# 1724
Chapter 1717: Abandoned Infant
[23 years before the Eastern Sovereign Bell tolls]
"Waaah——!"
The torrential rain poured down from the heavens. Beside a foul-smelling garbage bin, a baby wrapped in a tattered towel was wailing desperately.
But even with its pitiful cries, the sound was drowned out by the rain and thunder. Moreover, this place was extremely remote, so no one noticed the abandoned infant. As time passed, the baby's cries grew weaker and weaker.
Cold rainwater beat against its skin, an unnatural flush spreading across its cheeks. The hoarse crying finally stopped, and it lay motionless in the garbage pile, as if it had fainted.
At that moment, a figure slowly approached.
It was a monk in a mud-stained kasaya. He extended his hands and picked up the fevered, unconscious infant. Those autumn-water-like eyes held no trace of emotion, yet he still shielded the baby beneath his body, protecting it from the storm.
He carried the infant through the deserted streets until he finally stopped before an iron gate.
He looked up. Five large characters came into view:
— Hanshan Orphanage.
Fate Monk placed the abandoned infant before the iron gate, bit his fingertip, and gently wrote three characters on the tattered towel wrapped around the baby.
After finishing, he turned and left, his figure swallowed by the rainstorm.
"Woof— woof—!"
Barking echoed from inside the orphanage. A black dog rushed to the iron gate and barked furiously at the abandoned infant outside. An old man grabbed a stick and hurried out from the house.
"What's all the barking! One more sound and I'll beat you!"
After scolding the black dog, the old man was about to return inside when his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of something by the gate. He froze in place.
He quickly opened the gate and picked up the towel-wrapped infant, looking around outside the gate but finding no one... His brow furrowed immediately.
"Rain this heavy... those heartless bastards, aren't they afraid the child will freeze to death?"
The old man cursed, then quickly felt the baby's forehead. Indeed, it was burning hot!
He turned to bring the infant back inside, but at that moment, the tattered towel fell to the ground. The old man looked down to see three blood-red characters being washed away by the rain, growing fainter and fainter until they finally disappeared with the flowing water into the night.
"Shen Qingzhu?"
The old man memorized those three characters and murmured softly.
Meanwhile, a causal paradox connected head to tail in the void and quietly vanished without a trace...
...
[58 minutes before the Eastern Sovereign Bell tolls]
Olympus.
At the peak of a mountain, inside the sacred temple, a hunched, frail figure leaned against a bed, coughing weakly.
This former King of the Gods, Zeus, now resembled an elderly person in his final years. The blood hole in his back had withered and turned black, with only faint sparks of life barely smoldering within him.
"Biya..." he rasped.
"Divine King." Si Xiaonan, transformed into a Lesser God, respectfully stepped forward.
"How is... the situation outside?"
Si Xiaonan opened her mouth, as if deeply conflicted.
"Speak!" Zeus glared at her. "How is it outside?!"
"This subject has been gathering intelligence among the sacred peaks these past few days, Your Divine Majesty. It seems... several of your children have begun to stir." Si Xiaonan spoke helplessly.
Zeus's aged eyes sharpened. A surge of anger rose in his chest, and he coldly harrumphed, but before he could say anything, he broke into violent coughing.
"Cough cough cough... these ungrateful wolves... now that they see I'm not what I used to be, each one wants that golden throne... By now, they're probably already conspiring to kill this old bag of bones."
Si Xiaonan, seeing this, quickly walked to Zeus's side and attentively brought him a cup of spring water.
"Your Divine Majesty, please don't anger yourself. Your health comes first... Since your return, you've been recuperating in this palace and haven't seen any outsiders. These past few days, I've followed your orders and spread news among the sacred peaks that you are near recovery. They won't dare act rashly in the short term."
Hearing these words, Zeus's expression softened somewhat.
He glanced at Si Xiaonan and slowly said, "You are very clever... It was the right choice to have you assist me."
"It is this subject's honor to serve beside the Divine King."
"In my current state, I cannot let those outside see me like this... There are things I can only have you do on my behalf." Zeus paused. "Relying solely on the news you've spread, they may not believe it. They might try to enter this forbidden land to test me. You must stop them for me."
"Yes."
Si Xiaonan respectfully bowed to Zeus and slowly withdrew from the forbidden hall.
Once the temple doors closed, the reverence vanished from Si Xiaonan's face. She glanced at this magnificent palace, her eyes narrowing slightly.
She still couldn't see through whether this old fox Zeus was truly as fragile as he appeared. Even though she had become his most trusted confidante, she couldn't act rashly. Even a withered, dying tiger was still a tiger...
After a moment, she turned and walked down the mountain.
She found a relatively flat boulder and casually lay upon it, closing her eyes and feigning sleep. But her two ears eerily detached from her head and vanished into the mountain peaks.
With her abilities, except for the forbidden hall where Zeus resided, the entire Olympus was within her listening range. As she listened to all the secrets of this divine kingdom, she slowly drifted into a slumber...
In a daze, she dreamed.
It was an ancient residence. A young man in Han Dynasty Confucian attire leaned against a wall, holding a jar filled with white game pieces, smiling as he looked at her.
"God of Trickery, Si Xiaonan." His voice rang out.
Si Xiaonan was dazed for a moment before her consciousness suddenly snapped awake within the dream. She warily eyed this unfamiliar man before her and frowned.
"You invaded my dream? Who are you?"
"My name is Yan Zhong." The scholar took a jade token from his waist. "A former member of the Bureau of Evil Suppression. Now, I suppose I'm merely a wandering spirit."
"Bureau of Evil Suppression? You came from Great Xia?"
"Something like that. Finding you among the dreams of hundreds of millions of living beings was no easy task... I can only stay here briefly, so let me speak plainly." Yan Zhong took a white game piece from the jar in his hand and placed it into Si Xiaonan's palm.
"What's this?" Si Xiaonan asked, puzzled.
"Something Lin Qiye asked me to pass on to you."
"Lin Qiye?"
"To avoid creating causal paradoxes with his past self, he's been sleeping for over fifty years... I can only use my abilities as a medium to deliver these game pieces to you." Yan Zhong spoke calmly.
"When the Eastern Sovereign Bell tolls, the 【Covenant】 shall respond. Causality reverses, and death becomes life... The purpose of this game piece, you will come to understand when the time comes."