Ruan Mei walked away, her distant, aloof silhouette slowly stopping. She half-turned and regarded Herta Ninety-Nine with an indifferent gaze.
"Secrets? What secrets?"
Seeing that she had piqued Ruan Mei's curiosity, Herta Ninety-Nine breathed a sigh of relief. Facing these puppets—now walking the Path of Destruction, glanced upon by Nanook—she had truly felt the fear of death.
"Madam Ruan Mei, please seal these fallen puppets first. Then we can talk about Madam Herta's so-called secrets. Alright?"
Herta frowned slightly. This Herta Ninety-Nine knows too much. I can't just observe the confrontation between puppets as a bystander this time.
Just as Ruan Mei raised her lute to unleash the cold plum blossom barrier, Herta raised her magic key and teleported all the shīkòng puppets—including Herta Ninety-Nine herself—back to Herta City, where they could continue their confrontation in familiar territory.
Ruan Mei turned, her calm face carrying a hint of questioning as she regarded Herta. It was a silent interrogation: What secrets did Herta Ninety-Nine have about you that made you send them all away?
Herta put away her magic key and met Ruan Mei's gaze with her usual confident expression. Then she replied unhurriedly, "Alright, alright. What secrets? Let the puppets handle their own affairs. Besides, with Herta #3156 receiving Nanook's gaze and walking the Path of Destruction, there is some research value in that. Keeping them in Herta City makes follow-up observation and experimentation easier. Don't you think so, Ruan Mei?"
Ruan Mei said nothing. Herta #3156's new form—emanating death, annihilation, and hatred for Herta Ninety-Nine—was indeed a fresh research subject.
"Herta, if one day you also walked the Path of Destruction, would you become like that?"
Herta paused, then smiled faintly. She stepped forward, closing the distance until Ruan Mei had nowhere to retreat at the edge of the Ruomu Pavilion, and asked softly, "If I walked the Path of Destruction, would I become like that? Hard to say. But I would definitely maintain my unparalleled beauty. At that time, would you still choose to walk the same path with me?"
Ruan Mei did not hesitate. She nodded gently. "Our future paths are destined to intertwine, inseparable."
Herta tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Ruan Mei's answer was excellent. It seemed that without Herta Ninety-Nine, Wisteria Cake, Tingyun, Lingsha, Asta—she could still reach this point easily.
She added, "Of course, I would never willingly walk the Path of Destruction. There are still many things and people in this world I want to protect. If one day a being of universal Destruction appears, even knowing it is like a moth to a flame, I would still raise my magic key—the key to magic's finality—and face it."
Ruan Mei said nothing. She stepped forward and embraced Herta, whispering softly in her ear, "You truly are the First Seat of the Fool's Club."
Herta paused, then bit her lip with a hint of defiance. "Then you must be the Second Seat of the Fool's Club, right?"