Cheng Shi had wanted to use Ti Deduction for a long ti, but he'd never found the right mont.
For one, he had to constantly hide the truth about his Ti fusion. For another, speaking with just anyone across tilines would be aningless. He needed a suitable target — soone like Qin Xin — to make the conversation worthwhile.
And this mont was undoubtedly the perfect opportunity.
Shi Zhen's identity, combined with Long Jing's level, made the timing ideal. So he decided to take the risk.
At worst, he'd simply et the Long Jing of another slice universe. But as long as he could pry sothing out of that other Long Jing's mouth, this venture would be pure profit with zero investnt.
As for how the other world's Cheng Shi would interact with Long Jing...
'Who cares. I'll just chalk it all up to Ti's deduction. A Long Jing who doesn't know the truth won't see through anything.'
'I said I'd give you guidance. I never said whether it'd be good or bad, did I?'
With that mindset, Cheng Shi's consciousness was pulled into darkness by Ti's power, then gradually awakened once more.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself still standing on the sa massive jade dial platform. Nothing had changed — even Long Jing's position remained exactly the sa.
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted. For a mont he thought the talent had malfunctioned. But he quickly realized it had worked perfectly, because the starry sky beyond the platform — which should have been filled with countless twinkling stars — had transford into the sa breathtaking Existence gaps he'd seen during his exchange with Qin Xin.
This ant the Long Jing before him was still Long Jing — but no longer the Long Jing of his world.
And at the very instant of this realization, Long Jing rose slowly before him, rolled his neck, and turned around. With genuine curiosity on his weathered, resolute face, he grinned and said:
"Let
guess — which boss has pulled
in here this ti?"
"!!!"
...
anwhile, on the other side.
Long Jing felt a prickle of alarm. He sensed Lord Shi Zhen doing sothing behind his back, though he couldn't tell what. Not until his vision went dark and then brightened again did he realize he'd been drawn into a deduction.
Yes — this had to be a deduction. Not only could he see fragnts of Existence flickering and flowing at the farthest edges beyond the platform, but he could also feel the terrifying breath of Ti steaming up from beneath his feet.
'What incredible power of Ti it took to pull not just
but the entire clock platform into a deduction!'
'Truly expected of the first clock hand ever forged by Ti's own hand — Lord Shi Zhen's power is simply staggering.'
But this also ant the guidance ahead would be a pivotal, life-changing opportunity!
'Long Jing, you absolutely must pay attention. Find your reward!'
As he thought this, his consciousness gradually sharpened. He then sensed another presence appearing behind him.
He was certain this figure wasn't Lord Shi Zhen. But as for who it was...
'Guidance?!'
Long Jing wavered between anxiety and excitent. He paused, confird the presence harbored no hostility, then spun around — and was t with a face he would never forget.
"Cheng Shi?!"
No — that wasn't right!
This Cheng Shi was far too seasoned. His eyes were etched with weathering. His face was cloaked in fatigue. He wasn't the Cheng Shi Long Jing knew!
Long Jing blanked. He gaped with wide eyes, but quickly seed to think of sothing. Uncertainly, he ventured:
"Lord Yu Xi?"
"Heh."
Cheng Shi — indeed, it was Cheng Shi, only from another slice universe.
This Cheng Shi studied the stunned Long Jing with deep, world-weary eyes, his smile cryptic.
"Flowers raised in a greenhouse do bloom beautifully.
If the Long Jing under my command could still wear an expression like that in front of an unknown entity, then the masks the Jokers forged in blood would've been wasted.
What — the other
hasn't taught you how to maintain a consistent fake smile?"
"!!!!!"
'He isn't Lord Yu Xi!'
'He is Cheng Shi!'
'Cheng Shi from a deduction?!'
Long Jing's pupils contracted sharply. His heartbeat stuttered. But he forced himself to compose, hiding his shock — refusing to lose face before an unfamiliar familiar man.
He wondered — was this Lord Shi Zhen's form of guidance?
But why did it have to be Cheng Shi?
Lord Yu Xi favoring him was one thing, but here on Ti's side, it was still him?
Could he be... "the future"?
Long Jing was lost. He scrutinized the seasoned con artist before him, wondering what point in ti Lord Shi Zhen had deduced to produce a Cheng Shi this worn.
The man seed to have been through a great deal. Who were these "Jokers" he spoke of? What were these "masks forged in blood"?
Were these all clues — or was this Cheng Shi, as always, simply lying?
Long Jing hadn't forgotten that Cheng Shi had already fused. He might have been the last to learn, but now that he knew, every encounter going forward — so long as the man wasn't Lord Yu Xi — demanded caution.
Between con artists, there was no such thing as sincerity.
Long Jing pondered this chaotically. But in the next instant, the Cheng Shi across from him let out a scoff, directly countering the unspoken thoughts.
"I'm a busy man. I don't have ti to waste here.
Con artists' mouths hold no truth — but that's only toward outsiders. You need to rember that you're a con artist too. A con artist's lies, heard by another con artist, are the truth.
We only believe in lies. We can only believe in lies. Because only within lies can you find the genuine essence.
As for the 'truth' that the world puts its faith in...
That's rely another, grander lie."
Hearing this, Long Jing fell silent. His ntal frequency and Cheng Shi's were completely out of sync.
Regardless of how Cheng Shi viewed him, the uninford Long Jing was deploying every brain cell to parse each sentence, treating the man before him not as a person, but as a guidance tool bestowed by Lord Shi Zhen.
He was trying to crack the secrets hidden within what sounded like riddles — without the slightest concern for how this person had appeared.
The funnier part was that Long Jing never found it odd that Cheng Shi was speaking in riddles. First, the man was a Fate follower — speaking cryptically was perfectly normal. Second, this was guidance touching on faith fusion and the future. If guidance were always crystal clear, everyone would have a bright future.
So Long Jing convinced himself and began drilling into the hidden anings behind the riddles.
Seeing the Acrobat wander down a "wrong path," Cheng Shi let out a helpless, drawn-out sigh. And then—
"SMACK!"
—slapped the man awake.
"???"
Long Jing was stunned. Looking at Cheng Shi's faintly impatient eyes, his first reaction wasn't to fight back — it was to wonder what the slap ant. Was it also guidance?
"..."
Now Cheng Shi was genuinely flustered into laughter. He irritably reached out, grabbed Long Jing by the collar, and yanked the puzzled Acrobat close. Then, word by asured word, he explained:
"I can roughly see that you resemble Long Jing. Which ans you're good material.
So to save another world so detours, here's what we'll do: I talk, you listen. But who you share this with after you leave — that's your call.
I owe Long Jing too much. In my world, I'll never have the chance to repay him. So, Acrobat, consider yourself lucky.
You should be grateful that you are Long Jing."
Long Jing was thunderstruck. He was no fool — he could feel the sincerity radiating from Cheng Shi's eyes, and the flicker of guilt crossing his face at the ntion of "himself" — or rather, another version of himself. But the words were too staggering and too fragnted for him to piece together what had happened.
Still, regardless of the circumstances, he could not tolerate dangling from soone's grip like a cured slab of at. So even if you want to share secrets with , we're doing this on equal terms!
Long Jing struck. He unleashed every ounce of an Acrobat's power to wrench free—
One second later, he failed.
Two seconds later, he got slapped again.
"I talk. You listen. Stop wasting my ti."
After the second slap, Long Jing's eyes cleared in an instant.
He understood. The Cheng Shi before him had to be from the future — otherwise, there was no way he could so effortlessly restrain him.
But why did a future Cheng Shi get to slap him?!
Where was the justice in that?!
For a mont, Long Jing felt almost wronged.
But Cheng Shi couldn't have cared less about these trivialities. His expression turned grave, and one by one, he laid out his speculations.
"The world you and I live in are not the sa. They can't even be called a world.
The Them that you and I see are not the sa Them either. They might not even... be Them.
It's complicated. I'll give you the simplest version...
...
...
Of course, half of what I've just told you is true. The other half is my conjecture.
I don't care whether you treat this as a joke or a lie. Just — don't beco the next joke. There are already enough clowns.
One more thing: if you want to survive to the end, find . Find the other . And join the Jokers.
Rember — never believe what the Jokers say, and never doubt the people within the Jokers."
With that, Cheng Shi gave a casual smile, patted the shell-shocked, unfocused Long Jing on the shoulder, and said:
"I'm off. See you if fate allows.
If I'm still alive, that is."
...
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