No one could read [Deceit]'s mind — not even its closest first and second artifacts.
But no one had anticipated that the Magician who walked furthest down [Deceit]'s path would, on the eve of the Assembly of Gods Convention, beco [Chaos].
The good news was that in the Assembly of Gods Convention, Cheng Shi's side — not [Deceit]'s — had just gained another vote.
The bad news, however, was that Zhen Xin had not lost her ranking on the Ladder of Ascent. She still sat at the very top, which ant Cheng Shi wasn't able to advance any further.
At that, Cheng Shi felt a complicated pang.
"Thank you."
Zhen Xin blinked. "What's this for? Any way you look at it, shouldn't I be thanking you?"
Cheng Shi shook his head. "I know you didn't necessarily want to beco [Chaos]. But you accepted it anyway. And after inheriting the authority of a god defined by disorder — you didn't let the world beco even more disordered..."
Zhen Xin's expression shifted into sothing complicated. She studied Cheng Shi, considered for a mont, then let out a soft sound of understanding.
"I see. You were worried that once I beca a god, I would start carrying out my own will — finding a new answer for this world in Zhen Xin's way?
Cheng Shi — that doesn't sound like you. The Fate Weaver I know was bold and precise, without hesitation. Only that version of you could co up with imaginative, sweeping answers to every problem in front of you.
But now — you have too many worries. They've beco chains around you, holding back your steps forward.
You..."
Zhen Xin had ant to offer so encouragent. But the words reached her lips and she swallowed them back.
Because she felt that this kind of nudging wasn't "fair."
Anyone who had co to understand that they were the hinge on which the entire universe turned — the weight of that, mountain-tipping and tide-swallowing — would probably feel unable to breathe. And the Fate Weaver had already done more than enough. He had always been walking toward an answer. He had never compromised.
What Cheng Shi needed right now probably wasn't comfort or guidance. It was trust — a word of affirmation from a friend.
So Zhen Xin smiled. She raised a fist toward him.
"No matter where you lead the world — the Jokers will be standing at your back. Using your own will to write the era's ending, in an age where gods exist — isn't that sothing worth doing?
So don't overthink it. Be yourself, Cheng Shi. We naturally trust you. But the condition is — you have to trust yourself.
I still admire that clown who looked down on gods and deceived heaven and earth alike. And I'm looking forward to the clown giving us a performance that shakes the universe."
Zhen Xin's words ca straight from the heart, unmistakably sincere. Cheng Shi could feel the genuineness in them — no, he could even feel the "Zhen Yi" in them. "Isn't that sothing worth doing?" — that really didn't sound like sothing Zhen Xin would say. Could this be Zhen Yi taking the wheel?
Cheng Shi's expression shifted slightly — but he was still moved by the sincerity. He smiled and bumped his fist against hers.
"As expected — working with President Zhen always feels like a breath of spring air.
Enjoy your temple. I need to go handle a few other preparations.
The Fun God won't avoid
forever. Before the Assembly of Gods Convention, I need to build up enough confidence to face whatever changes are coming."
Zhen Xin smiled brilliantly. "Don't worry. At the very least you'll always have [Chaos]'s vote."
Cheng Shi smiled and nodded, then turned and left.
The mont Lord Cheng Shi disappeared, Kataro's smile disappeared too. He stood awkwardly to one side, waiting for the new god's instructions. But Zhen Xin made no move to treat Kataro as a proper servant — she only asked, expression sowhat grave:
"Do you know San Dales?"
Kataro blinked. "Your grace, that is an experint site of the Tower of Logic, and also the ho city of the clown Crown."
"Right. And since you know of it — you must also know that San Dales has a Joy Theater?"
Kataro wasn't sure where Zhen Xin was going, so he could only answer what he knew.
"Yes. Crown was the clown of the Joy Theater. Lord Cheng Shi also once... perford there."
"Yes — perford at a new stage..." Zhen Xin's expression beca complicated. Bewildernt filled her eyes. Whatever she was thinking about, she said with a soft sigh:
"The History School traced things back and found, on the northern ice plains of the Land of Hope, a record of past history. That history shows that among the group who fled south to escape the frozen wasteland was a clown perforr. And rather conveniently, among the northern migrants taken in by the Tower of Logic, there was also a clown — and this clown was the one who founded the Joy Theater.
Tell
— do you think these two clowns could be the sa person as the clown who once left the theater that beca ashes?"
"?"
Kataro knew a fair amount about the Land of Hope — but all of it had been gleaned from his patron's words in passing. He was no all-knowing, universe-transcending being. He simply didn't know who the clown in Zhen Xin's story was.
He ventured carefully: "He was Crown's ancestor?"
Zhen Xin shook her head.
"No. There's no evidence that connects these clowns to each other. The only link between them is probably having perford on the sa stage once upon a ti...
Never mind. Perhaps I'm overthinking it. No one can ever read the Fun God's mind after all.
Kataro — show
around this place. Let's see if we can find any more guidance it left behind."
"Your grace, it would be my honor."
...
The void — the [mory] Collection Hall.
After leaving the [Chaos] Temple, Cheng Shi arrived at the [mory] Collection Hall imdiately through the Joker gathering place and the That Dream My Nightmare mirror.
When he appeared inside the pure-white hall, Li Jingming was still wandering through it — seemingly committing the Hall's every detail to mory.
Sensing Cheng Shi's arrival, he gave a slight wave of his hand and summoned him forward.
Seeing that, Cheng Shi's pupils tightened. He confird what he'd already suspected — Long Jing had beco sothing like Kataro at the [Chaos] Temple, holding so degree of control over this Collection Hall.
Between two sharp minds, conversation rarely required many words. Sotis a glance or a single gesture was enough for mutual understanding.
Li Jingming knew he couldn't hide it from Cheng Shi. He hadn't intended to. He gave a nod.
But the mont his guess was confird, Cheng Shi still couldn't suppress a mont of shock.
"The [mory] Collection Hall... is yours now?"
"Yes. I obtained the Hall's key."
As he spoke, Li Jingming extended his hand, materializing in his palm a brilliant, crystalline hourglass that shifted and transford endlessly. Each ti a grain of sand fell, countless mories refracted through thousands of ice-crystal facets — a sight that dazzled and captivated, impossible to look away from.
Cheng Shi recognized it in one second. He hadn't realized his guess had still been too conservative.
"A Container..."
Li Jingming nodded, his expression solemn.
"Yes. A Container. I had originally co to seek an audience with [mory] — but it wasn't there. Instead, the mories in the Hall ca crashing down and buried . I was struggling in the Sea of mory when I grabbed onto this 'last lifeline.' Only afterward did I realize it was [mory]'s Container. With it, I now hold the ability to control the [mory] Collection Hall."
Cheng Shi's surprise gave way to delight. "And that artifact?"
"Still inaccessible..." Li Jingming had clearly already tried. "The Container is the Hall's key — but it isn't the key to that particular artifact. Because the lock on that artifact wasn't placed there by [mory].
To see the mories buried within it, perhaps the only answer is Crown's Mask — the Fool's Play Mask. That is, Yu Xi's — your — mask."
"..."
Cheng Shi was out of options. Even knowing the Nose of Verification was sowhere in the Mockery and Jeering river — the problem was it couldn't be found. He'd been hoping for so back-door thod to open the mories hidden inside that artifact. Now it was clear that was wishful thinking.
The clown's spirits deflated. He said with a slight pout:
"So the artifact that set off [Chaos] earlier — that was sothing you fabricated, wasn't it?
Well, well, well. First day on the job as new master, and already you've used [Deceit]'s thods to overwrite a mory inside the Collection Hall. Long Jing, oh Long Jing — you're a properly qualified blaspher now."
Cheng Shi gave him a genuine thumbs-up. A real one this ti.
Li Jingming accepted it graciously and smiled. "Staying at the side of a blaspher long enough — the influence was inevitable."
"Right, right. You really should keep your distance from Long Jing. We can't have the clown contaminating us."
"...?"
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