"How could this thing be in your hands? How did you manage to retrieve it?"
Upon seeing what was in Duan Chen's hand, Bai Ye cried out in disbelief, abandoning all pretense.
His expression was one of near breakdown, not solely due to the shocking actions of Duan Chen, but also because he felt his own strength rapidly collapsing, faster than a mine cave-in. He had no defenses whatsoever.
Duan Chen, looking at the object clutched between his fingers, wore a strange and inscrutable expression. He muttered to himself, "Is this the soul extraction that Wu Suowei told me about?"
"What soul extraction? What are you talking about?"
Bai Ye felt he was going mad. The object Duan Chen held was a black chess piece, radiating an inscrutable power. This black piece continuously emitted a corrupting aura and an endless allure. Merely looking at it, Bai Ye felt a sense of familiarity and desire. How could he not feel familiar with it? He had clearly seen where this black piece was taken from. It had been inside his own body. Duan Chen, using some unknown method, had extended two fingers forward, as if plucking something from thin air, and directly retrieved the black piece between his fingertips.
Bai Ye hadn't even seen Duan Chen's movements clearly; his vision had simply blurred. But how was this possible? This was his proof of identity, the source of his power, and the method by which the Evil God controlled him. It was something that no one could extract except the master who had placed it within his body. Yet, here it was, in Duan Chen's hand, radiating a soul-stirring glow.
Duan Chen chuckled. "I didn't expect it to be so easy. After all, this is my first time doing something like this. I didn't think it would go so smoothly."
Bai Ye's face fell. He suddenly realized something. Pointing at Duan Chen, he asked, "What do you mean by that? Don't tell me you're treating me as an experiment." His fingers trembled.
Duan Chen smiled faintly, not answering. Instead, he changed the subject. "Is this thing your concern? But now that it's been retrieved, are you still sure you want to maintain your original stance?"
These two questions left Bai Ye speechless. He fell silent, looking at the black piece Duan Chen had extracted. A bitter smile played on his lips. He shook his head. "Even if I don't want to, there's nothing I can do about staying in my current faction." He looked at Duan Chen seriously. "My abilities were bestowed upon me by the black piece. Once I lose the black piece, I can no longer use my powers." Even if he had talent, what good was it without the means?
Upon hearing this, Duan Chen pondered for a moment before laughing. "You've gotten one thing wrong."
"What?"
"It's not that the black piece bestowed your abilities upon you, but rather the chess piece itself. As long as you possess the chess piece, the abilities remain."
Bai Ye was at a loss for words, staring at Duan Chen. Didn't he know? But then, a spark of realization flashed in his mind. "Are you implying…?" Bai Ye looked at Duan Chen with surprised eyes, his conjectures swirling within him. He suspected Duan Chen possessed the white chess piece. But how was that possible?
Meeting Bai Ye's expectant yet disbelieving gaze, Duan Chen slowly nodded. "That's right. I possess the white chess piece." He didn't hide it. "So, are you willing to accept it?"
Willing to accept it? Bai Ye looked at Duan Chen with a helpless, bitter smile. "Do I have the right to refuse?"
"No." Duan Chen laughed. He reached into his robes and pulled out a palm-sized vial, then carefully placed the black chess piece he was holding into it. With a flick of his finger, a white chess piece appeared between his fingers. This white piece also held a great allure for Bai Ye.
"I have taken your black chess piece, and now I will give you the white chess piece I possess." Looking at these two chess pieces, a complex emotion flickered in Duan Chen's eyes. These two pieces had been extracted from the bodies of his two good brothers, both of whom were Wu Suowei's white pieces. Duan Chen had wondered why his good brothers had become white pieces, but he also knew that asking would yield no answers. Therefore, some things didn't need to be asked, just like the guidance and support he had received from Gao Tiankai and Old Zhang over the years.
In the Temple.
The Silhouette Monster was furious. His expression had changed drastically. Although he was now just a small black figure, incapable of showing facial expressions, his volatile emotions could be felt emanating from him. "How could you possibly know? No, more accurately, how could you allow him to remove the anchor I placed?" He roared in anger, questioning Wu Suowei, who stood before him.
Wu Suowei smiled calmly. "This is merely the beginning."
"Do you know what this is?" He waved his hand in the air, and dozens of cards suddenly appeared beside him. The Silhouette Monster, forcing himself to calm down, looked at the cards that materialized next to Wu Suowei.
"Tarot cards?" He wasn't ignorant of such things.
Wu Suowei raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You actually know?"
The Silhouette Monster growled, "I'm not so ignorant as to not know these!"
Wu Suowei shrugged. "Whether you know or not makes little difference." He leisurely sat down beside the chess game he was playing against the Silhouette Monster. He reached out and flipped the board to its back, then placed the Tarot cards he had materialized onto it. He looked at the Silhouette Monster opposite him with a raised eyebrow. "Since you know about Tarot cards, you should also know the name of the first card: The Fool. The Fool signifies the beginning of things."
"I bestowed my divine authority upon The Fool, granting him divine power."
"However, The Fool has weak willpower, finds it difficult to start, and is extremely susceptible to deception. He easily heads in the wrong direction." Wu Suowei watched the Silhouette Monster's increasingly grim expression, his own mood improving.
"That is why I bestowed these two cards."
"The Hanged Man, The Tower."
"The Tower's power stabilizes The Fool's willpower, and The Hanged Man sacrifices himself to help The Fool find the true path."
"And I also bestowed The Swords."
"The Swords grant The Fool extraordinary power."
"Now, guess which card I'll reveal next?"