The heavy silence in the room was dispersed considerably by that single smile from Cheng Shi.
At this point in the conversation, what followed could only be unfounded speculation built upon speculation — no longer aningful. If they truly wanted to verify any of it, they only had to go ask the Fun God.
Before today, Cheng Shi had desperately wanted to go see it. After today... he wished the Assembly of Gods Convention could be delayed indefinitely, giving him enough ti to carry out the plan forming in his mind.
Wei Mu was also curious — faced with this apparent "dead end," what kind of plan would this Lord Yu Xi, selected as "Origin," co up with?
Cheng Shi didn't elaborate. He said his farewells to the Torchbearers and told Wei Mu not to leave this world — he would be back soon.
The mont he heard "co back," Wei Mu had already guessed where Yu Xi was going.
The Real Universe.
Yes — to carry out the plan forming in his mind, Cheng Shi still lacked so preparation. So he needed to make another trip to the Real Universe. And Mi Laozhang was still out there and hadn't been brought back — the Gravekeeper's participation would be essential to that plan.
Only — at this point, given how critical Fixed Destiny was, the Fun God probably wouldn't agree to let him leave again. The Real Universe was full of risks at every turn. There, even the Fear Faction couldn't protect him. And bringing friends along this ti would be nearly impossible.
Moving as a group would certainly be detected by the Fun God. But taking this risk was unavoidable — for no other reason than: without personally walking every road of despair to its end, he refused to believe that [Deceit] and [Ti]'s thod was the world's only answer.
Only when he could see with his own eyes that every path was a dead end would he accept such a compromise.
And so, after leaving the Torch-Passing Hall, Cheng Shi moved quickly back to the [Chaos] Temple, where he reunited with Zhen Xin.
He didn't rush to share Wei Mu's conjecture with her. He only said a single sentence.
"I need to go out."
Zhen Xin blinked. She naturally understood what "go out" ant — but did it have to be right now? When scheming around the Iron Law of [Order], they'd had to consider whether his fixed-destiny identity might be compromised. Once he left the world for the Real Universe — who could guarantee the person who left would co back unscathed?
She furrowed her brow. She almost said sothing to stop him — but looking at Cheng Shi's utterly serious expression, she exhaled softly instead and said: "All right. Tell
your backup plans. Every backup plan for returning to this starry sky. I'll coordinate with you."
Cheng Shi was quiet for a mont. "I'll send my shadow. The true body won't take the risk."
Zhen Xin shook her head. "We can't confirm whether Fixed Destiny refers only to you, or to you and your shadow as a whole. That's not a backup plan. That's a gamble."
"..."
Cheng Shi was out of answers. When it ca to the Real Universe, there could be no backup plan. That was [Origin]'s territory. No life in this universe could guarantee roaming freely there without consequences.
But precisely because it was [Origin]'s territory, every life that entered would proceed with extre caution — and other people's caution was his opportunity.
He wouldn't leave his shadow or his true body behind. When no one could help him, he had to ensure he kept his full strength.
Cheng Shi laid out this reasoning for Zhen Xin. It earned him nothing but an eye-roll.
She knew con n too well — she was one herself. That persuasive-sounding logic might have worked once upon a ti. But when she had beco a god — one of the sixteen ruling divine beings of this starry sky — she would no longer be taken in by childishly absurd nonsense like that. The scher in front of her had an incurable gambling habit. He had absolutely no backup plan.
If she didn't know the world's future rested on this person's shoulders — she'd let him go recklessly, and it wouldn't matter. But knowing that the universe's future was all riding on the Fate Weaver standing before her — how could she possibly agree to his recklessness?
So she looked directly into Cheng Shi's eyes, half-smiling.
"When will you be back?"
"Life is just gambling anyway... hm?" Cheng Shi had already worked himself up and prepared a whole speech for further persuasion — but Zhen Xin was simply agreeing, just like that?
He looked up and blinked. Zhen Xin shot him a sidelong, disdainful glance.
"You are Fixed Destiny. You are this world's key. I'm just a Magician who was pushed onto a divine throne by Fixed Destiny. What would I know about what the future holds? If my own foolish act slows your steps in finding the world's future — I will have committed an cri no death can atone for."
"..."
"And besides — who could ever convince Lord Yu Xi of anything?
If I kept refusing, wouldn't you craftily bring up Ming Yu's situation to tell : when the path ahead is uncertain, every choice anyone makes is a gamble?"
"..."
In that mont, Cheng Shi felt Zhen Xin wasn't like [Chaos] at all — she was more like [Deceit], seeing straight through people. And she wasn't wrong. That was exactly what he'd planned to say.
Though the tactic was a fairly lowly one, he was out of options.
Seeing the Fate Weaver avert his gaze, Zhen Xin knew she had guessed correctly — he truly had been thinking that.
"Despicable," Zhen Xin said, with feeling. Then she closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and said seriously: "So what do I need to do? [Chaos] doesn't have the authority to let you leave this starry sky."
A slight smile crept onto Cheng Shi's lips. He said to Zhen Xin once again: "Thank you." He'd been saying thank you far too often lately. "I thought you wouldn't agree."
Zhen Xin lifted her eyelids and looked at him, exhaling once more.
"I told you before — Cheng Shi, be yourself. When you're trapped in the endless pressure of a mud pit, you cannot take the step that breaks destiny. You've started believing in yourself again — that's good. But don't forget: this world also has many people who believe in you. I won't say more than that. While you've been here only a short ti and before the Fear Faction reacts — tell
what I need to do."
Cheng Shi smiled faintly:
"We can't hide it from them — at least not from [Ti]. I'm not even certain another version of you would have the ability to take
out. But... it's worth a try. I trust [Ti] will understand . If there were any other way — who would want to leave this world?"
With that, Cheng Shi extended his hand toward Zhen Xin and activated the Ti Deduction thod. He needed to find another version of Zhen Xin — to see whether there might be an opportunity, hidden in the cracks of [Existence], to find a shortcut to the Real Universe.
His vision went instantly dark. In the mont his consciousness was pulled away, Cheng Shi knew the Ti Deduction thod had succeeded — [Ti] had not refused him after all.
But when he opened his eyes again — everything before him made him freeze completely where he stood.
Because what was in front of him wasn't another version of Zhen Xin. It was mass upon mass of disordered chaos-fog — as though being pulled by so imnse force, torn apart and flattened like cotton.
The process was slow. The chaos-fog's appearance — being slowly shredded — gave anyone who looked at it for even a mont a visceral, empathic sense of anguish.
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted sharply. He stepped back half a pace and called out uncertainly:
"[Chaos]?"
The churning yellow fog lurched to a sudden halt — then boiled up all at once, hiding the wound that had been steadily torn open deep within the fog. Several wisps of smoke drifted down and solidified into a physical form before Cheng Shi.
That figure was unmistakably familiar. It was the Magician who had just stood before him — Zhen Xin.
"How rare — that I should encounter you at a ti like this. Are you all right, Fate Weaver?"
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