Zheng Qing walked over with a smile on her face.
When Li Changzhou and Li Qianxia looked over, they just caught her flipping over the barrier between the vehicle lane and the non-vehicle lane with neat and brisk movements.
After greeting, Zheng Qing said, "Congratulations!"
"You already know?" As soon as Li Changzhou spoke, Yang Qinglan nudged him with her elbow.
"I saw the live stream." Zheng Qing didn't notice Yang Qinglan's subtle gesture, "This event was already dangerous enough, I didn't expect a god to actually show up, really made me worried for you."
"Yeah, they can even travel through time, if these people can't beat us, they'll just return to the past and kill us when we were kids!" Li Qianxia exclaimed as if she had encountered people cheating in a game with no way to report them to the officials. You can imagine how infuriating that is.
The most annoying part is not being able to cheat myself!
Zheng Qing turned to glance at the scene of the car accident, then pressed a hand to her chest, her expression careful.
Li Changzhou and Li Qianxia's expressions became more serious, knowing what she was about to say.
Yang Qinglan's expression remained unchanged, ever calm, making it hard to believe she was the passionate girl who would take the initiative to kiss Li Changzhou.
"According to the intelligence and analysis from the Special Warfare Bureau," Zheng Qing's voice lowered, "neither the future nor the past can be changed."
"That's impossible, right?" Li Qianxia paused in surprise.
"The gods return to the past and move to the future only to gain a deeper understanding of history and the future, to understand what exactly happened at the time, and to discover some things that they themselves didn't know at the time."
"For example, the Sovereign of Wind and Light. Logically speaking, since he can travel through time, he could have come to this moment and learned from us whether he succeeded, but he didn't."
"Why not?" Li Qianxia asked.
"There are two opinions inside the Special Warfare Bureau." Zheng Qing spoke even softer.
Unable to help it, Li Qianxia glanced worriedly at the accident site, fearing that the players from the Special Warfare Bureau there might notice them here.
"The first suggests that it's simply a mistake on the part of the Sovereign of Wind and Light, that gods are just some very powerful players, not truly omnipotent and omniscient gods."
"Like how a player's Intelligence can't be increased?" Yang Qinglan said.
"Yes." Zheng Qing nodded.
"And the second?" Li Qianxia pressed.
"The second..." Zheng Qing hesitated, "Might be depressing to hear; are you sure you want to hear it?"
"Go ahead! Today, someone is too happy anyway, it'll help balance them out, won't it, Qing Lan?" Li Qianxia turned her head as if she was speaking to Yang Qinglan but actually flipped her ponytail onto Li Changzhou's face.
Li Changzhou, his face stinging from the flick of the ponytail, pondered whether she should cut her hair. If she let her ponytail down, it would reach her waist.
Zheng Qing looked at Yang Qinglan, who gave a slight nod.
"I've already said, neither the past nor the future can be changed," Zheng Qing stated, "Just like this incident."
She glanced at the car accident.
"If someone tries to return to today to change it, they may be hindered by various things, or they might find they've actually become a part of what caused the event."
"The second opinion believes that it's a decision made by some kind of will. Whether it's the past or the future, it's already been determined by this will. Even if gods want to change it, the will would continue to let things develop according to the original history— the history it wants,"
"So this will is the real God," Li Changzhou remarked.
"Why does it have to be God? Can't it be the Heavenly Dao of our Xia Country?" Li Qianxia protested.
"God originated from a word in Xia Country, first appearing in 'Chief of Staff' in 'Book of Yu · Canon of Shun'. During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the translators had difficulty determining the Chinese term for 'God', so they used the concept of '上帝'." Yang Qinglan explained.
"I see." Li Qianxia realized.
Li Changzhou wanted to express his fondness for Yang Qinglan's extensive knowledge, but now was not the time to discuss it, especially not with Zheng Qing present. If it were just the three of them, they would have the freedom to talk about anything.
"The analysts at the Special Warfare Bureau think this will is either the Value game or... that player."
"Who?" Li Qianxia asked instinctively.
"The ultimate winner of the Value game." Yang Qinglan and Li Changzhou said together.
Zheng Qing nodded.
"Right!" Li Qianxia suddenly tensed up, "If even gods can travel through time, why not that person, not necessarily a human, that player? As long as They can travel through time, who else could be Their adversary? Who could change a past They don't want to be changed?! They wouldn't allow it either!"
The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
She couldn't help but say, "Qing sister, did you say the second opinion is depressing because— no matter what we do, the future is already determined?"
"This is just speculation." Zheng Qing neither confirmed nor denied it.
"If someone knows they will die today, fifty years from now, wouldn't they be invincible for those fifty years, no matter what they do?" Li Changzhou pondered aloud.
"People with that kind of thinking would probably discover they'd already died during their first trip to the future."
"These are all ideas based on speculation; let's talk about it another time," said Yang Qinglan, still the same as before, she wouldn't waste time on something that was undeterminable.
Just like Li Changzhou's first entry into the Value game, she figured that known information could not increase his chances of survival, so she didn't tell him.
Li Changzhou also stopped dwelling on the question. Whether the past and future were manipulated or not, he still had to try hard. Moreover, he had just gotten a girlfriend and was filled with anticipation for the future.
He was also thinking about kissing her again that night...
His arm was gently nudged by Yang Qinglan, and Li Changzhou quickly reined in his wayward thoughts, restraining the smile on his face.