# 1875
Chapter 1868: The Courtyard and the World
"We meet again."
An Qingyu said calmly.
Lin Qiye looked at that familiar face, feeling indescribably awkward... He had just slashed at the other person in the maze, and now here they were meeting again, and it had to be on the opponent's home turf.
"That noise just now... did you transfer the Gate of Truth's remnants here?"
"Where else could I transfer them to?"
Lin Qiye's expression grew serious. "Are you going to awaken Him now?"
If An Qingyu was going to awaken the Key to the Gate right now, he would have to have his clone return to Great Xia and mobilize all combat forces for a full-scale assault. What Lin Qiye had said earlier wasn't a joke—there could not be another Pillar God in this world.
"I will awaken Him... but not now."
An Qingyu seemed unwilling to talk much with Lin Qiye. He walked straight toward the house inside the courtyard, his voice heavy. "This round, you have the slight advantage... but next time, that may not be the case."
Lin Qiye watched his retreating figure and suddenly realized something. "What are you going to do?"
"Rest."
"Isn't this the place where you kept me imprisoned? You're coming here to rest?"
"...This was originally where I rest. Imprisoning you was just顺便." An Qingyu glanced back at him. "If you want to try killing me again while I'm weak, feel free..."
With that, he stepped into one of the rooms and closed the door behind him.
Lin Qiye: ...
The last time this guy said this place was where he lived, Lin Qiye hadn't quite believed him. He never expected it to actually be true...
It seemed that while An Qingyu could escape through soul transfer, the cost of losing a clone was not small. He had only spoken a few sentences, yet Lin Qiye could clearly sense his weakness.
If he attacked now, what were the odds of victory?
After some thought, Lin Qiye abandoned the idea. Setting aside whether killing An Qingyu meant he still had several other clones, his true body had no divine law yet. Even if he attacked, it would be nearly impossible to kill the other party.
His true body's mission wasn't to kill An Qingyu—it was to find out the location and hidden cards of the Cthulhu Faction's base camp... No need to take risks at a time like this.
Lin Qiye withdrew his gaze, hesitated for a moment, then walked toward the chessboard under the tree.
He brushed the dust off the chessboard and placed both baskets of black and white pieces in front of him. Facing the dancing tree shadows, he picked up pieces and laid them on the board.
An Qingyu was right—this round, he did have the slight advantage.
The Temporal Maze had originally been a trap set first by An Qingyu. Although Lin Qiye had finally succeeded in transferring the Gate of Truth away and persuading the Supreme God Vishnu to surrender, he had also rescued Nyx, Athena, and the others, nearly destroyed Vishnu, and severed one of An Qingyu's clones.
Of course, all of this had been possible because he had temporarily mastered the Law of Darkness... That was an unexpected move on An Qingyu's part.
If he hadn't mastered the Law of Darkness, the final outcome would surely have been An Qingyu transferring the Gate of Truth away and joining forces with Vishnu to suppress Nyx. More than likely, even his Seraph clone would have been captured.
In that case, he would have been completely cut off from Great Xia, leaving the nation leaderless and passive in the subsequent game.
Lin Qiye replayed the situation in his mind as he placed his pieces. He imagined An Qingyu sitting across from him, the two of them locked in battle over the chessboard. Black and white pieces clashed and spread across the board, slowly occupying most of it.
A gentle breeze swept through the crimson maple tree, rustling its leaves.
Lin Qiye came back to his senses and looked toward the room where An Qingyu was resting. Inexplicably, a sense of dazed confusion washed over him.
A small courtyard, a single chessboard.
One world, the fate of an entire clan...
He and An Qingyu were both confined within this tiny courtyard, yet every piece they placed determined the dynamics of the outside world.
Lin Qiye sat alone under the maple tree for a long time, letting out a deep sigh... He wondered, if the two of them had seen this scene when they first entered this courtyard all those years ago, what would they have thought?
Lin Qiye placed the final piece on the black-and-white chessboard, sat in silence for a long while, then shook his head and stood up, walking toward his own room.
...
At the bottom of the deep, dark ocean, beams of searchlights swept across the surroundings. Amid the swirling currents, a pixelated city lay sprawled across the seafloor like an octopus, slowly moving toward a certain direction.
Oath Society Headquarters—Utopia.
A Knight rushed through the pixelated corridor, his expression somewhat anxious. He turned to ask:
"Where exactly did you find them?"
"About eight hundred nautical miles from here... Their exploration vessel had sunk. We followed the lights and found them. After verifying their identities, we sent them to the medical ward immediately."
"What are the casualties?"
"No deaths. Most were rescued, but they've been vomiting continuously. It seems like severe seasickness."
"...Seasickness?"
As he spoke, the Knight had already arrived at the door of a white ward. He pushed the door open and entered.
In the spacious, bright ward, several tall figures with bandaged wounds were squatting neatly against the wall, each clutching a trash can, their faces deathly pale.
Charles spotted the Knight and suddenly froze. Just as he was about to say something, he sharply bent over and dry-heaved!
The Knight: ...
"Good to see you... Charles." Amid the waves of vomiting, the Knight forced down his nausea and spoke.
"Cough cough... Good to see you, Galli. I never expected to meet you here!" Charles took a deep breath, suppressed his nausea, stood up, and enthusiastically went in for a hug.
The Knight felt the oncoming stench and very reluctantly embraced him before quickly separating.
"How are your injuries?" The Knight looked at the bandages covering his body and asked.
"It's nothing. Wounds like this won't kill us. It's just... *gack*!"
Charles stumbled and immediately turned back to the trash can to vomit.
After a long while, he wobbled to his feet.
"I just don't understand why... I seem to have gotten seasick... That's strange. We're clearly not on a ship anymore, are we?"
The Knight's mouth twitched slightly.
"Anyway, thanks to your Oath Society, otherwise we probably would have drowned at sea." Charles sighed. "When you left the Knights and joined the Oath Society, I had some objections to your choice. But looking at things now, I was being narrow-minded back then."
"No need to dwell on the past." The Knight waved his hand. "Didn't you join the Night Watch? How did your vessel sink in that sea area? Who injured you like this?"
Facing the Knight's interrogation, Charles seemed to recall something, and his expression turned grim.
"We were ordered by Commander Lin to investigate Divine Desire Paradise. Based on some clues we obtained, we located their nest..."