The moment Wei Qing finished that outrageous declaration, all the color drained from Sunday's face.
His mind went blank.
An Emanator-level Harmony presence was one thing—power at that tier could only belong to someone at least in the Emanator bracket.
But "Xipe's emissary"?
That single, airy sentence landed like a hammer blow, smashing straight through Sunday's rationality.
Had everything the Family was doing—those hidden arrangements beneath the Charmony Festival's glitter—already been seen through by the Aeon of Harmony?
His lips parted, but his throat was so dry he couldn't form a sound.
The air in the lobby seemed to congeal. Even the staff member nearby stood frozen, face filled with terror and disbelief.
Xipe's emissary, descending upon Penacony?
To the Family—who built their entire existence on the faith of Harmony—that was no different from a god personally arriving at their doorstep.
Even Dan Heng was completely stunned. He stared at Wei Qing as if his worldview had been turned inside out.
Is this real?
This senior… is an emissary of an Aeon?
Wei Qing, meanwhile, simply watched Sunday in calm silence, waiting for his response.
And honestly, he wasn't exactly lying.
On the point of being "Xipe's emissary," he had absolute confidence.
Xipe might not personally know or care, but with the status of a Harmony pre-successor, slipping into the role of "emissary" for a moment didn't burden Wei Qing's conscience in the slightest.
"So," Wei Qing asked evenly, "is that identity weighty enough?"
Sunday's brain screamed through calculations, trying to claw back control from the shock.
That depthless resonance of Harmony was undeniable. It wasn't something a normal Pathstrider could produce.
And as for a Harmony Emanator…
Known Harmony Emanators were essentially Xipe's own incarnations—the Harmonious Choir itself.
So was he really an emissary?
Was he here because of Order?
Cold sweat soaked Sunday's back.
The Oak Family's plan to revive Order could not be exposed now—absolutely not—and they could not afford a direct confrontation with someone at this level.
True or false, they had to treat him with the highest possible protocol.
After a long, suffocating silence, Sunday forced the storm inside him down and pulled a humble smile over his face.
"So it is the honored emissary of Harmony. I was blind and negligent."
"The Family welcomes all who walk the way of Harmony—let alone an emissary of Lady Xipe."
"An invitation letter is no issue. I will immediately arrange the finest VIP suite and issue the most formal invitation."
He turned sharply to the staff member—who still looked half-dead with fear—and his tone snapped back into the authority of an Oak Family head.
"What are you standing there for?"
"Prepare the highest-tier suite at once. Open all permissions. Then, in my name, issue the Family's highest-grade private invitation to this honored emissary."
"Y-Yes, Mr. Sunday! I'll prepare it immediately!"
The staff member jolted awake and practically fled.
Only then did Wei Qing nod in satisfaction and fully withdraw that oppressive Harmony aura.
He lightly patted Dan Heng—who still looked dazed—on the shoulder.
"Dan Heng. You go into the dream and find your companions first."
"Mr. Sunday and I have a few things to discuss. I'll come find you later."
Dan Heng finally snapped back to himself and stared at Wei Qing with a complicated intensity.
Whatever this senior's plan was… Dan Heng was deeply worried about his teammates.
"…Understood, Senior."
"I'll go find Himeko and the others. If you need anything, contact me anytime."
With that, Dan Heng left under another staff member's guidance.
Once Dan Heng was gone, Wei Qing turned back to Sunday, wearing a smile that carried a sharp edge.
"Alright then, Mr. Sunday. Shall we find somewhere quiet and talk properly?"
Sunday nodded, his composure forced into place. "Of course. Please follow me, honored emissary."
They entered a private reception room. Sunday personally poured a specially mixed drink for Wei Qing.
After a moment of hesitation, Sunday finally asked carefully, "May I ask… why the honored emissary has come to Penacony? Do you have… instructions?"
Wei Qing didn't answer.
He didn't even look at Sunday.
Instead, his gaze shifted to the heavy velvet curtain at the side of the room, and he spoke in a calm, flat tone.
"You've been listening from the corner for quite a while. Not planning to come out?"
"Or is this the Family's idea of hospitality?"
Sunday's expression flickered—he instinctively wanted to deny it.
But before he could speak, ripples like water spread behind that velvet curtain.
A figure stepped out as if condensing from shadow itself.
A man in an elegant suit, cane in hand.
Sunday immediately rose and bowed deeply.
"…Dreammaster."
The man lifted a hand, signaling Sunday to stop with the formalities.
His gaze never left Wei Qing, and there was no attempt to hide the gravity in his eyes.
Unlike Sunday, who was desperate to stall and wasn't fully convinced this was truly Xipe's emissary—
Gopher Wood had far more experience.
And the Harmony Wei Qing displayed wasn't merely "Emanator-level" to him.
It felt like it exceeded even that.
"Apologies, honored emissary," Gopher Wood said.
"I am Gopher Wood, Dreammaster of Penacony."
"As one of the managers of Penacony's dreamscape, I had no intention of prying. I merely sensed an extraordinary Harmony manifestation and came to confirm what it was."
Wei Qing didn't stand. He simply studied the Dreammaster.
"So I made a bit of noise and pulled out the real decision-maker."
"Good. Saves me the trouble."
Gopher Wood sat opposite him on the sofa, voice measured.
"Your arrival honors Penacony."
"But may I ask your purpose? Is it that you find something… displeasing?"
The humility was polished, but the probing inside it was unmistakable.
After all—what the Dreammaster and Sunday had been nurturing on Penacony, particularly their experiments with Order and even Propagation, was borderline blasphemy against Harmony.
If Xipe had truly taken notice…
It would be annihilation.
"Harmony's thoughts," Wei Qing said languidly, "who can claim to fully understand them?"
"Maybe Xipe thought this Charmony Festival would be entertaining and sent me to watch."
"Or maybe…"
He paused, letting the silence sharpen, and his eyes swept over Dreammaster and Sunday.
"…maybe Xipe noticed discordant noise inside this dream and decided it needed to be cleaned up."
Gopher Wood's grip tightened slightly on his cane, though his smile remained intact.
"The Family will follow any guidance Harmony provides."
"But what 'noise' does the honored emissary mean, precisely?"
"Precisely?" Wei Qing chuckled, setting down his glass.
"For example… certain people trying to slip an Order note—long since buried—into Harmony's score?"
The room's temperature plunged.
"Honored emissary," Gopher Wood said smoothly, "you jest."
"Order's Ena has long fallen, and that Path was absorbed by Lady Xipe. The Family worships Harmony. How could we commit such heresy?"
"Is that so?" Wei Qing leaned forward slightly.
"Then why, the instant I stepped onto this land, did I hear something out of tune?"
"That wasn't pure Harmony."
"It was more like… a forced imitation of old rules. A fabricated Order."
He looked at both of them.
"Care to explain?"
Gopher Wood fell silent.
Sunday stepped in quickly, voice calm but carefully structured.
"Honored emissary—perhaps what you sensed is simply the dream's framework."
"To stabilize billions of visitors' dreams, a necessary rule-set is unavoidable. That is not rebellion against Harmony—it is service to Harmony."
"Besides, Order has already returned to Harmony. If you sense traces of Order, that is natural."
"Oh?" Wei Qing leaned back, unimpressed.
"I don't think so."
"In my perception, Penacony carries more than Order's noise."
"There's also Destruction—something that feels like a Stellaron."
He turned his eyes to the Dreammaster.
"What do you think, Dreammaster?"
Gopher Wood stayed silent.
The Stellaron was the Family's deepest secret—the bedrock of Penacony's dream… and its largest hazard.
"Your perception…" Gopher Wood finally spoke, voice lower.
"…is indeed sharp."
"The Stellaron exists to maintain Penacony's stability."
"Without it, this dreamscape would have collapsed long ago. Everything we do is for the Family's prosperity, for every guest's beautiful dream."
"I ask you to understand—and to keep this confidential."
Wei Qing didn't look moved.
"Stability?" He repeated, the mockery in his tone unhidden.
"Prosperity? Beautiful dreams?"
Then he stood, looking down at Gopher Wood.
"No. Your goal is to revive Order."
Gopher Wood's face darkened completely.
"Some words," he said coldly, "have consequences."
"Even if you are an Emanator, Penacony is not a place where you act without restraint."
"Oh?" Wei Qing smiled. "So you're done pretending?"
"I'll give you that—your ambition is impressive."
"But your strength…"
He tilted his head.
"…is lacking."
Gopher Wood's last trace of warmth vanished.
"Since you insist on tearing away the curtain," he said, "don't blame us for being discourteous."
The reception room warped violently, as if reality folded—plunging them into a deeper stratum of dream.
This was the Dreammaster's domain.
Here, he wrote the rules.
Sunday also stepped back, faint golden halos blooming around him—clearly preparing to assist, to keep this "intruder" here permanently.
Wei Qing only sighed, almost disappointed.
Then—
[The World]
Time locked.
In the frozen silence, Wei Qing walked casually up to Gopher Wood.
He lifted a finger and tapped the Dreammaster's forehead.
But this time, the glow on his fingertip wasn't Harmony.
It was the extreme chill of Nihility.
A nearly invisible pale-gray thread slipped through the Dreammaster's avatar and sank into his true consciousness.
Then Wei Qing turned to Sunday and tapped him as well.
Two taps.
That was all.
Time resumed.
Gopher Wood tried to invoke the dream's crushing rules—
But an indescribable emptiness and cold detonated inside his soul. He staggered, face bleaching white, eyes filled with pure disbelief.
Sunday's power destabilized too—the Harmony he had called on lost coherence, as if it had suddenly forgotten who was conducting.
The domain they'd built to kill Wei Qing collapsed like wet paper.
Wei Qing stood where he'd always been, calm as ever.
"I told you," he said flatly, "you're not strong enough."
Gopher Wood clutched his forehead, still feeling that biting Nihility.
Sunday struggled to stabilize his internal flow.
They exchanged a glance and saw the same thing in each other's eyes:
helplessness.
They didn't even understand what had happened.
"So," Wei Qing said, voice relaxed again, "shall we talk properly now?"
"About the noise inside Penacony… and that little plan of yours to revive Order."
Gopher Wood inhaled slowly.
"…What do you want?" he asked at last, choosing the bluntest line.
Wei Qing looked at the two of them, then—unexpectedly—laughed.
"Relax."
"My 'Xipe's emissary' line earlier?"
"That was a joke. I just wanted to see your reaction."
"A… joke?" Sunday froze. "What do you mean?"
Wei Qing shrugged. "I mean I wasn't sent by Xipe."
"And actually…"
He leaned back, casually, as if discussing the weather.
"…I'm very interested in your plan to revive Order."
The room sank into an even deeper silence.
Gopher Wood and Sunday were still processing shock from the earlier collapse, and now this reversal hit them like a second wave.
"Interested?" Gopher Wood repeated, voice tight.
"You accused us of blasphemy against Harmony, and now you say you're… interested?"
Wei Qing nodded.
"But first, let me correct something."
"When did I ever say I was Harmony's Emanator?"
He ignored Sunday's expression—which screamed you absolutely did—and continued.
"I only showed you Harmony's power, and you decided the conclusion on your own."
"In truth…"
Wei Qing smiled faintly.
"I am an Emanator of Order."
That sentence detonated in both of their minds.
Order's Emanator?
That was even more absurd than "Xipe's emissary."
Ena had fallen. Order had been absorbed. That was cosmic consensus.
A dead Aeon did not have Emanators.
"It's impossible!" Gopher Wood snapped. "Order's Ena has—"
"—fallen," Wei Qing finished smoothly. "I know."
"But that doesn't mean the Path's power vanished completely. Does it?"
"After all," he said, eyes sharpening, "aren't you trying to reignite the last ember yourselves?"
Gopher Wood fell silent, then asked in a lower, guarded voice:
"Then… prove it."
"Show us Order."
Wei Qing chuckled. "Proof?"
"Even if Ena fell, Order's imprint isn't so easily erased."
He raised his palm.
No overwhelming pressure, no blazing aura.
Yet the instant that presence descended, both Gopher Wood and Sunday felt the room—space, air, even their breathing—become regulated.
Everything smoothed.
Everything aligned.
It wasn't Harmony.
It was something colder, firmer.
Rule.
Constraint.
Order.
Gopher Wood's voice trembled. "This… this is Order's authority."
"And it's pure—there's no Harmony tint at all…"
Wei Qing closed his hand, and the sensation vanished as if it had never existed.
"Now," he asked, "do you believe me?"
Gopher Wood let out a long breath. His hostility was gone, replaced by wary awe.
"…To think Ena still has an Emanator alive…"
Sunday's gaze shifted too. If this was true, then Wei Qing wasn't an enemy of their plan—he was the highest possible ally.
"Honored emissary," Sunday bowed. "My earlier offense—please forgive it. Oak Family exists to restore Order's glory. To receive your guidance is our fortune."
Wei Qing waved him off.
"I've slept a long time. I only recently awakened."
"I sensed a faint Order resonance here, so I came to check."
"And I already know the general shape of your plan."
He paced slowly in the room.
"But it looks like something went wrong. Where is your Propagation piece?"
Gopher Wood and Sunday exchanged a glance. Gopher Wood answered:
"As you can see… the IPC came earlier."
"The Propagation preparation we had was taken from us."
Wei Qing paused.
The IPC moved early?
That didn't match the script he remembered.
"Who did it?" Wei Qing asked.
Gopher Wood's expression tightened. "…Dongfang Qihang."
Wei Qing's eyes narrowed.
Dongfang Qihang?
If he remembered correctly, that name belonged to one of IPC's top P49 figures.
If that person moved, then yes—Penacony wouldn't have had much choice.
Wei Qing continued, "And your plan now?"
Gopher Wood's voice grew heavier.
"We reselected a 'chosen one' to harmonize the voices for Order."
"But not long ago…"
He glanced at Sunday before continuing.
"…she died."
Then he added, "And Penacony has also been infiltrated by a Nihility Emanator."
"Her name is Acheron. She is a major threat to our plan to revive Order."
"Acheron…" Wei Qing echoed, feigning mild surprise. "A Nihility Emanator is indeed troublesome."
"But compared to her, I'm more interested in your 'chosen one.'"
Gopher Wood sighed. "Her name was Robin."
"Sunday's younger sister."
"She had a natural gift—she was the most suitable voice to sing Order back into being."
"But on the eve of the Charmony Festival, she met misfortune deep within the dream…"
Sunday's fist clenched, knuckles whitening.
Even now, he still couldn't accept it.
"Cause of death?" Wei Qing asked bluntly.
Both of them went quiet.
"Cause…" Sunday's voice was low, suppressed pain leaking through. "Unknown."
"We currently suspect there is a traitor within the Family."
Wei Qing nodded slowly.
"So your internal problems are just as serious."
He looked between them.
"And you still intend to continue?"
"With this many variables, forcing Order's revival has an almost negligible success rate."
Gopher Wood's eyes hardened.
"We have already paid too much. We cannot stop."
"If there is even a sliver of hope, we will proceed."
Wei Qing's expression stayed flat.
"Persistent."
"For Order's return," Gopher Wood said firmly, "any price is worth paying."
Wei Qing stopped pacing and faced them.
"Then I have a proposal."
Their attention snapped to him.
"You lost Robin."
"But you still have me."
"If you need a chosen one who can harmonize all voices and revive Order…"
Wei Qing smiled lightly.
"Wouldn't I be the most suitable candidate?"
Both Sunday and Gopher Wood froze.
"You… would take the role of 'chosen one'?" Gopher Wood whispered.
"Exactly." Wei Qing lifted his chin slightly.
"Why do you think I awakened now?"
"Why do you think I came to Penacony?"
"Ena may have fallen, but Order never truly died. It has been waiting for a fitting moment."
"And now the moment is here."
"Penacony is the perfect stage."
"With my guidance—and your preparations—Order will return."
He paused, smile sharpening.
"And in exchange…"
"I'll simply collect a little interest from Order."
Join here to read ahead.
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