I'm playing Honkai Impact 3

Page 996

Tirispius's worldview, built upon books, was severely shaken, and it took her quite some time to recover.

It took her a long time to suppress the shock that swept over her like a tsunami.

"You...you came to see me because you have some important revelation?"

To be honest, even if Oronis himself admitted it, she still found it absurd and unbelievable.

That's impossible.

What happened?

This isn't Titan!

Moreover, Oronis's response was somewhat roundabout.

'My mother's partner.'

Isn't this just like a father?

Surely Titan can't have a stepfather, right?

"Well, it's nothing really."

Qiong sat cross-legged on a futon scattered with candy wrappers and notebook drafts.

He casually picked up an ancient prophecy scroll that was half-covered beside him and glanced at it with great interest.

"I heard from Oronis that you're quite familiar with her. This girl's personality is a bit... well, special. It's not easy for her to make friends. As her father, I heard that she finally has a friend she can talk to, so I thought I'd come over for a visit and see what's going on."

The way the old father addressed the daughter's friend sent chills down Tirispyos's spine.

What... what kind of development is this?

Tirispeius: "..."

Those prophetic scrolls were theoretically temple secrets, and outsiders were not allowed to view or record them.

But Qiong...

The mysterious, unknown entity who is suspected to be Oronis's father is obviously not included.

"You usually live here?"

As a seasoned masked fool, Qiong is an expert in verbal persuasion and talk therapy.

Before getting to the main topic, it's essential to use seemingly casual, everyday conversation to build rapport and ease the other person's tension.

"Yes."

Although somewhat taken aback by the unexpected visit from the Titan Father, Tirispius, now the most outstanding saint of the Triads, quickly regained her usual gentle voice.

"This is the place?"

The dome surrounds the room.

The overall space is not small, covering an area of ​​several hundred square meters.

The towering bookshelves, reaching to the ceiling, filled every inch of the room's walls, making the space feel cramped.

Tens of thousands of books, scrolls, and parchments are stacked on top, exuding a unique aroma of old ink mixed with the dust of time.

The space left for people to move around is at most a few dozen square meters.

"Have you always been here? How long have you lived here?"

Tirispius was slightly taken aback.

Judging from Qiong's appearance, it seems she really came here to chat casually.

For her, this kind of purely everyday chat was an extremely novel experience.

On ordinary days, apart from the formulaic exchanges when fulfilling her duties as a saintess, the only people she can talk to are those unresponsive dolls.

“I have lived here since I was born, for twenty years.”

As she spoke, Tirispyos seemed to realize something, and she looked around with a troubled expression:

"Ah, I'm sorry, but aside from helping people seek divine pronouncements and listening to the Titans' guidance and advice, I've never been allowed to leave this place..."

"I have nothing to offer you."

"Never left this room before!?"

March 7, who had been in a ghostly state, curiously poking at a blue crystal, suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with astonishment.

"You're under house arrest?"

Qiong stated her current situation very directly.

He was not surprised by this.

It was surprising that Tirispius could maintain such a healthy mental state after being under house arrest for so long.

"You should know what I mean, right?"

Tirispius gave a faint, bitter smile:

"When I was born, the title of saint was already dead in name only."

"Those who can heed the guidance of the Titans are destined to become the mouthpiece of others."

"However, in order to maintain a semblance of dignity, the people in power still made some arrangements here, and with my mother by my side, my childhood was not too sad."

Because of a mother's warm embrace and gentle words, even the smallest space can become a paradise.

"Even so... I still can't imagine how I'd go crazy if I were stuck in such a small place for a week!"

Only Qiong could hear March 7th's head-shaking and complaining.

"Even in the luxurious Golden Supreme carriage, it won't work!"

When did your mother leave?

Qiong habitually tried to take out some snacks from her spatial ring as a snack, but her fingers were empty.

Forget that you are now just a spiritual being.

"It's been ten years since my mother left."

I think it was because I recalled those heavy memories this morning.

At this moment, Tirispius mentioned this matter in a calm tone, expressing disappointment but not sadness.

"ten years!?"

On March 7th, he jumped to the side of the red-haired beauty.

"So, you've been living here alone since you were ten years old?"

Unfortunately, Tirispyos couldn't hear her, and Qiong repeated her words just before March 7th showed a disappointed expression.

"Ah."

Tirispius nodded slightly.

"What about the murderer who killed your mother?"

Qiong's abrupt words made March 7 blink.

"A-Qiong, what are you talking about? Didn't Mortes fall off a cliff and die in an accident?"

"Would you let Xing's prank disturb Kiana who's drawing cards for you?"

Qiong asked.

"Of course not..."

On March 7th, she instinctively retorted, but stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence, realizing what she had said:

"Oh~ you mean?"

"Hmm? Who are you talking to?"

Upon seeing Sora talking to herself for the second time, Tirispyos couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering her.

"It's a ghost~"

Qiong deliberately lowered her voice and spoke in a sinister tone, while also making a fleeting gesture.

"You're the ghost!"

Unsurprisingly, this earned him a few playful punches from March 7th.

"Can you see the soul of the dead?"

Tirispyos showed surprise, but when she thought of Qiong's mysterious identity, she felt that it made some sense, after all, it was related to the Titans.

"However... it is not a good thing for the dead to linger in the mortal world for a long time. The deceased should return to the underworld to rest."

"There's a underworld here?"

Qiong looked surprised.

"That is the realm ruled by Cenathos, the Titan of Death... Don't you know?"

Tirispius was even more surprised.

"I know, I know, I've just never been. I'm planning to go check it out sometime when I have time."

Qiong's cheerful tone was like that of someone taking photos at a tourist attraction, which made Tirispius's expression subtle.

He had heard of the names and powers of the twelve Titans from Oronis, but he never imagined that the Death Titans actually had an underworld.

Does this world really have reincarnation?

"Well, let's continue talking about your mother."

Qiong coughed lightly, bringing the topic back on track.

Tirispyos paused for two seconds before speaking:

"I already know who killed my mother."

"It was all orchestrated by Damnatio, a politician in the Senate."

Damnatio's faction first transferred priests and officials who were on good terms with the mother away from the temple, and then restricted the mother's contact with commoners.

They weakened the mother's influence as a saint and ultimately sabotaged the Chengze ceremony, causing the mother to fall off a cliff.

Even after knowing the culprit, Tirispius was powerless to do anything.

The saintess has been completely sidelined and has become a tool in the hands of politicians.

She herself is in a precarious situation.

"Damnatio, didn't he make a move against you?"

Qiong asked.

How could such a ruthless political animal leave any hidden dangers?

“It was my mother’s friend, Uncle Cordex, who saved me.”

This is help between friends, and it's also a transaction.

Mortes relinquished the authority to deliver the oracle of the Holy Spirit to the altar priest Cordex.

In exchange, the acolyte would look after Tyrisippius after Mortes' death.

When Damnatio's faction was preparing to kill Tirisippius, Cordex stepped forward.

He persuaded the other party by arguing that "cultivating ready-made saintesses is time-saving and labor-saving."

At that time, Tirispeius was still young and powerless. As long as she was confined, the power of communication could still be firmly held in the hands of Damnatio's faction.

Thus, Tirispius survived.

"Those guys are outrageous! They're absolutely wicked!"

March 7th was indignant and sullen.

But having gone through several pioneering expeditions, she had seen this kind of thing many times before.

At this point, the complete picture of the deeds of the saintess Mortes, who brought the oracle of creation, had formed in Qiong's mind.

"So, what do you think of the oracle your mother left behind before she left?"

Qiong put down the thick geography book in her hand and placed her palms on her cross-legged knees.