Compared to risking everything on a journey to the Real Universe to salvage [War]'s Authority, Cheng Shi naturally preferred rummaging through the safe waters of Mockery and Jeering for the Nose of Verification — assembling the mask, pushing open [mory]'s door, and gambling on whether [Folly]'s Authority was hidden there.
So he began drifting through the tides of [Existence] that flowed in the depths of the Void, hoping to use resonance from the mask's other fragnts to locate the missing Nose.
But the Fool's Lips went utterly lifeless the mont they entered the river. No matter how Cheng Shi called out, they gave no response.
Left with no other choice, Cheng Shi had to rely on himself.
Mockery and Jeering was vast — it was the Fun God's channel for observing the entire universe. One could say it was essentially the distorted shadow cast by the universe itself. Finding a single nose in a space this enormous was a monuntal task.
Worse still, everything that existed was twisted and deford within Mockery and Jeering. Even Cheng Shi himself was nothing but a spider web. What the mask's nose looked like in here was anyone's guess.
Before long, the sheer impossibility of this needle-in-a-haystack task crushed his confidence. Grumbling under his breath, he wondered what the Fun God had ant by hiding the Nose of Verification in His own back garden.
Did He actually want Cheng Shi to uncover that mory — the one even [mory] had forgotten? Or was He trying to prevent him from approaching it?
If He truly wanted to block access, He shouldn't have placed that mask bearing Brother Mouth at the Path Starting Point to begin with.
He had already given the clue. So why throw up one last obstacle?
Cheng Shi couldn't figure it out. He temporarily abandoned the search and returned to his original objective: determining whether Mockery and Jeering could serve as a passage to the Real Universe.
He didn't know exactly how the Fun God had broken out, nor whether Mockery and Jeering was rely a signpost pointing toward the "gap" or the actual passage to the world beyond. He could only test it bit by bit, using the [Ti] power in his hand as a "compass" to sense where [Ti] was most distorted.
His reasoning was that since the spaceti barrier was related to [Ti], any point where the barrier was breached would necessarily show a fluctuation in [Ti]. Finding that fluctuation would confirm whether Mockery and Jeering was the Fun God's jailbreak tool.
With that in mind, the spider web continued its lonely drift through Mockery and Jeering.
The endless, psychedelic changes gradually warped his vision. His mind began to fog. He didn't know how long he had been searching — only that if he kept going, he would certainly lose himself.
'But this is too embarrassing for a Clown. Who gets lost in their own ho?'
', apparently.'
'Because I actually am a Clown.'
Cheng Shi admitted defeat. He found the nearest Peeping Mirror and mustered every ounce of effort to break it, hoping to return to reality first, then call for backup.
But the mont he clumsily shattered the mirror before him, a terrifying surge of [Ti] exploded outward, resonating wildly with the [Ti] power in his hand. The rush snapped his deflated spirit taut as a bowstring, and he stumbled backward in shock and alarm.
"!!!"
Fortunately, this particular Peeping Mirror was unlike the others. Even in its broken state, it didn't suck Cheng Shi in and spit him out. Instead, it continuously poured forth a horrifying [Ti] storm, as though the eye of an abyss was slowly opening, casting its gaze upon Cheng Shi's stunned face.
The spider web's flickering light and shadow clearly reflected Cheng Shi's extre inner turmoil. He never imagined that a random attempt would lead him straight to a passage to the Real Universe. Mockery and Jeering really was the Fun God's crowbar for breaking out!
But this was too convenient!
Whether he had stumbled upon the right Peeping Mirror by chance or had been guided here by so invisible hand, the whole thing reeked of [Fate].
'Mockery and Jeering shouldn't have anything to do with [Fate]... right?'
Looked at from that angle, it seed more like the Fun God had placed the answer right in front of his eyes all along. Perhaps every Peeping Mirror he had passed could have been the real passage — and yet he had searched blindly for so long without noticing.
And throughout all that ti, the Fun God had watched His Clown flounder in stupidity without offering a single hint!
'Oh, I see how it is!'
"My Benefactor — did You laugh? Watching Your Clown be this ridiculous — are You satisfied?"
Mockery and Jeering naturally offered no response. Cheng Shi stood before the passage with a furrowed brow, thinking: the Fun God had hidden the Nose of Verification so deep, yet placed the doorway to the Real Universe right beside him. Did that an that compared to [Folly]'s Authority, He would rather he go after [War]'s Authority?
'Regardless of whose Authority it is, as long as I can hold it in my hand, it's good Authority!'
The Greed Lord faced his own heart squarely. He carefully morized the Peeping Mirror's location, then broke a different mirror — and this ti, the mirror flung him out, tossing him back into reality.
When Cheng Shi's awareness returned, he found himself standing before an unfamiliar villa.
But before he could even make out the building's style, a spear whistled through the air and embedded itself at his feet. A furious roar followed, and a giant bear plumted from the sky!
"Who dares — Cheng Shi?! Why is it you?!"
The bear, still mid-fall with nothing to push off of, could only flail its arms frantically to break its trajectory. It "swam" to one side in midair and — right before Cheng Shi's dumbfounded eyes — crashed into the ground.
Good news: at least she didn't land on Cheng Shi.
Bad news: not landing on Cheng Shi had nothing to do with the bear's efforts, because Cheng Shi had dodged at the first instant — and enjoyed a front-row seat with the perfect angle to witness this slapstick spectacle.
"..."
It had to be said, compared to Mi Laozhang's Cetery defense chanisms, Big Cat's thod of repelling intruders was a bit rough.
But it was surprisingly in character.
Hong Lin climbed out of the crater in the ground. Yes — when a giant bear hit the earth, it wasn't the bear that got hurt, it was the ground. She dusted herself off, looked at Cheng Shi with surprise and suspicion:
"How did you co here directly?"
Cheng Shi gave a mysterious little smile, though internally he was utterly exasperated.
'I'd also like to know why the Fun God dropped
here. Benefactor, are You really that eager for
to start a grand adventure in the Real Universe?'
'You even saved
the trouble of sending a notification. How co it feels like You're more impatient than I am?'
Sothing was definitely off about the Fun God's attitude. Cheng Shi knew that much. But the thought that [War]'s Authority might lie just beyond that Peeping Mirror...
Reward and risk had always gone hand in hand, hadn't they?
Without taking a few small risks, how could one reap great rewards?
Besides, he still had Big Cat and Qin Xin.
With two such formidable warriors at his side, nothing should go wrong... right?
After a mont of deliberation, Cheng Shi ran through his thoughts one more ti, then nodded at Hong Lin:
"Found the way. We leave imdiately. But first I need to contact a few people — I need them to search for sothing inside Mockery and Jeering for ."
Hong Lin blinked: "What are they looking for?"
Cheng Shi touched his own nose: "A nose. My Clown nose fell off. I need the tricksters to help
find it."
"?"
...
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