Before Scholar Xu was executed, he requested to speak with Chen Wei one final time.
Chen Wei debated refusing—32% probability of psychological manipulation, 18% probability of useful information, 50% probability of philosophical provocation without substance.
Curiosity won. Or perhaps the Scripture's desire for more data points.
Xu sat in his cell, still smiling that knowing smile. "You came. Good. I have a gift for you."
"This disciple requires no gifts from Society members."
"Not from the Society. From me, personally, to you. Because unlike my colleagues, I don't see you as a threat to be eliminated. I see you as a fascinating experiment."
Chen Wei waited silently.
"The Fate Severance Manual—the second fragment—is hidden in the Forbidden Archive beneath the Imperial Library in Heavenly Capital. Access requires either imperial permission or..." Xu paused dramatically, "solving the Riddle of Broken Causality carved into the archive's entrance."
"Why tell this disciple?"
"Because I'm curious whether you'll find balance or become catastrophe. The Society is convinced you're the latter. But I've studied the original texts. The Ancestor of Ten Thousand Paths wasn't a monster until the world made him one. He sought understanding and was rewarded with persecution."
Xu leaned forward. "I've spent three thousand years of accumulated knowledge trying to stop the Heaven's Calculation Scripture. You know what I've learned? The technique itself isn't evil. It's just supremely dangerous to everyone, including its user. Like giving a child the ability to rewrite physics."
"Then why help this disciple access more fragments?"
"Because maybe—just maybe—someone who starts from a place of brokenness will use ultimate power differently than someone who starts from privilege. You were crippled, humiliated, forced to watch your potential die. You understand loss in ways the Ancestor never did."
Xu's smile turned genuine. "Prove me right, Chen Wei. Become something the world has never seen: a calculator with a heart. Or prove me wrong and become the calamity we fear. Either way, it will be magnificent to witness."
"This disciple will not see you again."
"No," Xu agreed. "My execution is scheduled for dawn. But Chen Wei—one more thing. The Society's prophecy about you isn't entirely wrong. There is a threshold in the Heaven's Calculation Scripture's advancement. At the seventh stage, you'll face a choice that will define everything."
"What choice?"
"I don't know. The original texts were fragmentary. But the Ancestor faced it and chose wrong. Remember that when your time comes."
Chen Wei left without responding. Behind him, Scholar Xu's laughter echoed through the prison, neither cruel nor kind, just endlessly amused by cosmic irony.