"?"
Cheng Shi paused. "Atonent" was never a good word. It invariably ant the "sin" had already been committed.
Combined with the frigid aura of concentrated despair rolling off the other man, Cheng Shi's heart clenched: "What happened?"
Zhang Jizu didn't answer. He simply studied Cheng Shi for a long mont, then broke into a brilliant smile.
"It doesn't matter.
What matters is that you can still be alive.
I've inherited Death's authority. I can save your life. As long as you cross the barrier of spaceti and co to my world—at least until my world collapses completely—your life will be safe.
As for how to break through spaceti? Simple. Take my hand."
From beneath his robes, Zhang Jizu extended an arm of bare bone—skeletal and luminous, threaded with brilliant divine power.
"We act as proxies for each other's authority. Ti's legacy permits
to bring you across.
So—interested?"
"!!??"
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted violently. He stared at the skeletal arm in disbelief: "Inherited? That Lord fell?!"
The outstretched arm went rigid. Zhang Jizu clearly didn't want to relive these events. But seeing the flash of terror in Cheng Shi's eyes, he sighed:
"Not just Him. All of Them fell.
On the 365th day after the Faith Ga descended, the World Saving Plan was unanimously passed by the Convention. The old gods stepped down from their thrones, surrendered their authority, and extinguished themselves one by one beside the Sea of Desire.
New gods picked up the authority and ascended. The whole world celebrated. Everyone believed we'd found the answer.
Then, on the second day, the world began to collapse. Reality crumbled on the outside; the Void caved on the inside.
Our answer was wrong. The world is irreversibly heading toward destruction.
But don't worry—I didn't call you here to hurt you. Compared to those worlds that are 'still struggling,' our world is collapsing slowly enough for one mortal to live out his entire life.
But only enough for one adult to live out his life. As for his children, his descendants, his future...
Heh. When the world is destroyed, what future is there?"
"!!!"
The gods destroyed themselves to save the world!?
They had actually been willing to abandon their thrones to create a new beginning for re mortals?
Who could have proposed such a plan?
Cheng Shi snapped his head up, eting those slit-narrow eyes. Zhang Jizu read his confusion and pointed at him, snorting:
"You.
The clown went on a tour of the Real Universe, claid to have found the so-called answer to the Creator's experint, and ca back brimming with confidence, ready to convince the entire world to approve his plan for divine succession.
He persuaded us first, then broke through the others one by one—bringing us along to persuade the gods.
We told Them that as long as the Void era was stretched infinitely, replaying the stories of previous eras within it, the world would be eternally 'stagnant'—unable to beco the Creator's answer but also never becoming a discarded product as the era ran its course.
And since the eras would cycle through their performances, the gods would inevitably return. That was the answer the clown had found in the Real Universe.
The old gods must depart before new gods can be born. Only when They were willing to give up everything could They rediscover themselves in the long stretch of nothingness.
We persuaded Fate. We persuaded Existence. We persuaded Life. We persuaded every god—even Folly was happy to witness our foolish act.
Except Deceit.
But under the Convention's rules, Deceit's single vote was irrelevant.
Before His self-destruction at the Sea of Desire, He mocked the world: 'The world cannot be saved. You were all wrong. And so was I.'
At the ti, we refused to believe it.
Until the second day... Heh. The bitter fruit arrived.
We had driven the gods to their deaths. And the gods' Creator, Origin, was crushing us in return."
"!!!"
Cheng Shi shuddered from head to toe. His scalp went numb.
From just those few sentences, he could feel the earthquake-like grandeur and tragedy of the gods' self-destruction.
He couldn't imagine what that world must have beco for mortals—insignificant mortals—to have persuaded the lofty gods!
Deceit's opposition was predictable. But what about Fate!?
His creed of fixed destiny was nothing like cyclical survival. How could He have agreed to a plan that, by His definition, was absurd?
The other world's Zhang Jizu didn't understand either. They'd initially expected to persuade Deceit—after all, even the clown's expedition to the Real Universe had been "sponsored" by Deceit. Yet the first to agree to their plan had been Fate.
But regardless of who, it was yet another dead end.
Cheng Shi sighed silently, moved by the boldness and imagination of his other-world self, yet tornted by the dilemma staring him in the face.
How was his present situation any different from that world?
Both were counting the days until the end—one with ti to spare, the other imminent.
Still, that world's experience gave him insight. At the very least, Fate—who championed fixed destiny to the death—could potentially side with humanity. As for Deceit...
Forget it. All hope had to be placed in Fate!
Cheng Shi nodded with steely resolve, then shook his head at the Zhang Jizu before him:
"I do want to live—even if it ans barely scraping by, I'd accept it.
But... I can't live in a world that doesn't have him."
Zhang Jizu naturally understood who "him" referred to. He fell silent for a mont, then tried to persuade him: "This world also has Old Jia."
Cheng Shi shook his head again: "No. That's his Old Jia—not my father.
My only connection to that starry sky is Old Jia. He was born there, grew up there, and so did I.
And now he's dead there... My only wish is—if I must die—let
die there too.
Thank you for appearing. I think I know what to do now."
Seeing the depth of his resolve, Zhang Jizu pressed no further. He withdrew his hand, sighed, and gazed off into the distance:
"Good luck."
It was a blessing, plain and simple. Yet Cheng Shi couldn't shake the feeling that this Zhang Jizu ant sothing more.
He didn't dwell on it. Every world had its own misfortune—every world needed ti to lick its wounds.
Cheng Shi departed. Watching his figure recede, the cold Zhang Jizu's stern features gradually softened. He looked quite content:
"Atonent complete. Ti to rest eternal."
...
anwhile, on the other side.
Having realized that the longer they stalled, the more likely Cheng Shi was to piece everything together on his own, the trio imdiately abandoned the idea of going back to extract Real Universe intel from him. They pivoted to a substitute plan: find Big Cat!
Zhen Xin knew that Hong Lin had traveled to the Real Universe alongside Cheng Shi, so approaching her was far more feasible.
And finding people was Hu Wei's specialty. Shortly after he ducked back into the Void, this Grand Marshal—whose contacts stretched across the map—had pulled the equally well-connected druid out of another trial.
Hong Lin had no idea what the three of them were doing. She thought it was just another social gathering arranged by the Grand Marshal—until Wei Mu revealed this place's secret and Zhen Xin explained the trial's allegory. Only then did she realize: Deceit was actually about to show His hand to Cheng Shi?
"I knew He was up to no good!
Why else would the way back have vanished into thin air!?"
Big Cat was furious, but kept herself in check: "So that's what it was—He used this sche to strand us outside the world, then planned to shuttle us to another identical one?
Good thing we hit that spaceti storm and found our way back via the Dolphin Bridge!
Now that His perfect plan has fallen through, He's probably done pretending—which ans Cheng Shi is in danger!
I have to go to him!"
With that, Hong Lin leapt and transford into a spotted leopard, bounding toward the Void.
Wei Mu, Zhen Xin, and Hu Wei threw everything they had at stopping her—and barely managed. Seeing Hong Lin's strength was borderline inhuman, Zhen Xin had no choice but to shout:
"How can you save him if you go now?"
Big Cat didn't look back: "Even if I can't save him, I'll try!"
"If you go, the best case is you die and he gets taken. Worst case, you both perish.
Hong Lin—trust . I'm not trying to harm the Fate Weaver. I have a way to save him!"
"!"
Hong Lin whipped around, eyes bright with surprise: "What way?"
Zhen Xin fell silent for a beat, gazing into the distance as if steeling herself. Then, with iron resolve:
"Morning Joy needs a clown. But the clown doesn't have to be the Sunset's Lake..."
"!!!"
...
Reviews
All reviews (0)