Chapter 22: Star Venerable of Great Love

Monday afternoon, 2:45 PM.

Klein opened his pocket watch and glanced at it, confirming the current time. Taking advantage of the early hour, Klein pondered and determined his "email address" above the gray fog, so that members of the Tarot Club could reach him if they needed to in the future.

"The Cowardly God who does not belong to this era, the Lord of Poverty above the lavatory, the King of Reporting who wields sweet iced tea."

"Are you sure this is the honorific name for The Fool?" Xing asked, unable to believe it.

"Of course," Caelris replied with absolute certainty.

Clang, clang, clang.

Gornes climbed to the second floor and knocked on the railing, drawing the attention of the two.

"What's up?" Caelris looked at Gornes, puzzled.

"You two need to tone it down," Gornes said, covering his forehead. "People have been complaining lately that you two are always messing with the trash cans, driving the neighbors crazy. Can you stop playing with the trash cans? Huh?"

"Someone actually went to complain to you?" Xing could not believe what she was hearing; there were actually people who disliked trash cans.

"Yes, many people have come to me to report it."

Hearing this, Caelris fell silent. He looked at the trash can figurine he was toying with, closed his eyes tightly, and a line of clear tears slid from the corner of his eye. With deep reluctance, he said:

"Since there has been feedback, we cannot be headstrong any longer. In that case, let me be the villain."

As he spoke, Caelris took out a cicada. Its head and abdomen were brownish-yellow, and the surface had textures like the tree rings of an ancient trunk, as if it had witnessed the passage of time.

The Spring-Autumn Cicada!

"I will return to the past and never touch a trash can again. Oh, Spring-Autumn Cicada, accompany me through the long river of time once more." Caelris looked at the cicada in his hand, gritted his teeth, and made up his mind.

Xing stood up and slammed the table, roaring: "Stop! Caelris, what exactly are you doing! Without trash cans, how can we create abstract art?"

Suddenly, the Spring-Autumn Cicada chirped softly:

"It’s simple, I’ll just become a Venerable, won't I?"

Caelris: "?"

Xing: "?"

Gornes: "?"

After the chirp, it no longer concealed its aura, revealing it—the cultivation of the Ninth Rank. In an instant, the room fell silent again, everyone stunned.

The Spring-Autumn Cicada smiled faintly and chirped into the air:

"Zhi-liao, zhi-liao, zhi-liao, zhi-liao... zhi-liao, zhi-liao, zhi-liao, zhi-liao..."

Xing reached out and snatched the Spring-Autumn Cicada into her hand.

Looking at the cicada, Xing sneered coldly. Did it think it could become a Venerable without reciting a poem?

She exerted a gentle force in her hand. *Crack.* With a soft sound, she crushed the Spring-Autumn Cicada into fragments.

The Ninth Rank Spring-Autumn Cicada—destroyed!

"What!" Everyone was horrified. "How could you destroy the Spring-Autumn Cicada?"

Xing chuckled softly and took out an object. It was a palm-sized oval smiley face. It had a wide forehead, a square chin, and wore black-rimmed, full-frame glasses.

The Tenth Rank Net-Cleaning Gu!

The Spring-Autumn Cicada travels up the long river of time; only someone who has a "deceased spouse" who possesses the Net-Cleaning Gu can destroy it. And as it happened, Xing just happened to have a "spouse" who had "deceased" three times.

She stood sideways, extended her left hand with the palm facing down, and the Net-Cleaning Gu rotated beneath her palm, rising and falling with the slight movements of her arm.

Overlord!

Under the gaze of the other two, Xing casually tossed the Net-Cleaning Gu away. She walked to the window, hands behind her back. Standing with her back to the crowd, she spoke softly:

"I know clearly that every person's path is unique and cannot be replicated. I walk my own life's journey. Even if the wind and rain are fierce, enough to make my steps arduous; even if the thorns grow thick, leaving me covered in scars. I still laugh foolishly, savoring this flavor."

"Hahahaha," she laughed freely, "I believe that a lone little bucket will one day see buckets green on both banks, and bucket-birds chirping in unison."

The crushed Spring-Autumn Cicada, using its remaining head to muster its last breath, lamented: "The heroes of this world are truly like crucian carp crossing the river. Great Love Star Venerable, what a Great Love Star Venerable."

"Truly, the mortal world is full of colorful splendor," Caelris clapped in approval. "Brilliant, simply brilliant."

...

After finishing his frenzy, Caelris stretched comfortably and planned to return to his room to rest. Suddenly, he felt a pull.

He remembered it was Monday, transformed himself into a meme-form, and climbed up to the Sefirah Castle along the pull.

Above the gray fog, in the grand palace, the long bronze table looked mottled and ancient.

As Audrey Hall's figure just appeared, Klein, who had already activated his Spirit Vision, looked over. As expected, he saw the colors deep in her aura merge, becoming pure and serene, like a lake clearly reflecting the world.

She had indeed become a Beyonder... Klein was just about to look away when he suddenly noticed a change in the high-backed chair belonging to Miss Justice.

The brilliant stars on the back of the chair moved rapidly, forming an illusory constellation that did not belong to reality.

In Klein's eyes, this constellation was very familiar, as it was a symbolic icon in mysticism.

It was the symbol representing the "Dragon"!

Old Neil had taught him that dragons were experts in the field of the mind. Connecting this to what Mr. Devil mentioned at the last Tarot Club meeting—that the subsequent sequences of the Spectator pathway were "Reader of Minds" and "Psychiatrist"—Klein had a guess: most dragons were likely of the Spectator pathway.

Spectator... Dragon... Klein controlled himself from shaking his head and looked inquisitively at the high-backed chair of The Hanged Man.

Normally, from his angle, he wouldn't be able to see the back of the chair, but this was his home court; everything manifested according to his will.

The constellation on the back of the chair had not changed, but Klein, now initiated into mysticism, was no longer as ignorant as before; he recognized it as the symbol of the "Storm."

Sailor... Sea King's Kin... Storm... That made sense.

"The Hanged Man's aura is much purer in the depths... Has he advanced?"

What about Mr. Devil?

The image presented in Klein's eyes changed again, and the pattern behind Caelris came into view.

It wasn't any pattern he had learned, but he had indeed seen it before—on a flyer for the "End of the World" tavern.

It was a goblet, with a diamond-shaped star dotted above it, and a pair of wings that looked like patterns slightly closed behind the cup.

What did this mean? Klein didn't quite understand.

The Holy Grail? Or something else? Klein's thoughts wandered slightly.

By the way, what was the symbol behind my own seat?

For some reason, he could not see his own back directly like he could with the others.

Klein suppressed the urge to look back. As before, he tapped his fingers on the edge of the long table three times and said with a smile: "Congratulations, Miss Justice, you are now a Beyonder."

He could tell right away? Well, of course, he is the mysterious Mr. Fool. Audrey froze for a moment, then smiled lightly: "Thank you, thank you Mr. Fool, and thank you Mr. Hanged Man and Mr. Devil."

"Faster than I expected," Alger Wilson said candidly.

Caelris smiled without a word, merely waving his hand.

Klein did not continue the topic. He tapped his brow and said with a smile: "Ladies and gentlemen, have you found any of Roselle's diaries?"

Hearing Mr. Fool's question, Audrey did not answer immediately as she had before, but instead used her crystal-clear eyes to scrutinize "The Hanged Man" and "The Devil" in turn.

Caelris openly displayed his body language before Audrey, while Alger subconsciously restrained his own movements.

After a few seconds of silence, Alger said: "I have discovered two pages of Emperor Roselle's diary, and I have memorized their contents."

"I have one page," Audrey replied in a detached, bystander-like tone, her vision blocked by the gray fog.

"I have two pages of Roselle's diary here," Caelris said, having long prepared the "Roselle" diaries.

"Very good." Klein did not let his joy or disappointment color his voice.

He was happy that there were a full five pages, but disappointed that there were only five, as the first collection was relatively easy—a tapping into the potential of his own resources and channels. As time went on, it would become increasingly difficult and involve more complex factors.

"Shall we present them now?" Audrey asked calmly.

"Yes," Klein replied briefly.