Reality. A cetery in an unknown province.
Night had fallen. A scattering of feeble stars dimly lit the sky. Not a single fla burned in the sprawling cetery. The silence was absolute.
In the pitch darkness, sixteen great tombs could be faintly discerned, arranged in a row at the cetery's heart.
Life, Descent, Civilization, Chaos, Existence, Void... All but the fourth tombstone — which bore no na — had the Divine Nas of the gods carved upon them.
Zhang Jizu had fulfilled his "wish." He had buried the gods here.
But!
This Zhang Jizu was not that Zhang Jizu. Though the cetery also belonged to a "Zhang," it was not the Zhang from Cheng Shi's world.
Yet the figure standing silently in the cetery, mourning in the dark, was indeed the Mi Laozhang from Cheng Shi's world.
He stood before a newly erected tombstone. It rose in the shadow of the Death tombstone, its engravings identical in every detail — only slightly smaller, as if it were the grave of Death's successor...
A friend newly buried. A gravedigger in grief.
Zhang Jizu stood before that tombstone for a very long ti — so long that even the few remaining stars in the night sky began to dim — before he finally walked away without a word. He followed the path between the tombstones until he reached another tombstone — this one shattered — and stopped again.
This broken tombstone lay in the shadow of the Deceit tombstone. Freshly destroyed today, its rubble still scattered across the ground, not yet cleaned up.
Zhang Jizu had no intention of cleaning it. This was not his cetery. He had no authority to act.
The cetery's true owner hadn't co to clean it either — not because he didn't care, but because he was now buried in that smaller Death grave.
That's right. This world's Zhang Jizu was dead.
Dead right before Zhang Jizu's eyes. Fallen in this very cetery.
The sight had shattered Zhang Jizu's composure. He rembered that just hours ago, while the sunset still lingered, the two of them had been admiring the cetery's masterwork in the evening glow. But as they walked, Death Zhang Jizu had led him to that smaller Death tombstone.
He had pointed at the grave and asked:
"What do you think?
Our Benefactor's will once manifested as a colossal skull, and we were all the little skulls beneath His Bone Throne.
Now that He has fully embraced His own will and beco a tombstone, isn't it only fair that I carve myself a matching smaller version?"
At the ti, Zhang Jizu had blinked. He was internally noting that the colossal skull was vastly larger than the tiny skulls beneath the throne, yet the difference between these two tombstones was hardly significant at all.
But before he could say a word, the person beside him collapsed with a dull "thud."
Death's divine power erupted in a violent surge, crashing outward in every direction like an apocalyptic tide. In an instant, the cetery's formations resonated with the power, blazing with light — and then, the very next second, everything went still. As if nothing had happened.
All that remained was a fresh grave, and another tombstone — now in pieces.
Zhang Jizu was stunned. He watched as the cetery's power-driven formations buried Death Zhang Jizu's body in the grave. His mind buzzed endlessly. Only when the tombstone settled back into place did he react — another version of himself had just... died?
Died?!
In a world where every god had already perished — who could silently kill a god?!
He was a gravekeeper, just like himself — but he was also Death!
A true god wielding the Authority of Death, dying in his own cetery, right before his own tombstone!
The horrifying scene completely destroyed Zhang Jizu's legendary composure. He scrambled backward, putting distance between himself and the grave, breathing in ragged gasps, terror and confusion fighting for dominance. But before long, his breathing from within the tall grass grew quieter — because he had suddenly understood the cause of death.
Zhang Jizu's body convulsed. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to believe it.
Substituted death!
Death had not been killed. He had died in soone else's place!
Among the talents granted by Death, this ability did exist. After all, choosing which offerings to accept was the prerogative of the true god Death. But for whom would He substitute His death?
The answer was simple. Obvious.
Cheng Shi.
This world's Cheng Shi!
In that instant, Zhang Jizu suddenly realized that Death Zhang Jizu had foreshadowed His own death long ago. He had once said:
"It's alright. The debts can always be repaid. He can do it. You can do it. I... can too."
Yes — he himself was atoning, having been used by Deceit and having wronged the Joker. The Cheng Shi who had brought the "answer" back from the Real Universe and plunged the world into destruction was also atoning. And the other world's version of himself — that Death Zhang Jizu — did he not also need to atone?
He did. That was why He had said "I can too."
He had known that when the opportunity ca, Deceit Cheng Shi would surely go to atone. So He had long ago bound His own life to the other's.
The mont Deceit Cheng Shi died, Death Zhang Jizu chose to die in his place.
He traded His own life to bring Cheng Shi's life back once more!
He atoned for His guilt by returning to Death's embrace — but left behind a deep and lasting shock for the Zhang Jizu from another world.
Zhang Jizu's eyes narrowed to slits, his expression gravely solemn.
If even Deceit Cheng Shi was dead... was there any chance the original world's Cheng Shi was still alive?
Had the world-saving plan failed?
No!
He didn't know. He dared not think. He dared not guess.
All he knew was that he had to go back — back to that world — to confirm whether it was safe, whether the Jokers were safe, whether Cheng Shi was safe.
...
The Real Universe. Location unknown.
Two drifting figures suddenly sensed sothing. They exchanged a glance and imdiately rocketed toward a certain direction.
One of them clicked his tongue:
"See, I told you the stars were unusually bright today — flickering nonstop. Sothing good was bound to happen. Look — right on cue!
Cheng Fate, care to guess? Is it a fresh blossom or another poor bastard?"
Indeed — these two figures were the very sa Cheng Deceit and Cheng Fate that Cheng Shi had once seen.
Cheng Fate's expression remained as cold as ever. He snorted: "Guessing is hope. Hope always leads to disappointnt. So I don't guess."
"And that's why you're boring."
Cheng Deceit pouted and accelerated toward the source of the spaceti disturbance.
Before long, beneath an unfamiliar stretch of starry sky, they found a figure who alternated between sobbing and laughing. The instant they laid eyes on him, Cheng Deceit remarked with mild surprise:
"Deceit's divine power...
Looks like a poor bastard. But not the worst off — at least he can still feel Him. His will still flows through this one..."
Cheng Fate disagreed. He shook his head, a trace of pity crossing his face:
"No. He's unluckier than either of us.
Ti heals pain, but the divine power he bears will keep the wound from ever scabbing over.
Another wretched soul. Co on — let's go et him.
After all these years of wandering, it's about ti we got promoted to 'Old Cheng Shi.'"
With that, Cheng Deceit and Cheng Fate slowly approached the figure.
But the figure was completely oblivious to their approach, still trapped in a daze of helpless bewildernt, wooden and rigid.
Only when Cheng Fate could bear it no longer and gently tapped his shoulder did the newcor snap awake. He looked at the two versions of himself before him — startled, then hopeful, then heartbroken — and asked:
"Have you lost your hos too?"
Cheng Fate shed his coldness and managed a small smile: "The Real Universe is our ho."
Cheng Deceit nodded vigorously and offered warm encouragent:
"Don't be so down! Look on the bright side — now that there's three of us, we can play cards tonight, yeah?"
Cheng Fate's eyebrow twitched with interest:
"Mahjong. It's more fun than cards.
Where's the other one?
Call them over. We're one short."
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