Chapter 940: 【Steal】

The candlelight flickered in the dimness.

Chen Ling finished reading the text on the paper bit by bit, corresponding it with everything in his memory. After confirming there wasn't a single error, he folded it back up and tucked it into the lining of his theatrical robe.

Only after doing all this did Chen Ling feel at ease. The bright red theatrical robe lay on the soft bed, his eyes fixed on the dim ceiling above the bed, a faint glimmer in his pupils...

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

I don't know how much time passed.

Outside the window shrouded in dark clouds, a trace of eerie light, as if possessing life, slowly seeped into the mind of the sleeping Chen Ling.

……

The massive second hand on the ancient clock tower moved slowly.

Behind the rotating hour hand was a huge circular glass window. A figure in hemp clothes lit the kerosene lamp beside him. The flickering glow illuminated his cheeks; it was Ying Fu.

He seemed to have noticed something, his gaze passing through the rotating hour hand to look toward the direction of the church in the darkness...

Ying Fu didn't live in the church but had temporarily settled in the clock tower a few streets away. This place was far enough from the church that even the Silver King couldn't pry often; but this clock tower was high enough that, through the gaps in the clock at the top, one could look out at the church from afar...

Behind Ying Fu, A-Qian was already lying on a simple folding bed, breathing evenly, as if she had already entered dreamland.

In the dimness, Ying Fu watched the church for a long time, then turned and walked toward the stairs of the clock tower.

"Your Majesty, are you going out now?"

Beside the stair railing, a figure respectfully took the kerosene lamp from Ying Fu’s hand. The orange light illuminated his face; Mo Lian’s cheeks lifted from the shadows.

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

Ying Fu went down the stairs, Mo Lian followed closely with the kerosene lamp, and the two figures moved through the ancient clock tower, finally arriving on the silent street.

Only then did Ying Fu speak lightly:

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

"Basically, it’s all back." Mo Lian leaned on his cane and explained patiently,

"Bai Ye’s 【Borrowing the Moon】, although capable of stealing memories, is after all just 'borrowing.' When I am far enough away from him for long enough, the memories gradually return... At the Seventh Rank, he still can't indefinitely detain all my memories."

"Oh?" Ying Fu glanced at him.

"When I tested you in the palace examination, your memory hadn't returned yet. If we were to delve into it, I took advantage of you then, taking advantage of your vulnerability... Now that your memory has returned, are you still willing to follow me?"

Before Mo Lian could speak, Ying Fu added:

"If you are unwilling, don't force it. I can dissolve the palace examination at any time and set you free... In this Wuji Domain, I can explore it alone."

"Your Majesty is joking." Mo Lian said solemnly. "The future you promised me is exactly what I want, something I could never get no matter how long I stayed under the Silver King... Besides, the Silver King never cared about me anyway, throwing me away like trash. Why would I go back?"

"Although you are currently alone and weak, I believe that one day you will soar into the sky. I am willing to gamble on this."

Ying Fu looked at Mo Lian again and nodded slightly.

"The palace examination is a contract. Since I promised you a future, I will definitely fulfill it; otherwise, I will also be doomed... You can rest assured about this."

"I believe in Your Majesty."

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

Ying Fu finally got to the point.

Mo Lian pondered for a moment and said truthfully, "He is very mysterious and seems to have lived for a long time. Even among us Saints of Thieves, there isn't much known about him... Rumor has it that when the Silver King ascended to become a demigod, he stole the Thief God Path."

"The leader of the Thief God Path stole the Thief God Path?"

"Exactly... The moment he became a god, he took the Divine Path as his own. Not only did he steal the abilities of all other Thief God Path 【Paths】, but he also stole the 'Eighth Rank' of the Thief God Path... So, since the day he became a god, there has been no 'Eighth Rank' in the Thief God Path. No matter how talented the subsequent possessors of the Thief God Path are, they can only be stuck at the 'Seventh Rank' at most."

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

"Since he became a god, there has indeed never been an Eighth-Rank Thief God Path in the world... In fact, among the five Saints of Thieves, many were capable of reaching the Eighth Rank, and even had the possibility of becoming demigods, but now, the path has been cut off by the Silver King. He decides who can ascend to the Eighth Rank, using this as bait to make other Thief God Paths work for him."

"It is precisely because of this that several Saints of Thieves actually harbor resentment toward the Silver King, but having stayed by his side for years, all their resentment has been stolen away."

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

The Silver King doing this was nothing more than wanting to monopolize the demigod position of the Thief God Path while controlling the entire Thief God Path. Facts proved he had indeed succeeded. The Fire Tamperers were the only organization in the world built on a certain Divine Path, and unlike the Twilight Society, which was scattered, all power converged toward the Silver King, even taking on a religious nature.

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

"It’s the Eighth-Rank ability of the 【Borrowing the Moon】 path. He can steal the memories of multiple people at the same time and scramble or swap them... But I don't know the specifics of how he operates it; I’m not on this path."

Ying Fu was lost in thought.

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

"Why would I destroy it?" Ying Fu said calmly. "The stronger the Silver King’s power, the more chaotic this world will be. Only when the existing rules are broken can I have a chance... My goal is indeed the same as the Silver King’s right now, and it is precisely because he knows this that he doesn't restrict my actions, nor does he steal my thoughts..."

"Otherwise, I would be like Chen Ling right now, becoming a tool to be imprisoned."

Mo Lian nodded in sudden realization.

"Then are we going to..."

"For now, we don't need to do anything." Ying Fu walked to a deserted park and sat slowly on a bench, like a passerby taking a casual walk, resting on the street in the middle of the night.

Mo Lian waited by his side, the light of the kerosene lamp shining as brightly as a star in the dark night.

"Nothing to do?" Mo Lian asked in confusion. "You ran out in the middle of the night just to enjoy the cool air? It’s not even hot in the Wuji Domain."

"I am the 【Emperor】." Ying Fu’s gaze swept over the silent, dark city area around him, and he said slowly,

"As long as I am here, the Divine Path destined for me will approach me under the push of fate, just like you... What I need to do now is wait for the right moment to arrive."