The clown in the Void was drenched in cold sweat.
He didn't know why today's Benefactor was so frigid. He only knew the howling gale signified Destiny's fury.
'Who pissed Her off?'
'It shouldn't be ... right?'
Cheng Shi stood there like a schoolboy being punished, obediently reviewing his recent actions. Once he was absolutely certain he hadn't committed blasphemy, he straightened up — equal parts cowardly and brave — ready to resu his praise.
But just then, those cold, impassive eyes spoke.
"Faiths must eventually fuse. Regardless of what They think, My followers will only walk the fixed path."
The instant Cheng Shi heard this, he answered without a second thought:
"It is not that the fixed path was already charted — rather, every step a devout Destiny follower takes leads toward the fixed path.
The world believes the great Destiny guides the direction of the fixed. They don't realize it is their own devotion to Him that paves the fixed road.
He never deliberately shaped it, yet this road is inscribed with His will.
Praise the great Destiny — may Your radiance beco the brightest sun in this world, warming every devoted soul who walks the fixed path."
He even topped it off with an exaggerated bow, thinking: 'After that barrage of praise, today's audience should at least get a little better?'
Indeed — the clown's insight was remarkably unique, and his praise carried genuine sincerity. Destiny should have been pleased. But to everyone's surprise, the instant he finished, the wind in the Void blew even fiercer.
The bone-piercing cold nearly froze Cheng Shi to death on the spot.
"..."
'What's going on? Why won't flattery work today?'
Baffled, Cheng Shi hastily bowed his head and clamped his mouth shut, assuming the posture of "I don't care what happened — let
apologize first." But inside, he was already muttering:
'If soone gets praised and still isn't happy, why is that?'
'Simple: because They have issues.'
Of course, he didn't dare mutter too much. The Fun God had mind-reading abilities; he was terrified Destiny did too — or rather, he knew She definitely did. But that slip had been irresistible, so now he could only double down on looking repentant and pious.
Yet impossibly — the very instant he finished muttering, the Benefactor before him suddenly beca less furious. Those cold eyes swept across the surrounding Void, and the raging gale fell silent in an instant, granting the nearly frozen clown a sliver of breathing room.
Those eyes watched him. Cold. And asked another question:
"What faith do you want to fuse with?"
"!!!???"
Cheng Shi blinked in disbelief, convinced the cold had induced hallucinations.
'Huh?'
'What?'
'I get to decide this myself?'
'Wait — I can fuse with whatever I want?'
'You'll agree to anything I say?'
Cheng Shi's mind blanked. The instant he heard this, he purged every irreverent thought and bit of sacrilege from his heart and instantly beca the most devout Destiny follower since the universe's creation.
He jerked his head up — ignoring his frozen-stiff neck and frost-crusted eyelids — and stamred through his shivers, eyes blazing with light as brilliant as a galaxy.
"My Lord — are You... asking for my opin— suggestion?"
Those eyes gave him a dispassionate glance. No reply.
Cheng Shi's heartbeat quickened. He couldn't tell whether this was a trap or a treat. But even if it was a trap, his own Benefactor surely wouldn't just watch him jump in and do nothing?
She was his deity, after all. Would soone this magnanimous truly let him die?
And so — Cheng the Greedy ca online, displacing Cheng the Honest's "personality." Eyes blazing, he looked at those starlit eyes and opened with:
"Ori—"
When the cold wind in the Void instantly surged tenfold, Cheng Shi corrected himself in one second flat.
"—give my presumptuousness, my Lord.
If I — as the most insignificant follower — may offer the humblest suggestion regarding the fusion, then I still wish to ask for Your guidance.
I want to know which faiths' fusion would best serve Destiny's fixed path.
Of course, I don't an which faiths would help
walk toward the fixed. What I want to understand is which of Them also draw near the fixed.
That way, beneath Your rcy, perhaps Your most most most faithful follower —
— could bring Them along for a short stretch on the fixed road, letting Them too experience Destiny's greatness and the Void's goodwill.
If it pleases You..."
Those eyes grew colder still. She seed on the verge of another eruption. But after a mont of silence, She gave Her answer.
"Birth is unyielding; Prosperity cannot be restored; Death won't be swayed — Life has always been bland.
Corruption drowns in itself; Decay locks itself in; Oblivion amuses itself — Descent is innately dull.
Order is pitiable; Truth is lantable; War is laughable — Civilization is nothing but a joke.
Chaos won't awaken; Folly lacks wisdom; Silence won't answer — and Chaos is just as much a punchline."
"..."
Hearing this, Cheng Shi's eyelid twitched violently.
'Hold on — my Lord, You just roasted every single god. You even stamped Folly — the one You supposedly wanted to approach — with "lacks wisdom." What is this?'
'So who on earth made You this angry?'
Cheng Shi silently chewed over Her words, not daring to speak. He was even beginning to wonder whether the Benefactor before him was truly Destiny. Could the Fun God be impersonating Her?
But this deanor — and the push for faith fusion...
It didn't fit.
Even if the Fun God impersonated Her, He couldn't interfere with Destiny's fusion. At most, He'd trick a few followers into switching sides. How could He possibly have a hand in Destiny's fusion?
Cheng Shi was utterly confused. But Destiny's critique continued.
"As for Existence..."
"???"
'Wait — what!?'
'Who?'
'Existence!?'
Cheng Shi was thunderstruck. He looked up at those eyes in shock, thinking: 'Can a Void walker actually fuse with Existence?'
And finally — a flicker of color passed through those eyes. Like a shooting star across the sky, it brightened the Void for one instant. Even the howling gale stilled for a heartbeat.
"mory only illuminates the path behind. Ti still points to the road ahead.
You will ultimately walk toward the fixed. In that process, grafting a fragnt of the forward path onto yours wouldn't contradict My will.
So, Cheng... Shi...
Would you be willing to fuse with Ti — to reconcile the opposition and carve a path of Void through the heart of Existence?"
"!!!!!!"
Cheng Shi was stunned. Cheng Shi was losing his mind. Cheng Shi had an epiphany.
This absolutely couldn't be his Benefactor Destiny. It felt more like his other Benefactor, Deceit. Or possibly the Ti who had just administered his trial — a deity he barely knew!
Otherwise, the clown simply couldn't explain any of this.
A deity of Void was asking him to fuse with a faith of Existence!
Was it She who'd gone mad — or him?
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