Rousing words always rekindled fighting spirit.
Qin Xin had always been resolute and was barely shaken to begin with. Big Cat, on the other hand, had been deeply affected by "fate." Having just witnessed a "transmission of destiny" with her own eyes, her emotions were complicated.
Fortunately, her self-recovery was equally powerful. Before long, she had climbed out of her haze. Looking at the blurry silhouettes streaming across and beneath the bridge, she asked with curiosity:
"Why are there Void-Whiskered Swallowing Dolphins in the Real Universe?"
Neither of her companions could answer that. Qin Xin thought for a mont and offered his theory:
"During that dark storm, the spaceti barriers between different worlds seem to have developed 'breaches,' which is why we were flung into other worlds.
But we were ejected back fairly quickly. That ans either the spaceti barriers have a self-repair chanism, or there's sothing in the Real Universe — so rule — that patches the breaches caused by the dark storm.
I lean toward the latter, because our world has its own 'spaceti travelers.'
They were never 'returned' to their original world. That tells us the barriers' self-repair doesn't affect individual lives — at least it doesn't expel them. So the Void-Whiskered Swallowing Dolphins before us are most likely patching those breaches. They may be one of the rules that maintain the Real Universe's stability!"
Qin Xin's theory had rit. It also reminded Cheng Shi of sothing else.
The trial where he had first encountered Void-Whiskered Swallowing Dolphins happened to coincide with Su Yida's return from the "future."
Given Cheng Shi's current understanding of spaceti and the universe, the "future" Su Yida had returned from was probably not a parallel tiline of their world but rather a separate slice universe entirely.
He had always wondered how Su Yida had traveled back. Now it seed likely he had exploited these spaceti "breaches." And the path he had taken had drawn the Void-Whiskered Swallowing Dolphins in to patch it up.
The Void-Whiskered Swallowing Dolphins that players knew from trials might simply be the projections of these Real Universe "breach repairers" inside slice universes... As for what they were truly called — probably no one knew.
Still, the Real Universe's repair rules seed rather rigid. When the dolphins appeared, they "rejected" variables that didn't belong to a given world. Yet in the [Oblivion] trial, Su Yida hadn't vanished. He had simply used his original-world counterpart to take his place in the "rejection," then slipped into the world like a stowaway.
Of course, he didn't "stow away" for long before Tao Yi killed him.
Thinking it all through, fate seed to have looped closed once again.
One thing still eluded Cheng Shi, though: why did the breach-patching dolphins project into slice universes as creatures of [Void]? Did it imply that [Void] created breaches, or that [Void] repaired them?
The three discussed it briefly but reached no conclusion. They didn't dare linger on this bridge of rules, so they quickly set off again to find a way out.
Cheng Shi observed and pondered simultaneously. After much deliberation, he ford a bold hypothesis: the bridge stretched on endlessly, so the exit couldn't be at the far end. To escape this place, they might need to leap off the bridge at so specific location.
As for where to jump — he had no clue.
Qin Xin agreed the logic was sound and began examining their surroundings in detail, searching the fading darkness beyond the bridge for any spaceti anchor point to use as reference. He found nothing.
Hong Lin was trying too, using her speed to repeatedly gauge the bridge's length, hoping to find a "terminal" on its surface.
She didn't find a terminal. What she found instead were two figures!
There were other people on this bridge!
Big Cat was startled. She imdiately raised the alarm. Cheng Shi and Qin Xin heard her roar and rushed to support. Before long, they saw two hooded silhouettes standing on the bridge ahead, facing off against Hong Lin.
'Two again?'
The familiar number instantly reminded Cheng Shi of the other version of himself who had tricked them.
'Could it be him?'
Cheng Shi's expression turned strange. He eyed the two hooded figures and muttered: "Again?"
The two hooded figures were equally startled when they spotted Hong Lin. They stood rooted in place — neither attacking nor retreating. Only when Cheng Shi and Qin Xin arrived did they shuffle back a few steps.
Clearly, they were backing down. They didn't want conflict.
Cheng Shi's remark also made Hong Lin and Qin Xin think of the other Cheng Shi. They studied the pair with suspicion. But the strangers' response made all three realize they had been completely wrong.
They were not Cheng Shi!
The leading hooded figure showed no aggression whatsoever. He rely snorted through his nose:
"Hmph. Looks like we took the wrong path.
No wonder the 'compass' pointed the wrong way. So this is where they are. Good thing we didn't jump."
With that, he took two more steps back, then turned decisively, grabbed his companion, and both vanished instantly from before the trio.
They clearly hadn't jumped off the bridge. They had simply... disappeared.
This eerie sight made all three expressions darken simultaneously. Qin Xin and Hong Lin reacted even more severely — their faces drained of color, as if they had heard sothing utterly unthinkable.
Cheng Shi blinked, realizing the pair must have recognized the speaker. He blurted out: "Who was it?"
Qin Xin's brow furrowed deeply as he spoke a na that made Cheng Shi's scalp tingle.
"Jie Shu!"
'Who?'
'That Jie Shu who wanted him dead?!'
Cheng Shi was floored. He had long suspected Jie Shu ca from another world. But he'd never expected to run into him here!
Then who was the person beside Jie Shu?
'Su Yida?!'
'What were they doing — had the plan already started?'
'But Mo Shu had said they'd wait until they found Zhao Xishi before...'
'Wait — he'd been in the Real Universe for over ten days. Nobody knew what had happened in the original world during that ti. It was entirely possible Jie Shu's group had launched their plan ahead of schedule.'
'But wasn't their plan to find a world without him in it?'
'Following that logic, stepping into the Real Universe should an they were here to kill him. So why did they run? Was it because they saw Qin Xin and Big Cat alongside him and couldn't risk a fight?'
Cheng Shi frowned. Sothing still didn't add up.
He didn't know Jie Shu's combat power, but the Master of Trickery beside him — assuming no faith fusion — wouldn't even last a single exchange against Cheng Shi.
Bringing just one helper to pick a fight made no sense. It didn't match his understanding of [Folly].
So what exactly were they doing?
Being able to appear and vanish at will on this bridge clearly ant they understood its rules. How had they learned all this?
Were [Folly] followers really this overpowered??
Cheng Shi's mind was spinning furiously. He felt like his brain was about to combust.
Then Big Cat tossed out a casual question that hit him like lightning:
"Which world's Jie Shu was that?"
Cheng Shi froze — then everything clicked.
'Right — why assu it has to be our world? They could be another world's Jie Shu and Su Yida!'
'Which would an...'
Cheng Shi's gaze snapped toward the direction the pair had vanished. His eyes filled with astonishnt.
It seed yet another world's version of himself was about to enter that [Oblivion] trial, and in the void woven by the Void-Whiskered Swallowing Dolphins, was about to see Su Yida's silhouette arriving from the "future."
Fate truly did loop in upon itself at every mont.
This inescapable fixed destiny — why was it still so terrifying, even in the Real Universe?
Cheng Shi lowered his gaze, his expression unreadable.
"Let's go," he murmured. "I think I know how to get ho."
...
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