"Hong Lin is gone. She took many with her..."
Zhen Xin's expression was complicated. She knew this news would be a blow to Cheng Shi — but perhaps only now, amid so many blows, could the Clown absorb another one.
Because the blows had beco so relentless that numbness itself could serve as armor.
"She said since she'd already said her goodbyes, she didn't want a second round of tears.
Before leaving, she spoke at length with the Doctor. To make absolutely certain nothing went wrong, the Doctor asked her to cause a commotion in the Real Universe — to draw the Creator's attention. That way, your substitution of the Origin might go more smoothly.
As for how to ensure synchronization between the inside and outside of the spaceti barrier...
The Doctor said that before he beca Ti, he couldn't see the purpose of the Pointer that Ti had left behind. Now he understands."
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted sharply. He instantly produced that relic of Ti.
Zhen Xin glanced at it and nodded.
"He says Ti must have known long ago that this day would co. Ti didn't leave this world the way mory did — seeking sothing out there. He left to continue synchronizing ti between the inside and outside of the spaceti barrier.
Through that Pointer, you should be able to reach Him at the right mont. He'll make one last effort for this world's future.
We believe He'll cross paths with Hong Lin after she departs, and tell her when to start causing that commotion."
Zhen Xin paused, giving Cheng Shi ti to absorb it all. "It seems everything is in place. Only the two of us are left."
She chuckled softly, not looking at her best friend beside her. Eyes downcast, she teased: "Ming Yu, this ti I'm not letting you go first. I'm going to get my revenge — let you taste what 'loss' feels like, too."
An Mingyu patted the hand that was clutching her wrist like a vice. She smiled gently. "Zhen Yi's been a bad influence on you."
Zhen Xin shook her head. "There's no such thing as a bad influence. I am her. She is ."
"Whoever you are, you'll always be my Xin Xin. Don't leave
behind. We go together."
With that, An Mingyu extended her hand and placed a small, green seed in Cheng Shi's palm.
"I'm sorry, Fate Weaver. I can't help you any more than this.
Before coming here, I thought of a thousand things to say. But now, standing in front of you, I feel none of it needs to be said.
You are Cheng Shi. No one can shake that truth.
Praise Fate — for letting you and I et in this world. I'm thankful, grateful, full of gratitude. You gave
the courage to live again.
All I hope is that every bit of good fortune I lost along Fate's path can be forwarded to you. And I believe that in the mont the world turns away from the Origin, all the good luck in the universe will be on your side.
Hong Lin left this for you. She said it's a keepsake. And she asked
to pass on a ssage."
An Mingyu held her emotions in check with everything she had, doing her best to mimic Hong Lin's voice:
"Cheng Shi, I believe in you. Don't let my blood be spent for nothing."
"..."
Cheng Shi's clenched fists nearly crushed the Pointer and the seed alike. He didn't dare lower his head, terrified that tears might slip from his eyes.
Sensing Cheng Shi's anguish, Zhen Xin released the Blind One's hand, stepped forward, and pulled him into a gentle embrace. She patted his shoulder and whispered:
"I know what you're thinking. Whatever happens — go and do it. Be yourself.
I look forward to the day the Clown and I et again."
With that, Zhen Xin took An Mingyu's hand. Together they dissolved into boundless mist, plunging into the nearly complete blueprint.
When the final piece — Chaos — snapped into place, the throne erupted with blinding radiance. The entire Void was lit up in iridescent divine power. And the Fate that followed brought yet another terrifying Change to the throne.
The two triangles pressed together suddenly split apart at their junction. Infinite splendor burst forth. The base began to sink. The backrest floated upward. As they separated, Life rose while Descent fell, Civilization blazed while Chaos was extinguished, Existence continuously solidified while Void continuously vanished...
An endless tide of "Origin" power erupted and surged like fog — radiant and kaleidoscopic within the tide, shimring with every color within the mist. Tide and mist intertwined, and at last the two symtrical triangles Reconstructed into a single, complete hourglass.
The throne was ford. No — the Container was ford.
Yet the instant the Container took shape, Cheng Shi's mind detonated with a resounding "BOOM." His entire body went numb. He stood rooted to the spot.
He saw the Container. But he had never imagined that its true form would be...
"!!!!!"
In the very instant the "Origin" Container took shape, every mortal's understanding of the "Origin" finally found its destination. Countless tangled faiths rushed in from every corner of the universe, coalescing and dripping within the Container, and then—
The Abyssal Volcano before his eyes erupted thunderously, dripping Divinity belonging to the "Origin"!
Yes — the Abyssal Volcano!
The "Origin" Container — assembled from fourteen faiths and infused with Fate's power of Change — had transford before Cheng Shi's eyes into an entire landscape. And that landscape was, unmistakably, a miniature version of the Land of Hope!
The Container's seams and junctions were none other than the Abyssal Volcano — the one scholars had studied for epochs without fully understanding!
The surface abyss devoured all things. The underground volcano erupted in pillars. Divinity — laden with tangled faiths — dripped downward, transford within the endless devouring and eruption into scattered clusters of Abyss Colorful Crystals!
"The bewildered seeker of knowledge discovered distorted Divinity within the Abyss Colorful Crystals..."
When Allendor's words echoed again in his mind, Cheng Shi understood at last.
In that mont, he was utterly certain:
Fixed Destiny was the Origin. The Origin was Fixed Destiny!
And that despair-inducing Creator's Experint may very well have started right here — upon this "Origin" Container!
Ha.
There was no "surface" or "underground." There was no "succession of eras." It was nothing more than the hourglass flipping over and the tir resetting.
Looking at the "Origin" Container before him, Cheng Shi finally understood everything. But it was too late.
No — perhaps not too late. Perhaps he could never have known, until this very mont, that the future was still just another experint.
This experint had brought Cheng Shi Misfortune. It had taken his friends and the gods who sheltered him. And now, fully aware of the universe's despair and oppression, fully aware of the fear and Fixed Destiny ahead — he was, it seed, about to walk the Origin's path once more.
Because if he didn't do all of this — if he didn't, like the Origin, stretch ti and launch a race-against-the-clock experint across the universe — then his only option was to take that anchorless new world and drift away alone, trading the old gods' fall and the new gods' sacrifice for a future without a single friend.
But!
If he chose to start the experint and beco the next "Origin" — yes, he would see his friends again in the "new era," but that would also an Deceit's entire era of scheming and rebellion, the Fear Faction's entire era of struggle and hope, his friends' entire ga of endurance and striving — all of it! Every last bit! EVERYTHING! — would be reduced to nothing!
Cheng Shi did have a choice. And Cheng Shi had no choice at all.
He could neither advance nor retreat. He didn't want to betray anyone. He couldn't abandon anyone. So he stopped right here. Stopped in this very mont.
He wanted to stay stopped forever. But the world had no ti.
The ti left for the Origin was running out. And naturally, the ti left for the "Origin" was running out too.
What should he do? What on earth should he do...?
'Soone, please — save .'
...
The era's curtain was about to fall. Cheng Shi was trapped in desperate indecision.
But was it truly Cheng Shi who was torn?
Since even the dates had aning, the images surely did as well.
Rember the "Cheng Shi" you tapped on during the very first Trial?
The pitch-black Void mirrored your face. The whisper of the Void told you that everything was happening now.
So this wasn't just Cheng Shi's choice. It was yours.
Now, it's ti to make your choice, "Cheng Shi."
...
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