After Zhen Yi ca not Zhen Xin. Everyone knew they had been tricked, yet they still bypassed Chaos — and so Folly took the stage.
By this point, everyone was subconsciously maintaining the order of the Paths. As for what significance that held... they simply felt that only by doing so could they better resemble Them. And only by resembling Them could they draw closer to the "Origin." And drawing closer to the "Origin" ant that, in the coalescence of faith, the exhausted one could be spared a sliver of effort.
This was, perhaps, the last unconscious contribution they could make.
And only in this way could they properly bid farewell to this world — and to him.
Though it was farewell, no sorrow perated the space outside the Void. All the grief seed to be locked within.
Galusha arrived in her usual fashion — the sa way she had stord the Tower of Logic. All fire and thunder, swift and decisive.
She didn't even give Cheng Shi the chance to speak. From the mont she entered the Void to her approach of the throne, she never stopped talking:
"Let's save ti. It's all foolish acts anyway. Mr. Prisoner — do you think your foolish act has an answer?
I'd guess not. After all, I'm a fool too."
With that, she flung herself into the throne and completed Folly's fragnt of the puzzle.
Just like her Benefactor — committing folly with full knowledge of its foolishness.
Cheng Shi fell silent. His silence welcod Silence.
The Prisoner, for once, said nothing. He walked up quietly, looked at the forced smile on his brother-in-law's face, and stretched his own features into the most radiant grin he could manage.
He was comforting him.
Cheng Shi felt it. He asked with a smile: "Why go silent when it's the mont I need you to talk the most?"
The Prisoner still didn't speak. His eyes rolled, and he began signing.
Cheng Shi couldn't read standard sign language. But he could read the Prisoner's — that ss of wild gesturing seed to say:
"Wasn't it YOU who told
to shut up? I delivered."
"..."
Cheng Shi's smile grew a fraction wider. He asked: "How'd you manage that?"
The Prisoner signed again — and this ti opened his mouth.
Inside, where a lively tongue should have been, there were only a few twisted, rotten vine-like tendrils. He let out an "uugh-aah" noise, sounding exactly like soone truly mute.
Cheng Shi's smile froze instantly. He understood the Prisoner's aning.
"The Tongue-Branding Punishnt.
I asked Decay for a way to shut my mouth. This way, I'm closer to Silence — and it won't cause problems for your impersonation on the Silence front.
Don't worry, brother-in-law. I told you — I've got a plan."
"..."
Cheng Shi was montarily at a loss. When the Prisoner truly fell silent, he did feel closer to Silence — yet sohow further from himself...
He thought of the grandmother the Prisoner had once ntioned. His expression grew complicated. The Prisoner was thinking of his grandmother too, but shrugged it off and continued signing:
"Now that I have the power to silence others, I don't need my motor mouth or my bad luck anymore.
Grandma taught
those things so I wouldn't be bullied, so I could stand out in a crowd. So I...
Shaved my head."
The Prisoner suddenly grinned, rubbing his bald scalp. "This way, people notice
at a glance. How is that not standing out?"
"..."
'Never mind the worry — he's still himself.'
Even without a tongue, he was still the sa "motor-mouth" Prisoner.
Cheng Shi smiled and patted the Prisoner's shoulder, then told him every thought he had about the future.
The Prisoner froze. His eyes went wider and wider, his pupils tighter and tighter. Finally, horrified, he lunged to cover Cheng Shi's mouth. When covering it didn't work, he plugged his own ears and threw himself headlong into the throne without looking back.
He was afraid. Afraid that if he knew too much, he wouldn't be able to keep it to himself.
His brother-in-law had gone mad. Losing his sister had clearly driven him out of his mind.
"..."
Cheng Shi had no idea what the Prisoner was thinking. He only knew that after finally telling his bottled-up plan to a single person, his entire being felt indescribably light and free.
Everyone needed to confide. And Silence was the perfect confidant.
No wonder Deceit had dragged Silence along at the dawn of the era and talked endlessly. He had treated Him purely as a sounding board.
And in all fairness, it was an excellent sounding board.
Long after the Prisoner's departure, the Dragon King arrived. He smiled at Cheng Shi, his tone relaxed.
"With farewell upon us and nothing to give, how about so mories? Is there anything you'd still like to know? Just ask."
Cheng Shi shook his head, then laughed.
"Sure enough — anyone touched by Deceit is fated to beco a fraud sooner or later. Dragon King, since when did you start playing word gas?"
"Oh? What word gas?"
"Don't pretend. If I actually asked you sothing, you'd probably say:
'I only said you could ask — I never said I'd answer. Thank you for the parting gift. I'll take this mory. So THIS is what interests you most.'
Even now, you're still trying to ss with ?"
Li Jingming smiled and applauded. "It seems you've found yourself again."
Cheng Shi's eyes held an indescribable look. "I never lost myself. I only lost all of you. And what I want to find isn't myself — it's you..."
Li Jingming's expression softened. He consoled at a steady pace:
"That is precisely why I cherish recording. Because mories are right here. They never leave.
Throughout this journey, we are eternally reunited within mory. What 'losing' is there to speak of?
The present and the future aren't everything. The past holds aning too. We walked side by side. That's enough.
This is a legendary mory. Whether I remain or not, whether any of us remain or not — the mory remains.
I am profoundly nostalgic — and profoundly grateful. Grateful that within this mory, I t all of you. t the Jokers.
Be yourself, Cheng Shi. When you think of us, we are still together."
Li Jingming smiled gently. Countless mories flickered before him — azure light flowing and pulsing, stirring gentle winds that blew toward Cheng Shi.
As his robes fluttered with elegant abandon, the Dragon King's gaze seed to travel through the ages, returning to the past.
"This is the Collection that mory kept mounted in the most treasured place of the Collection Hall. It recorded the Descent of Existence."
Countless mories surged forth, weaving into azure threads that wrapped around Cheng Shi. All he saw was this: after the previous era had dissolved into endless chaos, the universe echoed with that omnipresent voice of the Origin.
It said:
"Life yet sinks. Civilization, too, descends to chaos.
All vicissitudes of the world are Existence.
mory may bear witness. Ti alone may parse its logic.
This — is mory. The surface of Existence. The imprint of all that has weathered.
This — is Ti. The essence of Existence. Formless as the wind..."
The Creator's voice shattered into nothing. Chaos exploded into a blaze of white. Infinite matter began to coalesce. Existence, in that mont, descended.
"..."
By the ti Cheng Shi woke from that treasured mory, the Dragon King's figure was long gone — and another had been waiting for so ti.
Long Jing!
The Acrobat fixed his eyes on Cheng Shi with visible indignation.
"I said I wanted to go first. They wouldn't let . Insisted on following so Path order. I say they're just jealous — they don't want my na carved first.
Cheng Shi, will there really be a Monunt in the new world?"
Cheng Shi erged from the distant past, looked at Long Jing — offering comfort in his own fashion — and nodded with a swirl of emotions.
"There will. But you can only be second. Because first is ."
"???"
Long Jing protested, but after a mont's thought, he had to concede.
"Fine, I guess. At least I'm still ahead of them.
But co to think of it — you'll be part of the new world. Why carve your na on a morial?"
Cheng Shi fell silent. He averted his gaze toward the infinite depths of the Void and said softly: "...Long Jing, it's better to be a bit dumb."
Long Jing's expression grew complicated too. He shook his head. "Being dumb is better, sure. But I can't be dumb."
"..."
Cheng Shi sighed. "You've always insisted on being center stage. Could you accept staying behind the scenes forever?"
Long Jing blinked, then his expression turned serious. "If that's what it takes, then let
do it."
"I knew I couldn't fool any of you. But aren't you worried the universe's efforts will all be wasted?"
"Who would worry about that?
The only thing I worry about is the spotlight on all of you being way more than mine. As for the future of the universe...
You're CHENG SHI. What is there to worry about?"
'Yes, I really am Cheng Shi. But it's precisely because I'm Cheng Shi that I worry.'
'I worry about far, far too much. I keep wondering — is that other "Cheng Shi" as trapped between two impossible choices as I am?'
'If this experint truly has no hope, then why... would He begin a new cycle?'
'I want to ask you. I want to ask myself:'
"Can I trust you, Cheng Shi?"
No — perhaps it should be:
"Can I trust you, Origin?"
...
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