The Void. The Joker Gathering Place.
Mi Laozhang's return drew no reaction whatsoever from the Jokers. They had long known the Gravekeeper would co back, so his appearance caused no more stir than his absence had.
But Zhang Jizu himself was far from calm, because he had just learned from the Dragon King about the full scope of the Blood Exchange Plan and the news of Zhen Xin's ascension to godhood.
Zhen Xin's inheritance of Chaos was already a foregone conclusion, which left two questions squarely before the Gravekeeper:
First — would he himself inherit his Benefactor's Divine Throne, and what would happen to Death then?
Second — who would inherit the Deceit Divine Throne?
Zhang Jizu was the one Joker who understood best why Cheng Shi couldn't inherit Deceit. He had assud Zhen Xin would step into that seat, but now it seed... things had changed?
Puzzled, he glanced toward the Dragon King, only to find that Li Jingming didn't seem troubled by the question at all.
Zhang Jizu narrowed his eyes. "Soone's been chosen?"
Li Jingming gave a slight smile and said nothing.
Zhang Jizu nodded thoughtfully. He understood — the Dragon King's refusal to speak ant the matter likely involved soone's closely guarded secret, and a secret that a Joker would treat with such gravity almost certainly belonged to another Joker.
But who could it be?
The Doctor was out of the question — only he could fill the vacant Truth Divine Throne. Cheng Shi was also ruled out. Eliminating himself as well, that left seemingly only...
Long Jing?
Zhang Jizu looked at the Acrobat in astonishnt.
He ant no disrespect to Long Jing. President Gong had certainly co a long way on the path of Deceit. But the question was — did his Will truly align with the Will of Deceit?
One hid behind the curtain manipulating the Universe; the other was desperate to take the stage and showcase himself. Though both he and It dealt in lies, not all lies were created equal.
Still, today's gathering was indeed focused on President Gong.
At that mont, President Gong — who had been unceremoniously dumped from the Void by Deceit mid-audience, gaining absolutely nothing — was loudly berating Zhen Xin for her disloyalty.
He felt that if she had told him sooner that she'd inherited the Chaos Divine Throne, he would have had far more room to maneuver and could have made those liars at the Audience eting look even more foolish.
To this, Zhen Xin gave a light snort and said with a mocking smile:
"Even if I hadn't told you, would that have stopped you from making things up?
You were already lying through your teeth — why bother with facts?"
"?"
Long Jing froze. He felt his abilities had just been questioned!
But what infuriated him most was that the questioning seed... valid.
'Right — why didn't I dare to fabricate sothing even bigger? Why was my perspective limited to impersonating Yu Xi... Could it be because I'd only ever seen Cheng Shi's portrayal of Yu Xi, so that was the only idea I could co up with?'
'Long Jing, oh Long Jing — you need to learn to innovate! Parroting others' ideas leads nowhere!'
In that mont, Long Jing spiraled into self-doubt again. He had genuinely thought that fooling so many top-tier liars at the Audience eting was rather glorious, yet the instant he returned to the Jokers, he was once again the one with the least imagination.
Whether it was Zhen Xin or Cheng Shi, these naturally gifted freaks on the path of Deceit always seed to walk one step farther than he could.
With that thought, Long Jing swept his gaze around the room with a complicated expression, then consoled himself:
'At least the Dragon King, Old Zhang, and the Doctor are a little behind . So I'm not dead last among the Jokers... right?'
The three who fell under President Gong's sweeping glance seed to sense the emotional turbulence within him, and each broke into a knowing smile.
None of them pointed anything out. Instead, they went on contemplating their own thoughts.
Soon, the convener arrived.
The mont Cheng Shi entered the graveyard, he raised his head to gaze at the Tomb of Deceit suspended high above, its light illuminating the Joker Gathering Place, and his expression turned complicated.
Seeing this, Zhen Xin imdiately asked: "What happened?"
"He's gone."
Cheng Shi's answer, though succinct, was also ambiguous — difficult to interpret on the spot.
Fortunately, Long Jing was present. The uninford President Gong opened with a rapid-fire triple salvo of confusion:
"Who's gone?
Deceit?
Where did He go?"
That "Where did He go?" imdiately sparked sothing in Zhen Xin. She raised an eyebrow, instantly theorizing that the self-destruction might have been a faked death to slip away.
As for where Deceit had gone... at a ti like this, with nowhere else to run, there was only one option: the Real Universe.
Zhen Xin gave Cheng Shi a aningful look, seeking confirmation, but Cheng Shi offered no response. He seed unwilling to waste ti on the matter and cut straight to the point, bringing up Jie Shu's plan.
Among liars, however, sotis no answer was itself an answer. Zhen Xin understood that Cheng Shi was doing his best to conceal this, so she dropped the subject and listened in silence.
"The situation surrounding Jie Shu's plan has far exceeded my original expectations.
To explain all of this properly..."
He looked toward the Dragon King and nodded in acknowledgnt. "I'll need the Dragon King's help — to extract this mory of mine so everyone can see it.
I originally thought it was just an accident — a killing blow from the future, that a future version of
had gotten tangled up in so storm and was assassinated for it.
But as I've co to understand the truth of the Universe, to understand Cheng Dashi, the Torchbearers, and Su Yida... I realized I was wrong.
Perhaps the Master of Trickery I first encountered wasn't surnad Su at all. His surna was..."
Cheng Shi's expression grew complex as he turned to Long Jing, locking eyes with the Acrobat. "...Long.
That's right, Long Jing. There's a very high probability that I t you long ago — even before the diocre Person Society.
But back then, I had absolutely no idea it was you.
Of course, he wasn't actually you — but he was also Long Jing."
"?"
What kind of tongue twister was this?
The Master of Trickery being surnad Long made perfect sense — after all, in Jie Shu's plan, Long Jing's role was precisely that of the Master of Trickery. But what was all this roundabout nonsense Cheng Shi was spouting?
Long Jing furrowed his brows deeply. His bewildered gaze darted between Cheng Shi and the Dragon King, searching their faces for an answer.
Soon enough, the answer ca.
The Dragon King nodded, placed his hand on Cheng Shi's shoulder, and monts later projected a mory for all the Jokers to see.
And when everyone had walked through that past mory alongside Cheng Shi, every Joker except Zhen Xin was left dumbfounded.
Long Jing most of all. He stared at Zhen Xin in utter disbelief, stamring:
"The prophecy the Blind One made was... was... was about a future version of Cheng Shi?
Zhen Yi toyed with everyone, and you were the only one who found the answer to the prophecy?!"
Zhen Xin, both an insider and a firsthand participant, nodded:
"Yes.
And it was from that Cheng Shi's lips that I first learned the na of Origin."
Long Jing blinked furiously. He slapped his own cheeks, then looked back at Cheng Shi, eyes wide, his voice trembling with shock:
"And the one who carried all of this back was Su Yida? No... it was ?!
At this point in ti?!
As part of Jie Shu's plan?!"
Cheng Shi nodded with grave solemnity:
"That's my best guess.
The reason we've been able to co this far, to have the chance to gather like this, is most likely because another world was passing the torch to us.
Countless slice universes sacrificed their own destruction to eliminate wrong choices for other worlds, and then countless failures pieced together clues, one by one, for those who ca after.
Cheng Dashi's arrival didn't just bring
back to Fate — it raised the curtain on the truth of the Universe for all of us. And he 'took out' Prosperity — that was the key above all keys.
Another Cheng Shi once told
that Prosperity might not be the final answer, but it's the prerequisite that must co first. Only by cracking open that breach do we stand any chance of finding the ultimate answer.
And sure enough, after Prosperity fell, we made it to where we are now.
So now it's our turn — the turn of those of us who have 'arrived at the future' — to pass the torch to other worlds. That's why I call this the Fire Passing Plan.
And you, Long Jing, will be the most important figure in this plan — the Master of Trickery who goes back to the past and kills
with his own hands. Su Yida."
"..."
...
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