The truth was now obvious.
Zhang Jizu — consud by guilt toward the Joker and craving atonent — had encountered another Cheng Shi who also yearned to atone.
He knew that on his own, he could never save Cheng Shi. But the other Cheng Shi might have a way. So the two locked eyes in mutual, wordless understanding, instantly in sync, and used the Ti Deduction thod to perform a cross-world exchange.
Zhang Jizu grasped the outstretched hand and traveled to that other world — already counting down to its collapse — while that world's Cheng Shi broke through the barrier using the legacy of Ti and arrived in this world, flawlessly taking Zhang Jizu's place!
So when Cheng Shi and the other world's Zhang Jizu had t, the "atonent" Zhang Jizu spoke of was not his own — it was the other world's Cheng Shi who sought atonent!
That Cheng Shi had brought the so-called "answer" back from the Real Universe, only to inadvertently drag his entire world to ruin, leaving its universe without hope.
He knew the weight of his sins. All he could do was try to pass hope to other worlds, seeking to ease the boundless regret and guilt etched into his heart.
As for the cris themselves... they could never be washed clean. That was not a personal wound — it was the scar of a despairing universe, branded into his soul, impossible to erase.
And so the "good luck" that Cheng Shi had heard from the other world's Zhang Jizu was never ant for Cheng Shi at all — it was a wish for that guilt-ridden Cheng Shi.
Therefore, when the Ti Deduction ended and Cheng Shi saw Zhang Jizu again, the real Zhang Jizu had long since departed to the other world, where he looked at another version of himself and sighed deeply:
"As if I'm not also atoning...
I hope he can save him."
The other Zhang Jizu smiled and said: "It's alright. The debts can always be repaid. He can do it. You can do it. I... can too."
...
The perspective shifted beyond the Void.
This was the endless nothingness — the edge of the universe.
Deeper in, the Void grew ever more fathomless and thick, seemingly without end.
But only those in the know understood that from here, one needed only harness the power of Ti to breach the barrier beyond the Void, slip through the cracks of Existence, and enter the Real Universe — to behold true vastness and cosmic wonder.
It was here that the Outer God Fate released his restraints, spitting out the Fixed Destiny he had wrapped in Void.
Those cold, rciless eyes opened anew, regarding Cheng Shi with neither joy nor sorrow. Cheng Shi stood up as well, eting Fate's gaze without yielding an inch.
The silence between mortal and god was deep and heavy, as though it traversed countless worlds, pierced through innurable universes. They regarded each other without words, yet seed to have said everything there was to say.
A long ti passed. The Spaceti Storm from the Real Universe still had not arrived. The Outer God Fate broke the silence, His voice cold:
"You are not Fixed Destiny."
Cheng Shi blinked, then sneered:
"My lord, you dragged
all the way here, and now you say I'm not Fixed Destiny?
So the identity of Fixed Destiny is like a set of clothes — you dress
in it when you please and strip it off when you please?
Ha! I thought I was a key — a tool for opening the doors of the Origin's temple. And now you're telling
I'm a... doll?
Keys don't look like this!
Does putting clothes on a doll really fool you?!
Absurd! Preposterous! Ridiculous!
Fixed Destiny is not so creation within this world for you to mold at will — it's the sole conduit linking to the Origin!
The road I've walked — the Predestined Path — has been nothing but twists and detours, always wrong turns and never the right one!
I'm curious: if Fixed Destiny is your will, why have you never once guided
along this path?!"
The Outer God Fate showed no anger at the challenge. His voice remained as cold as ever:
"I gave you countless forms of guidance. But your rebelliousness, the sa as Deceit's, ant you never listened."
Cheng Shi froze — then burst into deranged laughter:
"No, no, no — you know that's not the kind of guidance I an!
I'm talking about true guidance from Fate!"
The spirals in the Outer God Fate's eyes gradually slowed to a halt. Still He showed no anger; if anything, the question made Him grow calr.
He looked at Cheng Shi. His voice was ice:
"You are not him. I cannot give you the guidance you seek."
Cheng Shi's manic grin froze — and then, inexplicably, two streams of silent tears rolled down his face.
"So that's how it is... so that's how it is...
It was Him who chose to believe — not Him who...
Good, good, good!"
Cheng Shi erupted in laughter once more, only this ti it ca mixed with tears. His face showed no expression, yet sohow looked fiercer than before.
He wiped the tears away with the back of his hand and looked up:
"One last question. How did you figure out I wasn't him?"
The Outer God snorted coldly: "The Spaceti Storm has not co. Your... identity doesn't match."
"Spaceti Storm?" Cheng Shi was montarily startled, then threw his head back in wild laughter. "What a wonderful excuse — 'the Spaceti Storm has not co'!
How can you even utter such a hollow pretext?
The Spaceti Storm is the chaos at the dawn of an era — the darkness before the first light — the blank canvas before Birth gives form. Yes, beings from the Real Universe can use the storm to travel between worlds, but it never forms above a surviving world! It only appears at the beginning of a brand-new Slice Universe experint!
You ca from the Real Universe — you know all of this! And yet you claim you're waiting for it above a living world?
Ha! Fate truly is a better liar than Deceit. Don't tell
you've even managed to fool yourself?
Your goal was never the Spaceti Storm. What are you really doing?!"
At this, a flicker of change finally crossed Fate's eyes. Cheng Shi caught that tremor within the frozen spirals, and his heart lurched. He seed to grasp sothing, and gasped in horror:
"You actually intend to—"
"Enough!"
A single thunderous snort from the Outer God Fate sent the surrounding Void into an endless collapse. The dense blackness seized "Fixed Destiny" once more, sealing away his ability to speak.
But even without words, Cheng Shi's eyes still spoke.
Since his identity had been seen through long ago, since this so-called rescue was utterly aningless — he let his true eyes erge, irises flooded with spirals, and stared directly into those matching Stellar Eyes. With the barest possible movent of the corners of his eyes, curving upward, he gave the Outer God a smile of release.
He seed to be saying:
'My scenes are wrapped. This stage will no longer belong to .
My sins may never be fully atoned for — but this is as far as I can go...'
And then, one step ahead of the Void, he closed his eyes.
"BOOM—"
"Fixed Destiny" died.
Died in the Outer God Fate's embrace of Void.
He had said it: every struggle by Fixed Destiny would splash blood and stain the era's curtain ever more crimson.
And now, that blood-red curtain was ready to fall.
He carelessly tossed the body of the "Fixed Destiny" that did not belong to this world beyond its borders. Then His Stellar Eyes pierced through the Void and found a certain stretch of space thick with the aura of Death. A strange glimr passed through His gaze, there and gone. The frozen spirals thawed once more and resud their ceaseless, hypnotic swirl.
The one who had shielded Fixed Destiny was dead. The true Fixed Destiny could no longer hide.
Reviews
All reviews (0)