When Cheng Shi's main body woke from its dream, the surrounding darkness was already fading.
mories flooded back in a torrential rush, leaving him dizzy. When his awareness returned, he realized that hadn't been a dream at all — it was Shadow Cheng Shi's experience after separating. Now that the shadow had returned, those mories had naturally been written into his mind.
Yes — the shadow was back.
The wisp of white light was gradually expanding, spitting out everything Cheng Shi had thrown in.
Cheng Shi stood rooted to the spot, chanically catching the items he had already discarded once. When the Eye was ejected, he snatched it up, pressed it back into his socket, and asked himself quietly:
"I always thought eting you at the Path Starting Point was the Fun God's arrangent...
Turns out you ca because you sensed Brother Eye's presence, Brother Mouth?"
The Fool's Lips gave no reply. In the Real Universe, they had never uttered a single word.
Cheng Shi fell silent once more.
Viewed from any angle, it seed like a string of accidents. But when the sa kind of accident followed by the sa kind of accident, on and on without end — could it still be called "accidental"?
Their infinite extension, their infinite convergence — wasn't that what people called "fixed destiny"?
But how could fixed destiny's influence penetrate the universe and take effect even in the Real Universe?
Could it truly be as he suspected — that fixed destiny was nothing more than the experintal protocol written by the Creator for His experint?
Cheng Shi's heart clenched. He dared not think any further.
His current situation didn't allow for deeper reflection, either. Since the white light had begun expanding and taking shape, Cheng Shi had guessed it was a storm opposite to the dark one — a white storm.
He couldn't be sure what lay behind the relentlessly spreading whiteness, or whether it was still that sa world he'd just seen. All he could do was retreat — endlessly retreat.
Fortunately, the white light expanded slowly, and the darkness behind him was still infinite. Cheng Shi pulled back with total focus, cautiously observing every change in his surroundings, terrified that another surprise would leap out and drag him through yet another body-and-soul-crushing ordeal.
But as he retreated, he froze.
His eyes went wide with shock — not because he'd stepped into a trap, but because a bridge had suddenly appeared before him. A long bridge of black and white, reality and illusion, twisted and entwined!
If it had been just a bridge, no matter how bizarre, it wouldn't have shaken him this badly. But all around, above and below the bridge, he could see countless enormous silhouettes weaving through the space!
These silhouettes were staggeringly massive — nearly as large as the Leaking World Silent Puppet they had encountered earlier. And the most critical thing was that Cheng Shi recognized what they were!
Void-Whiskered Swallowing Dolphins!!
The great beasts that devoured [Existence] for [Void]'s sake had appeared in the Real Universe!
And from the looks of it, the white light's expansion was the trail left by their rampant swimming!
These creatures — which all players had identified as beings of [Void] — were here in the Real Universe devouring darkness and exhaling light!
But wasn't [Void] supposed to be darkness? Wasn't [Existence] supposed to be light?
Why were the Void-Whiskered Swallowing Dolphins of the Real Universe the exact opposite of their slice-universe counterparts?
Everything before him was too staggering. Cheng Shi couldn't process a response.
Instinct told him he should step onto that bridge and seek a new path forward. But his caution dragged at his feet, holding him back.
As the white light spread further and the dolphins swimming across the sky drew closer, Cheng Shi had no choice. He accepted that "light was about to consu the darkness completely," gritted his teeth, and stepped onto the bridge.
The instant he set foot on it, he knew he had been wrong.
It wasn't a bridge at all. It was a twisted, tangled spaceti tunnel!
The mont he entered, countless versions of himself hurtled past. Each behaved exactly as he did — looking around, marveling — but at most they could exchange a single glance. So didn't even manage that before their forms warped into streams of light and dissolved into the bridge.
On this surreal bridge, the only thing Cheng Shi could clearly see was himself.
He couldn't see the bridge's end. Looking back, he'd lost sight of the darkness below. This place was like an infinitely extending corridor — once you stepped inside, the exit vanished.
Cheng Shi pressed forward with furrowed brow and careful steps. After only a few, he received the first piece of good news since the dark storm had erupted.
Big Cat appeared!
Unlike Cheng Shi's cautious creeping, Hong Lin was sprinting full tilt across the bridge.
She was shouting Cheng Shi's and Qin Xin's nas. Before long, she spotted Cheng Shi's silhouette ahead of her.
Joy flashed first — then she froze. She stared at the figure before her, claws extended, and asked in a low voice:
"Which world's Cheng Shi are you?"
Faced with such a blunt question, so of the tension in Cheng Shi's chest finally eased. He was about to answer when heavy, sprinting footsteps sounded behind him.
He didn't dare turn around, fearing a baiting tactic. So he sent Shadow Cheng Shi to look in his stead. The sound belonged not to any enemy but to Qin Xin — the very sa companion they'd been separated from!
Only now, Qin Xin wore no heavy armor, revealing — for the first ti — the powerful physique beneath it.
He was genuinely formidable. So formidable, in fact, that his body was almost too perfect. His muscles were like armor made of flesh and blood — so full and defined that even a peak warrior would feel inadequate by comparison.
Hong Lin noticed the change imdiately. Her pupils contracted, and she growled again:
"And where did this Qin Xin co from?"
Seeing her certainty, Qin Xin montarily doubted their identities as well. Thankfully, Cheng Shi imdiately spoke up and broke the stalemate of suspicion. He said only two words:
"Authority!"
Both of them understood at once. They instantly used the Authority-sharing thod to confirm all three identities — they were the sa unlucky trio from the sa world!
The joy of reunion sent Big Cat lunging forward. She slapped a paw onto Cheng Shi's shoulder, her mouth working silently. She clearly had a thousand things to say, but the words jamd in her throat.
She didn't know whether her actions had changed anything in that other world. After agonizing over it for a long ti, she could only manage one question:
"Everything we just went through — was it fate? Or... a trajectory soone already arranged?"
As she spoke, she raised her eyes toward that distant direction. It was obvious: the only being capable of arranging trajectories for all of existence was the lofty, omnipotent Creator.
Qin Xin's expression turned complicated. He said nothing.
Cheng Shi didn't know what to say either. Answering "yes" would be too demoralizing. After all, all three of them wanted to defy "fate." If fate couldn't be defied, what aning did their perseverance hold?
Yet he couldn't bring himself to say "no." Everything they'd just experienced had shown them that even in the Real Universe, fate left its tracks. Self-deception could only provide fleeting comfort.
Cheng Shi thought for a long ti. Only after Big Cat finally lowered her paw did he rub his stiff cheeks and squeeze out a brilliant smile:
"I never believe in fate.
And we don't need to chase after aning.
We only need to know that we are rembering the people we want to rember, protecting the friends we want to protect, and holding onto the beauty we want to hold onto. That's enough.
We're writing our own story. All we need is our own conviction — emotional coherence with ourselves. Whether the force behind all of this is so-called 'fate' or so bullshit experintal protocol — it doesn't matter.
What matters is that we believe our choices are right.
[Fate]'s fixed destiny will be broken.
[Deceit]'s sches will co to nothing.
Even the Creator's experint will fail...
As long as you and I never give up."
...
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