I Am Not the God of Drama

[Thief]

The candle flame flickered in the gloom.

Chen Ling read the text on the paper page bit by bit, matching it with everything in his memory. After confirming that there wasn't a single error, he folded it back up and stuffed it back into the inner lining of the Theatrical Robe.

Only after doing all this did Chen Ling feel at ease. The Great Crimson Theatrical Robe lay on the soft bed. His eyes gazed at the dim ceiling above the head of the bed, a faint light flickering in his eyes...

A moment later, he slowly closed his eyes...

Not knowing how much time had passed,

Outside the window shrouded in dark clouds, a bizarre glimmer of light, as if possessing a life of its own, slowly permeated into the mind of the sleeping Chen Ling.

...

A massive second hand slowly wandered across the ancient Clock Tower.

Behind the rotating hour hand was a giant circular glass window. A figure dressed in linen clothes lit the Kerosene Lamp next to him. The flickering faint light illuminated his cheeks. It was Ying Fu.

As if noticing something, his gaze looked through the rotating hour hand toward the direction of the church in the darkness...

Ying Fu wasn't staying in the church, but had temporarily settled in a Clock Tower several streets away from the church. This place was far enough from the church, so far that even the Silver King couldn't frequently pry; but this Clock Tower was also high enough, allowing him to gaze at the church from afar through the gaps in the clock at the top...

Behind Ying Fu, A-Qian was already lying on a simple folding bed, breathing evenly, seeming to have entered dreamland.

In the gloom, Ying Fu gazed at the church for a long time, then turned and walked towards the stairs of the Clock Tower.

"Your Majesty, are you going out now?"

Beside the stair handrail, a figure respectfully took the Kerosene Lamp from Ying Fu's hand. The orange light illuminated his face; Mo Lian's cheeks raised from the shadows.

Ying Fu nodded silently, as if afraid of waking the sleeping A-Qian.

Ying Fu went down the stairs, and Mo Lian followed closely holding the Kerosene Lamp. The two figures shuttled through the ancient Clock Tower and finally arrived on the silent street.

Only then did Ying Fu speak faintly:

"Mo Lian, how much of your memory has recovered?"

"Basically almost all of it." Leaning on his Cane, Mo Lian patiently explained,

"Although Bai Ye's [Borrowing the Moon] can steal memories, it's only 'borrowing' after all. When I'm far enough away from him and enough time has passed, the memories will gradually return... At Rank 7, he can't unconditionally detain all my memories indefinitely."

"Oh?" Ying Fu glanced at him,

"When We subjected you to the Palace Examination, your memory had not yet returned. To look into it deeply, We took an opportunistic advantage of your peril at that time... Now that your memory has returned, are you still willing to follow Us?"

Before Mo Lian could speak, Ying Fu spoke again:

"If you are unwilling, do not force yourself. We can cancel the Palace Examination at any time and grant you freedom... Even alone, We can explore this Wuji Domain."

"Your Majesty jests." Mo Lian spoke solemnly. "The future Your Majesty promised me is exactly what I want, something I could never obtain no matter how long I stayed under the Silver King... Moreover, the Silver King never cared about me in the first place, throwing me away like trash. Why would I go back?

Although Your Majesty is currently weak in power, I believe that one day you will soar to the heavens. I am willing to gamble this once."

Ying Fu looked at Mo Lian again and nodded slightly.

"The Palace Examination is intrinsically a contract. Since We promised you a future, We will definitely achieve it. Otherwise, We will also fall Beyond Redemption... You can be completely assured of this."

"I believe in Your Majesty."

"How much do you know about the Silver King?"

Ying Fu finally got straight to the point.

Mo Lian pondered for a moment and spoke truthfully, "He is very mysterious and seems to have lived for a long time. Even we few Thief Saints don't know much about him... According to rumors, when the Silver King ascended to Demigod, he stole the Path of the Thief."

"A Pathway Chief of the Path of the Thief, stealing the Path of the Thief?"

"Correct... The moment he became a god, he claimed the Divine Pathway for himself. He not only stole the abilities of all other [Paths] within the Path of the Thief, but he also stole the 'Rank 8' of the Path of the Thief... So since the day he became a god, the Path of the Thief no longer has a 'Rank 8'. No matter how talented a Divine Path Possessor of the Path of the Thief appears later, they can only be stuck at 'Rank 7' at most."

Speaking of this, a flash of displeasure crossed Mo Lian's eyes,

"Since he became a god, there indeed hasn't been another Rank 8 Path of the Thief in the world... In fact, among the five Great Thief Saints, many are capable enough to step into Rank 8, and even have the possibility of becoming a Demigod. But now, the path has been cut off by the Silver King. Whoever he wants to ascend to Rank 8, that person will ascend to Rank 8. He uses this as bait to make other Path of the Thief practitioners work for him.

It is exactly because of this that actually several Thief Saints harbor resentment towards the Silver King. It's just that staying by the Silver King's side year-round, all resentment has been stolen away."

Ying Fu snorted coldly, a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes.

The Silver King doing this was nothing more than wanting to monopolize the position of the Demigod of the Path of the Thief, and simultaneously control the entire Path of the Thief. Facts proved that he had indeed achieved this. The Fire-Stealers was the only organization in the world established based on a certain Divine Pathway, and unlike the Dusk Society where power was dispersed, all authority converged on the Silver King, even exhibiting a religious nature.

"Then how does he control those Adjudicators?" Ying Fu asked the second key question.

"It's the Rank 8 ability of the [Borrowing the Moon] Path. He can simultaneously steal the memories of multiple people, scramble them, and swap them... But as for the specific operation, I'm not too clear either. I'm not of this Path."

Ying Fu was thoughtful.

"Your Majesty... do you want to destroy the Wuji Domain?" Seeing Ying Fu interested in this, Mo Lian hesitated for a long time before asking tentatively.

"Why would We want to destroy it?" Ying Fu spoke calmly. "The stronger the Silver King's forces are, the more chaotic this world will become. Only when the existing rules are broken can We have an opportunity... Right now, Our goal and the Silver King's are indeed the same. It is precisely because he knows this that he doesn't restrict Our actions, nor does he steal Our thoughts...

Otherwise, We should be like Chen Ling right now, becoming an imprisoned tool."

Mo Lian nodded in sudden realization.

"Then where are we going now..."

"Right now, we don't need to do anything." Ying Fu walked to a deserted park and slowly sat down on a bench, like a passerby taking a casual stroll, resting on the street late at night.

Mo Lian waited beside him. In the dark night, the light of the Kerosene Lamp was as bright and conspicuous as a star.

"Don't need to do anything?" Mo Lian asked doubtfully. "You ran out in the middle of the night just to enjoy the cool air? The Wuji Domain isn't hot either."

"We are the [Emperor]." Ying Fu's gaze swept over the dead silent, dark urban area around them, and he said slowly,

"As long as We are here, the Divine Pathways fated with Us will be pushed by destiny to approach Us, just like you... Right now, what We need to do is wait for the opportunity to arrive."