Annan Outside the Door

"So you really came to assassinate the princess..." Yaxiu naturally did not confess. It was not that he was remarkably unyielding, or that facing Qinna's domineering presence, he felt joy instead of anger and leaned into it. Rather, he simply could not confess—Annan's contract strictly forbade them from voluntarily leaking secrets. Yaxiu could not even report to Sword Princess that he had acquired a daughter, so how could he possibly tell Qinna about her own daughter's plans? Still, whether he confessed or not hardly made a difference. Since Yaxiu was here, the others were definitely here too, and sneaking into the imperial palace on the night of the Court Banquet, if not to assassinate royalty, what else would it be for? To freeload a meal? So when Yaxiu countered by asking, "Do you know about the high tower?", Qinna immediately understood that her daughter had brought this gang of companions to storm the tower. "We're not assassinating the princess." Since Qinna had already deduced it, Yaxiu could afford to say a bit more. "We're only here to invalidate her ranking." "The result is the same." Qinna pondered. "The Yisu Empress is bound to be the First Gospel. Without the First Gospel, either the Yisu Empress holds on for another fifty years, or the Isu royal lineage ends here... If you succeed, Gospel will face an upheaval not seen in centuries." "Even without the First Gospel, the Isu royal family has other bloodlines, don't they? They could let someone else succeed the throne. Surely people wouldn't rebel just because someone isn't the First Gospel?" Yaxiu tried to downplay the danger of their actions. Yet Qinna nodded. "Yes, they would." Yaxiu froze. Qinna said, "Why do you think so many past dynasties fell? Why do you think all our clans and syndicates are confined to our own cities? "Why haven't the Six Emblems expanded to other cities? The Mermaid Fish-Mint Farm is an irreproducible legend, but on a smaller scale, couldn't we establish smaller white mist zones in other cities? "Why hasn't Berdette's 'Huabei system' expanded beyond Mengfeila? Is the Huabei system not enticing enough, or is Berdette lacking ambition, unwilling to control the nation's populace?" Yaxiu hesitated slightly. "Because of the law?" "Compared to selfish human nature filtered through long stretches of time, laws are merely an exercise in naive social experimentation," Qinna said. "Expansion is an instinct shared by every organization—clans, syndicates, enterprises, none are exempt. Once an organization expands to a certain point where it must strike down and swallow other organizations, internal friction arises, hatred is bred, leading to corruption, decay, rust, and ultimately collapse. "Right now, every major clan and syndicate remains confined to their respective cities, pouring all their energy into developing production, competing for rankings, and accumulating Gospel points, with no intention of expanding and rarely clashing with other factions. Do you know how the Isu royal family has maintained this idyllic status quo for seven hundred years?" "How did they do it?" "I don't know either." Qinna spread her hands. "All I know is that it has to do with the First Gospel. Any dynasty that wasn't continuously ruled by the First Gospel has already vanished into history. "So, this attempt of yours to assassinate the princess will, at best, accelerate the disintegration of Gospel, and at worst, march straight toward the future woven by the top three lists." The elven clan head's tone gradually grew cold. "Cities ruined, necromancer clans rising, deceit running rampant... the world heading toward doom, and the glory of Gospel gone forever. "Yaxiu," she said chillingly, "what do you think I'll do? Secretly stop you, or report you directly?" "My guess is that your next move will be to help us." "Oh?" "If you were truly so lawful good, you would have shipped me, a wanted criminal, to the imperial capital for a bounty a month ago, and locked Annan up to feed her Lalafell only once a day. But you didn't. You allowed us to roam freely, tried to convince us to join Sennheiser, and even wanted to seize Annan's Doran inheritance." "Back then, I didn't realize things would get this big." Qinna poked his chest with a finger. "Can't I be scared now?" "Except you wouldn't be scared," Yaxiu said. "You're white mist creatures wallowing in dreams, drunkards living for the thrill of the moment, madmen seizing pleasure whenever you can. You aren't even afraid of becoming fertilizer for mermaid fish-mint; why would you fear some catastrophe in the distant future? "The reason the Six Emblems don't care about reality is because reality offers far too little stimulation compared to dreams. Rather than waste time managing reality, they would rather hand reality over to the clan and immerse themselves wholeheartedly in dreams. Conversely, if one can find a shred of amusement in reality comparable to dreams, no matter how dangerous it is, members of the Six Emblems wouldn't fear it in the slightest. "Actually, after leaving Fanmula, I occasionally wondered why your legendary necromancer ancestor established the white mist system in the first place," Yaxiu said. "He had no need for mermaid fish-mint, and to claim he did it out of care for his descendants would be a stretch... "Only after spending more time around Harvey did it finally click for me—aren't clansmen who have abandoned reality simply soldiers without fear of death? Isn't the family dreamscape of boundless imagination an ideal training ground? And the white mist that gives intense positive psychological feedback is practically the ultimate stimulant and morale tether. "The Mermaid Fish-Mint Farm we saw is actually just the Six Emblems' 'power-saving mode.' If the Six Emblems were to mobilize at full force, driving clansmen whose willpower and techniques have reached their peak onto the battlefield, then the moment they fall, they would become top-grade necromantic materials, ready to be immediately reanimated to keep fighting for the Six Emblems. "From the very beginning," Yaxiu said, looking at Qinna, "the Six Emblems have had their eyes on the Isu royal throne." "Setting aside the fact that those are completely groundless accusations," Qinna said, "even if they were true, that was our ancestor's idea. I am merely a young clan head living in an era of peace." "A young clan head"... Yaxiu spread his hands. "Fine. I don't have any other objective reasons to prove what you're really thinking, leaving only one subjective thought." "What thought?" "You and Annan are mother and daughter. To this day, Annan is deeply influenced by you, and many of her behaviors mirror yours," Yaxiu said. "Since Annan could relentlessly chase a perilous, illusory divine wish, I don't believe you are truly a conservative clan head content with simply guarding your family." "First of all, guarding the family is not synonymous with conservatism; even if there is ambition, it ultimately serves the family's future," Qinna said, fixing her eyes on him. "Second, you and I haven't interacted much. You claim Annan's behavior mirrors mine... which behaviors would those be?" Yaxiu breathed a sigh of relief. "So you plan to assist us?" "The Isu royal family has existed for far too long—long enough to be somewhat in the way," Qinna smiled. "We in Sennheiser also want to see the view from the pinnacle of Gospel. "Besides, a mere Fanmula simply cannot hold six crest families." Those casually spoken words fully exposed the elven clan head's wild ambitions. Having made her decision, Qinna would not hesitate. "How do you need me to help?" "We are currently bound by labor contracts and cannot leave the banquet hall," Yaxiu said. "I need you to find a way to get us out of our work status so that we have a chance to look for the high tower and abduct the princess." The two swiftly discussed several plans, but all were riddled with randomness and low success rates. Qinna pondered, "Though I am willing to help you sink Isu, I cannot risk exposure to the Isu royal family. The moment an unexpected mishap occurs or I judge the risk to be too high, I will halt all actions." "Completely reasonable," Yaxiu said. "Just do what you can, and I'll give it my all." After refining the details of the plan once more, Qinna suddenly asked, "Then what do you want?" Yaxiu paused. "Sennheiser wants a piece of the meat from the Isu royal family's whale fall, usurping the supreme throne amid troubled times; Annan wants to seize the divine wish... What about you?" "Because of the contract, I have to take part in this mission for Annan. It's not like I actively chose to chase a dream," Yaxiu shrugged. "Though if multiple wishes can be made and there's enough capacity, Annan will help grant mine." "If those were the only reasons, your eyes should show reluctance, fear, and unease," Qinna said. "Yet not only do you lack those negative emotions, but after getting caught by me, you were even able to calmly pull me over to your side." "Well..." Yaxiu coughed twice, looking somewhat sheepish. "I actually just felt that you wouldn't hurt me..." "Then your feeling was wrong. I want to hurt you very much." Qinna was blunt enough to be a little frightening. "And you're still dodging my question." Yaxiu fell silent for a moment. "I'm just a bit curious, that's all. Curious about what will happen without the First Gospel, curious about whether I can disrupt the future woven by Gospel." "Don't you feel weighed down?" Qinna asked. "Don't forget, even now, you remain the prime suspect behind the apocalyptic future. Perhaps it happens precisely because you assassinate the princess and invalidate the First Gospel." "If invalidating the First Gospel really ends up causing the end of the world, I'd certainly consider myself unlucky, but I would still do it, and without any regret," Yaxiu said. "Qinna, do you think I'm someone special?" "Yes." "...No, I don't think I'm special at all," Yaxiu said. "Even without Yaxiu, there would be Suoxiu, Renxiu, or Lexiu. If I weren't here, the culprit woven by Gospel might have been Igola, or Harvey, or even Banjie... "In the end, if a single person can bring down an entire kingdom, do you think it's the person's fault or the kingdom's?" Qinna nodded thoughtfully. "So you never feel you need to take responsibility for future disasters or the women you get tangled up with?" Yaxiu: "...At least for half of it, I don't." Qinna looked as curious as her daughter: "But what if the apocalyptic catastrophe truly happens because of you?" Yaxiu rolled his eyes at her. "Then I'll sip red wine while watching the world burn." Having concluded their discussion, the two opened the door and left the washroom. Yet the moment the door swung open, they saw a palace servant standing outside. Although the appearance was completely different, Qinna recognized her daughter at a glance. Though they had been discussing serious business the entire time, seeing her daughter made Qinna unable to resist teasing her. She lightly patted Yaxiu's shoulder. "Relax, I set up a silencing barrier earlier. Even as loud as it was, she wouldn't have heard a thing." "I wasn't worried to begin with..." "Back to work." Annan glared fiercely at Qinna, tugged Yaxiu by the sleeve, and walked away. Qinna returned to the hall to meet up with Nona. Nona asked quizzically, "Where were you just now?" "The washroom." "You were in there that long?" "Yaxiu Heath was in there too." Nona was taken aback. "Then... then that wasn't that long at all." If not for the crowd around them, Qinna would have smacked her backside to knock some sense into her.