# 1662
Chapter 1662
Chapter 1655: Do You Like It?
Upon hearing those final words, Lin Qiye felt as though he'd been struck by lightning!
He tumbled from the sky back down to earth, dust and sand billowing up around him. Ame-no-Murakumo pierced through his back, crimson blood spreading in all directions.
"Cha…os……???" Lin Qiye stared at Wu Quan walking toward him slowly, his eyes filled with horror. "How are you… here?"
"Surprised, aren't you? You went through so much trouble to return from two thousand years later. In this era, the Cthulhu Faction gods haven't even descended yet. Why would I be here?" Wu Quan chuckled, extending a finger to point at the sky above.
"Did you forget… above the river of time, there is an eye that has always been watching you."
Lin Qiye seemed to recall something, his gaze slowly shifting to the sky shrouded in iridescent mist. Black willow branches danced wildly through the air, countless pairs of human legs perched atop the willows, passing over him and rushing toward Chang'an City.
"【Key to the Gate】." Lin Qiye gritted his teeth and spoke in a low growl.
Earlier, An Qingyu had mentioned that above all of time, 【Key to the Gate】 always watches over humanity's past, present, and future from a certain point in time. As an omniscient and omnipotent god, nothing escapes Its sight.
"Do you think It wouldn't notice you crossing a two-thousand-year river of time?" Wu Quan spread his hands helplessly. "I have to say, your idea of crossing the river of time to come directly to the moment before our second descent, seeking a chance for humanity's survival, was quite brilliant. Unfortunately, you still underestimated us."
"So… you were sent here by 【Key to the Gate】?" Lin Qiye furrowed his brow, then immediately shook his head. "No, that's not right… You're one of the three pillar gods alongside It. 【Key to the Gate】's true body couldn't pass through, so you shouldn't be able to either…
You're not the real body?"
Wu Quan laughed a couple of times without denying it. He slowly crouched down in front of Lin Qiye, opened his mouth, and a black fingertip lay coiled upon his tongue. Wu Quan waved it at Lin Qiye as if greeting him.
Wu Quan swallowed the finger into his belly, and gazing at the increasingly pallid face before him, continued:
"Your Primordial Spirit胎 is indeed special. Even Kusanagi couldn't replicate it. 【Key to the Gate】 wasn't willing to pay the extra cost, and with none of the Cthulhu Faction gods descended in this era, no one in this age could kill you in direct combat—not even a replica of Huo Qubing…
To kill you, it really does take considerable effort, and I'm the only one who could set this kind of trap."
"You did all this… just to kill me?"
"Of course."
"You're a fake… so is Gongyang Wan fake too? And the Huo Qubing she pointed out is also fake?? You positioned so many pieces on the board, just so Wu Quan could gain my trust, so we could return to this mist together?" ъìＱυＧΕtV.℃ǒΜ
Wu Quan couldn't help but burst out laughing. "This trap this time—do you like it?"
Lin Qiye gazed at Wu Quan's familiar face, and instantly realized many things. Since the Cthulhu Faction gods hadn't descended in this era, why had that red meteor streaked across the sky, flying straight toward them? No matter how they tried to evade, they couldn't escape the meteor's falling radius…
Lin Qiye had considered that the meteor might have been targeting him, but he'd easily dispatched his replica afterward. Moreover, in this era, the Cthulhu Faction gods simply hadn't descended, so he hadn't given it further thought.
Back in the mist, he'd searched the area for a long time but hadn't found a single soul among the thirty thousand troops. Instead, he'd collided directly with Wu Quan, and Wu Quan's rope just happened to be connected to his replica, conveniently leading them out of the mist. He subtly guided Lin Qiye, making him not probe too deeply…
Because if Wu Quan hadn't led him out of that mist, once Lin Qiye figured out the "measurement" method to explore it, Kusanagi's existence would inevitably be exposed, and the entire scheme would collapse.
After chaos erupted in Chang'an City, Wu Quan found Lin Qiye immediately and entered the palace with him. At the same time, the replica Gongyang Wan, imprisoned before a certain hall, was conveniently attacked by replica soldiers at just the right moment, drawing their attention…
After gaining some of Lin Qiye's trust by killing the replica soldiers, she directly swallowed a willow branch, gaining the power to see through disguises.
Of course, as a replica, the replica Gongyang Wan's perception was constantly being modified by the willows themselves. So even if she truly believed she could distinguish the real from the fake, it was merely what she believed… From the very beginning, she was merely a pawn for 【Chaos】 to gain Lin Qiye's trust.
After she obtained the ability to discern truth from falsehood, several soldiers who had been replaced conveniently arrived, proving her ability and earning Lin Qiye's greater trust, while also allowing Wu Quan to gain Lin Qiye's trust. This was precisely what 【Chaos】 wanted.
When the two Huo Qubings appeared simultaneously, Lin Qiye had found it strange. Since the replica Huo Qubing had been replicated before entering Chang'an City, he shouldn't have had any injuries… Yet the two Huo Qubings he'd seen were both wounded.
Now the answer was clear. He had discovered the traces of 【Oblivion Flash Moon】 with Wu Quan, so Wu Quan must have deduced that the real Huo Qubing was already injured. To better confuse and delay the real Huo Qubing, 【Chaos】 had specifically instructed Kusanagi to leave wounds on the replica Huo Qubing's body.
Then, Kusanagi's true body approached Chang'an City, using the common people of Chang'an as leverage. While the real and fake Huo Qubings were locked in combat, 【Chaos】 separated Lin Qiye and Wu Quan, sending them alone into the mist. Then, at the critical moment when Lin Qiye was fighting Kusanagi, It struck Lin Qiye with Ame-no-Murakumo for a lethal blow…
The entire scheme was one link after another. Each step seemed completely unrelated to Lin Qiye, yet every step targeted him.
From the moment that iridescent mist enveloped him, he had already been trapped in 【Chaos】's inescapable kill zone!
Most crucially, throughout the entire process, 【Chaos】 had not controlled any person's thoughts or actions. Whether it was the replica Gongyang Wan, the two Huo Qubings, or the replica Wu Quan himself, they all acted according to their own habits and ways of thinking. The only thing It had changed was the replica Gongyang Wan's perception of "truth" and "falsehood"…
This was why, until Wu Quan struck that fatal blow, Lin Qiye had sensed no killing intent directed at him.
Lin Qiye stared at Wu Quan's familiar face, his fists clenching tightly… The feeling of being schemed against and led into a death trap—he had experienced it for the second time now. And both times, the mastermind behind his death trap was 【Chaos】!
【Chaos】's terror didn't lie in 【Key to the Gate】's omnipresent gaze, nor in the endless pollution and assimilation of 【Black Goat】. Its ability to adapt, scheme, and manipulate human hearts—that was the source of Its power!