Herta opening her eyes truly gave Bai Ming a fright.
After all, she had just finished a long, rambling monologue filled with things she wouldn't be caught dead saying if Herta were awake.
Yet, barely a moment after she'd finished, Herta's eyes snapped open. Lying there on the bed, she stared straight at Bai Ming, unblinking.
She didn't say a word.
Her gaze was so intense it felt as if she were planning to swallow Bai Ming whole, making the latter break into a cold sweat.
"You... you weren't asleep just now?"
Bai Ming frantically replayed her recent words in her head.
She'd called Herta a tsundere, said she was cuter when she was asleep, admitted to wanting to pinch her cheeks, mentioned being worried about Herta's feelings getting hurt...
Bai Ming's face went pale.
It was over!
If she just slid into a deep bow right now and grabbed Madam Herta's legs to beg for mercy, could she somehow extinguish the flames of her wrath?
She never would have imagined that the great Madam Herta would actually stoop to faking sleep just to bait her into talking.
How underhanded can you get!
Seeing Bai Ming's panicked expression, Herta actually felt a slight urge to tease her.
However, her scholar's intellect reclaimed the high ground; right now, she was far more interested in this business about merging Paths.
So, Herta ignored Bai Ming's frantic internal crisis and asked:
"You just said you can actually merge split Paths back together?"
"..."
Bai Ming, who had been bracing herself for a harsh scolding, blanked for a moment upon hearing the question.
But she quickly realized that Herta's curiosity had been piqued, which meant everything else had suddenly become irrelevant.
Perfect.
Knowing Madam Herta's attitude when she found something interesting, Bai Ming's heart finally settled. Once Herta entered her "research mode," she became a remarkably easy person to talk to.
Seizing the opportunity, Bai Ming nodded eagerly.
"Strictly speaking, I'm not entirely sure. It's just that HooH thought so, and they even hounded me for two straight months over it."
"So the Equilibrium manifested because of this..."
While one couldn't rule out history being tampered with by the Enigmata's History Fictionologists or the Cremators, at least according to existing records, Herta had never seen a case of the Aeon of Equilibrium personally intervening.
There were many incidents suspected to involve THEM, but usually, it was the Arbitrators who appeared. HooH themselves remained an utterly mysterious entity.
After all, an Aeon who has merged themselves directly with the universe to manipulate the world from the shadows rarely shows their face.
Yet, according to intelligence from the Xianzhou Alliance, the Equilibrium had manifested personally—or at least revealed THEIR form.
If HooH went that far just to stop Bai Ming from merging the three Paths, it proved one thing from a different angle:
The possibility that Bai Ming could actually merge Paths was likely real.
With that, Herta sat up in bed. Ignoring the fact that she was still in her pajamas, she looked at Bai Ming and asked with total seriousness:
"When do you plan to start?"
"Start what?"
"Merging the Paths."
"Didn't I say? HooH THEMSELVES showed up to stop me from doing it."
"But didn't you also say THEY couldn't beat you? Then what are you afraid of? Just get to work," Herta said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Her logic was so simple and blunt that it was practically unassailable.
Bai Ming, however, had no intention of provoking Yaoshi.
"The Abundance is still alive, and I don't plan on crossing them. At most, I'll only try to re-merge Propagation and Permanence. Besides, I have a feeling Nanook has eyes on Propagation too."
"Even if a part is missing, it's still a rare opportunity."
"Well... it's hard to say. I don't really have a lead yet."
Bai Ming was actually quite lost on how to go about the merger. Her analysis of the Paths was still missing that final 1%.
It didn't seem like much, but it was the difference between total mastery and... not.
It wasn't necessarily a bottomless chasm, but a gap was a gap. Bai Ming felt that merging Paths wouldn't be nearly as easy as Herta made it sound.
"Why? Haven't you already mastered Permanence?" Herta frowned.
"Well, it's like this. Paths are opened by Aeons, and the two are inextricably linked. At the deepest core of a Path, there is a portion that belongs exclusively to the Aeon..."
Bai Ming gave Herta a brief explanation of what she'd gathered while researching the Path equations.
Herta's frown deepened as she listened.
"So you're saying a Path is something that can never be fully mastered by anyone other than an Aeon?"
"And I think the part belonging to the Aeon's essence is likely an unsolvable problem," Bai Ming added.
"Look at how Harmony swallowed Order. It's been so many years, and the 'discordant noise' still hasn't been eliminated."
In Bai Ming's eyes, the most typical case study was Ena being absorbed by Xipe.
Even though Order had essentially surrendered itself to Harmony, Xipe had spent eons failing to smooth out the discordant notes.
To Bai Ming, this was probably because of that 2% representing the Aeon's body and soul.
Perhaps Xipe's three-faced aspect could be understood as the effort made to assimilate that final bit.
Order becoming one of the faces meant the part belonging to the Aeon's physical form had been decoded.
But as for that final 1%—the spirit and will unique to the Aeon...
The fact that Order still poses a risk of resurrection clearly shows that even the Harmony hasn't managed to completely swallow that last 1%.
If even a proper Aeon can't do it, Bai Ming felt it would be incredibly difficult for her to achieve a perfect merger. Even if they shared the same root, the Propagation had branched off and birthed a new Aeon.
That 1% had clearly been altered; the chances of it integrating perfectly were slim.
After hearing Bai Ming's analysis, Herta found it quite reasonable. Although it was based on speculation, the logic held up.
That makes things tricky, Herta thought, rubbing her smooth chin.
According to Bai Ming, since she couldn't perfectly control a Path, she had no idea how to use one to merge others.
"Then... what if you tore the concepts apart and swallowed them bit by bit?"
"Theoretically possible, but I have no clue how to 'tear concepts' either. I need more time to study the Paths."
Bai Ming hadn't possessed these vast powers for very long. There were many abilities and techniques unique to Aeons that she simply didn't know yet.
It wasn't like there was another Aeon around to teach her. That fellow Aha was the type to provide the power but offer zero guidance, leaving her to fend for herself after sharing their strength.
Hearing this, Herta pouted in annoyance.
But there was nothing to be done. Such problems were a bit too far out of reach even for her.
And so, having confirmed that no progress could be made for now—or even in the near future—and that they might have to rely on the natural reproduction of the Vidyadhara to wait for some vague, distant turning point, Herta suddenly flopped back down.
Flump. She grabbed her blanket and stuffed herself back inside.
"..."
Bai Ming watched helplessly as Herta retreated. Why did she just lie back down?
As if reading Bai Ming's mind, Herta let out a small "Hmph."
"Hmph. I was tired to begin with. If you hadn't been making such a fuss, I would've been asleep ages ago. Since you can't show me a demonstration right now, why shouldn't I sleep?"
Bai Ming felt she hadn't been "making a fuss" at all. In fact, to avoid waking Herta, she'd even used a bit of Harmony's power to tune the ambiance.
But seeing Madam Herta curled up in her blanket on the bed, Bai Ming opened her mouth, then decided to keep her complaints to herself.
Seeing Bai Ming stay silent, a satisfied smile played on Herta's lips, and she let out a yawn.
Watching this, Bai Ming somehow found it contagious. She let out a massive yawn of her own right in front of Herta.
To be honest, she hadn't felt it before, but seeing Herta all tucked in and cozy made Bai Ming feel exhausted.
Herta watched her yawn and suddenly realized that Bai Ming had spent the last two months dealing with the Equilibrium.
Even if she made it sound like she'd won easily, Herta knew that two months of constant engagement couldn't have been simple. Her nerves must have been frayed from being on edge for so long.
Now that she was finally back, she was bound to be drained.
Well, Herta was sleepy anyway.
So, she extended an invitation:
"Just sleep here for a while. You must be exhausted after being tangled up with the Equilibrium for two months."
"In... in here??"
Bai Ming's jaw dropped. She stared at Madam Herta in utter disbelief.
What did she just say? Let her stay here to rest?
In here?
In Madam Herta's bedroom? Resting together with her??
Herta, seeing this reaction, arched an eyebrow in surprise.
"What's wrong with 'here'? Don't tell me you're going to start whining at this point. Is it really that big of a deal?"
"..."
Bai Ming fell silent. Memories of their past flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
Wasn't Herta being a bit too direct?
While Bai Ming felt they were quite close, had their progress reached a point that could be summarized with "at this point"?
But looking at Herta's "say one more word and I'll kick you out" expression, Bai Ming did what she always did: shut her mouth and nodded.
Immediately after, the power of Permanence surged through her, transforming her clothes into a light, soft nightgown.
Then, right before a stunned Herta's eyes, she pulled back the covers—which were as soft as clouds—and lay down right next to her.
Herta, who hadn't expected such a literal response, stared at the Bai Ming who had just squeezed in beside her. She opened her mouth and forced out a strangled sound:
"You—how did you just... just lie down in here?!"
"...?"
Bai Ming rolled over to face Herta, looking at her wide-eyed, trembling pupils with genuine confusion.
"Didn't you tell me to rest here?"
"..."
Herta lost the ability to speak.
Was it possible that by "here," she had meant the entirety of Herta City? She always kept a private room reserved for Bai Ming in the city.
She didn't mean in her bedroom! On her bed! Sleeping right up against her!
But then again...
Herta took a careful look at the Bai Ming right in front of her.
Well, since she was this pretty, she supposed she could endure having her act as a bolster for the night.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL