qiye's brow furrowed tightly:
"What's it to you?"
"I'm saying, Lin Qiye, do you have no conscience?" Number 22 coldly smiled.
"If I hadn't covered for your identity earlier, would you even be locked up here now? You'd probably already have been taken to the abyss Dungeon with that woman, being questioned about Great Xia's intelligence and the secrets of the dual-god proxies under torture!
As repayment, shouldn't you help me escape from here too?"
Before Lin Qiye could respond, Number 22 continued: "Of course, you can choose to refuse... But I'll immediately expose your identity. That way, I can still stay here, while you can only die together with that woman!
You're a smart person. You know how to make the right choice."
"Are you that certain I can escape from here?" Lin Qiye said grimly.
"You're Lin... Oh no, you're the famous prophet Myles! You managed to hoodwink the Olympian Gods and all us proxies. Now of course you have a way to deceive these Norse Gods!
Besides, you still have this prophet identity you can exploit. Thor and the others need you."
Number 22 spread his arms wide and smiled.
Lin Qiye snorted coldly.
As expected, Number 22's intentions were exactly what Lin Qiye had anticipated. He simply wanted to use Lin Qiye to help him escape from the Norse Gods... To that end, he had even cooperated with Lin Qiye's lie, inflating his prophet identity to a level that would make gods' hearts stir.
Yet Lin Qiye knew full well that he didn't actually know any prophetic arts whatsoever.
"Myles, of all the proxies who entered the King's Treasury back then, only the two of us survived. This proves we're chosen by heaven! We're the children of destiny!" Number 22's eyes sparkled with brilliance.
"So many gods inside and outside that treasury couldn't kill us. Now, as long as we two join forces, we can definitely escape from here!
At least here... we're on the same side."
Lin Qiye's eyes narrowed slightly.
After a long while, he nodded. "Fine."
If Lin Qiye wanted to leave Asgard, it was inevitable that he couldn't get around Number 22. The man knew his true identity and was locked in the cell right next to him. No matter what moves Lin Qiye made, it would be impossible to keep them hidden from Number 22.
Since that was the case, he might as well turn the tables. For now, he would join forces with Number 22. As for how things would develop afterward... he would have to play it by ear.