# 1650
Chapter 1650: The Ability of the Covenant
The atmosphere in the main hall instantly froze.
Huo Qubing stood in place with furrowed brows, looking at Cai Yuan whose face had gone deathly pale, unsure of what to say.
"What do you think about this matter?" the Martial Emperor of Han asked slowly.
Huo Qubing was silent for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty... this minister does not understand the art of celestial divination and dares not speak rashly."
Stargazing was, after all, merely a mystical art—the distinction between truth and falsehood was difficult to determine. But speaking words like "great chaos is inevitable" and "within a day all living beings will suffer" before the current Son of Heaven could cost him his head!
It was clear that with two consecutive Astronomers Royal meeting their deaths, Cai Yuan was truly panicking. At this moment, his fear of the Red Star and the prophecy had completely overwhelmed his reverence for the imperial family.
"Recently, this emperor has indeed received many memorial tablets regarding the rampages of evil spirits, and has dispatched considerable manpower to disaster relief and exorcism... However, our Great Han is neither being invaded by foreign enemies to the point of national destruction, nor are there famines or droughts—just a red star in the sky. How could it cause all living beings to suffer within a single day?"
The Martial Emperor's voice was low and grave.
"I... I..." Cai Yuan stood to the side, stammering for a long time without being able to produce a coherent sentence.
The Martial Emperor gazed at him for a long while, until sweat was continuously dripping from Cai Yuan's temples, before slowly speaking:
"Forget it... you may withdraw."
"Yes!"
Cai Yuan felt as though he had been granted amnesty. He turned to leave, but his legs gave out after just one step. It was only Huo Qubing's quick reflexes that caught him in time. After profuse thanks, Cai Yuan scrambled out of the hall.
Huo Qubing's gaze shifted from Cai Yuan's retreating figure, and he turned to ask:
"Your Majesty... Master Cai was simply too frightened."
"This emperor understands perfectly—he is not some unreasonable fool." The Martial Emperor waved his hand, sitting down with a weary expression. "Nevertheless, this Red Star danger cannot be ignored... are those thirty thousand troops still outside the city?"
"They are."
"This emperor will issue a decree—the thirty thousand troops, along with the Feathered Forest Guards within Chang'an City, shall all be under your command. You must ensure proper defense of all positions in Chang'an. As for the various vassal states, this emperor has already sent letters instructing them to be on high alert."
"Understood!"
Huo Qubing turned to leave, but suddenly paused as if remembering something, and spoke again:
"This minister... has one more request..."
...
Chang'an City, the Courier Station.
Chloe hung her straw hat on the wall and turned to look at Lin Qiye. Several missionaries stood behind Lin Qiye, their eyes wide open, as if ready at any moment to throw this young man out of the room.
"Shouldn't this place be secure enough?" Chloe spoke slowly. "Who exactly are you?"
"My name is Lin Qiye, from over two thousand years in the future." Lin Qiye cut straight to the point. "The reason I'm here should have something to do with you... No, to be precise, it has to do with the future you."
Lin Qiye's opening statement struck the missionaries behind him like a blow. They stared in shock, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Over two thousand years in the future?" Chloe frowned as well.
She lowered her head, pacing around the room for a long while, as if deep in thought.
"You... let me see it again."
"What?"
"That place... your... ugh, the place you just showed me!" A flush of red crept across Chloe's cheeks, her expression caught between embarrassment and annoyance.
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow and nonchalantly pulled down his collar, revealing the two marks of [Covenant].
Honestly, the location of these two marks wasn't all that private... but Chloe's reaction was somewhat unexpected to Lin Qiye. He had always assumed the legendary proxy of Yahweh would have an otherworldly personality, gazing down at mortal suffering with cold indifference.
Now, it seemed there was more "humanity" in her than that. Thinking about it carefully, since she was the messenger chosen by Yahweh to spread the faith in the mortal world, she naturally had to integrate into the human world, to experience its suffering and joy...
Perhaps, once she had endured enough suffering, long enough, she would be able to complete her divine mission from a perspective that gradually transcended that of "human."
Blushing, Chloe stared at the two [Covenant] marks on Lin Qiye's chest for a long while, then nodded thoughtfully.
"Indeed, these are from me..."
The missionaries exchanged glances, shock flickering in their eyes. They were, after all, just ordinary people. Although they had witnessed Lady Saint's abilities before, the concept of those abilities extending over two thousand years into the future was completely beyond their comprehension.
"Can you tell what the three [Covenant] marks each do?" Lin Qiye asked the question he had been most eager to ask.
"No." Chloe shook her head. "These marks are proof of the [Covenant], but they don't contain the power to fulfill it... The thing that actually triggers the Covenant should be with my future self."
"What do you mean?"
"Think of it like... um... I borrow ten taels of silver from you today, agreeing to repay you at noon tomorrow. I write you an IOU as proof. But before noon tomorrow arrives, you don't actually have those ten taels of silver on you—you only have the IOU. The real silver is still with me.
Only when the agreed time comes will my silver appear in your possession, and at the same time, the IOU will be destroyed... Can you understand it that way?" Chloe explained using the most straightforward language she could think of.
"I see." Lin Qiye nodded.
He had always assumed that the power to穿越 two thousand years was stored within the vanished mark... Now it seemed that was merely a medium; the one actually performing this feat was the future Chloe.
"Then how did you send me back two thousand years? Even the God of Time would struggle to accomplish that."
"Once a [Covenant] is established, its fulfillment becomes inevitable. Even if the process in between is difficult, various factors will arise to help achieve it... Going back to the example: I borrow ten taels of silver from you, agreeing to repay you at noon tomorrow. Even if I have no way to earn silver, it will somehow find its way into my bag.
The specific process might involve a thief suddenly stumbling beside me, dropping the ten taels of silver he just stole right at my feet; or a bird might drop a hairpin worth ten taels of silver directly into my hand, just as someone happens to come along wanting to buy it..."
Lin Qiye's jaw gradually dropped.
"Once a covenant is established, it will definitely be fulfilled... so that's what it means?"
Lin Qiye had always thought the descriptions of Chloe's abilities were just some special kind of embellishment. He never expected it to be so hardcore—able to achieve the result through any unexpected means. Wasn't that essentially like having luck on your side, where anything you wish for comes true?
"That being said, as long as you establish a [Covenant], you can do anything... then why didn't your future self simply establish a [Covenant] to destroy the Cthulhu Gods?"