From

(Fill in the blank, 1 point for full marks, 0 points for a wrong guess, -1 point for a correct guess.)

"You don't welcome me?"

Should I welcome you?

"You should welcome me."

"You are not welcome."

Cheng Shi stared at the person in front of him for a long time until the other person shrugged helplessly and rubbed his nose until it turned red. Only then did his solemn expression finally ease, and he shook his head and smiled bitterly.

You look exhausted; it seems the road ahead won't be easy.

The visitor smiled gently:

That's my path, not yours.

"[Existence] in a scattered state, right? Hmm, not bad, so..."

Which version of me are you?

Cheng Shi!

Cheng Shi stared intently at the other person, and following his gaze, he saw that standing in front of him was none other than...

Cheng Shi!

Another Cheng Shi!

A Cheng Shi whose origins and time are unknown...

This Cheng Shi, but his face is more weathered and his demeanor is more refined.

Time has etched its marks on his skin, and every line and texture seems to contain hardships and difficulties that are incomprehensible to ordinary people.

A horrific scar ran down his neck, from his collarbone to behind his ear, its grotesque shape resembling a frantically writhing centipede—a truly terrifying sight.

His left shoulder was sloping downwards by three-tenths of an inch, causing his clothes, which could have displayed perfect posture, to become a mess and lose their symmetrical beauty.

His right hand trembled uncontrollably, his legs looked somewhat lame, and there was hardly a single intact part of his body, except for his eyes!

Only those eyes remained bright!

At this moment, those Deception eyes, which should have been filled with lies, mockery, ridicule, and disdain, are now brimming with sincerity, nostalgia, memories, and composure!

He looked at Cheng Shi and smiled brightly.

"If you insist on asking this question, I probably can't answer it, because I don't know where I come from either."

Perhaps it is your past, or perhaps it is your future.

You know, it depends on how you define "them."

Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened.

"Did they send you here?"

"No, no, no, they won't pay attention to me anymore. I came here on my own."

What do you mean by "they have stopped paying attention to you"?

What do you mean by "you came on your own"?

How did you get here?

Did you suffocate your Memory, or did you freeze time?

Cheng Shi noticed Cheng Shi's confusion and burst into laughter.

"Don't think of me as so great. Although I have the confidence to face them directly, they are still them, and I am not yet."

I simply saw a gap in the Memory Archive of Memory, and then jumped in to take a look.

I never expected to see you.

Hahaha, so the reason this gap appeared was because of you.

"That's so interesting! Has something fun happened to you lately? Tell me about it so I can have a laugh."

Seeing his other self laughing heartily, even laughing until tears streamed down his face, Cheng Shi's face darkened considerably.

"You came here just to see me make a fool of myself?"

"It wasn't at first, but it is now, hahaha."

"How come you're just like Him?"

"That's a poor question. If I weren't like Him, you should be asking it."

"... That's true."

The two Cheng Shi suddenly looked at each other, and then burst into laughter at the same time, as if by telepathy.

The unspoken understanding from the same soul resonated to its climax at this moment. Whether it was finding joy in hardship or simply being carefree, it's hard to say...

One laughed so hard he was pounding the ground, the other laughed so hard he was crowing.

The laughter lasted for a long time, until the two of them got tired of laughing and it gradually subsided.

Cheng Shi's doubts dissipated slightly, and he vaguely sensed the intentions of another Cheng Shi.

He didn't come to help me, nor to spur me on, nor to hinder me.

He may have just found something to amuse himself, and then discovered that behind that amusement lay his past self.

Regardless of how "they" are defined, in Cheng Shi's eyes, the Cheng Shi before him is indeed himself at the other end of the long River of Time.

How interesting!

I saw my "future" self.

He shook his head and chuckled, relaxed his body, and plopped down in Void.

Cheng Shi, sitting opposite him, looked at him with great interest, his eyes filled with emotion.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Cheng Shi asked Great Cheng Shi.

"Hmm? You mean this?"

Great Cheng Shi reached out and touched the horrific scar on his neck, then smiled.

A smile masking a mischievous malice.

"It was left over from a fight with Poison. Hmm, I don't know if you've seen her, but anyway, it's better if you haven't."

Cheng Shi stared at Great Cheng Shi for a while, then said with a somewhat speechless expression, "Tell the truth!"

"Sigh, that's no fun at all. You need to learn to find joy in hardship."

Okay, okay, don't glare at me. It's fake, it's fake, alright? I got it tattooed.

"How about that? Doesn't it look intimidating? I suggest you get one too. It'll save you a lot of trouble at the start of every Trials."

"..."

I knew it.

When Cheng Shi saw a smile flash in his future self's eyes, he felt that the Great Cheng Shi was about to become dishonest.

Although this talent for Master of Deception fails upon meeting someone, leaving one always feeling that what the other person is saying is true...

However, seeing through oneself doesn't seem too difficult.

"You wouldn't be pretending to be so pitiful just so I'll give you some sympathy, would you?"

"What are you saying? I only have this one tattoo."

"What about your shoulder?"

"Herobas removed my shoulder bone during the Second Assembly of the Gods."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, "Here it comes."

Ultimately, it's about who you will be in the future!

Even though his thoughts have never changed, just like mine, and he doesn't want to interfere too much with my past self, he still can't help but secretly leak some information.

This has nothing to do with anything else; it's just that someone who stumbles forward feels sorry for their past self and doesn't want to let them walk through such mud again.

Cheng Shi listened silently, without asking a single question.

"He is the Emissary of Annihilation; avoid him if you can."

"Here," Great Cheng Shi pointed to the fist-sized scar below his ribs and continued, "Qin Xin stabbed me. Of course, he's not a bad person, but he's just unlucky. It's best to avoid him if you can."

"This place should be familiar to you. The [Death] Amusement Ring. I haven't been able to hold a wine glass steadily in a long time. This is a side effect of relying on it too much. Be more careful."

"Here, Galiusha shattered my legs, and I tore off her arms to make a new pair, but unfortunately, they don't quite match."

But I've heard that all the big shots are lame, and they still look really cool, don't they?

She's a paranoid madwoman, the mastermind behind the destruction of the Tower of Reason. Remember, stay far away from her.

"..."

Great Cheng Shi said a lot, and his face darkened more with each name he mentioned.

In the end, an intense killing intent emanated from his eyes, sweeping across the entire Void like a flood, causing everything tangible in the Void to almost freeze.

Even Cheng Shi himself was locked onto by this murderous intent, his back was covered in sweat and his face turned pale.

But before long, Great Cheng Shi realized something was wrong. He laughed self-deprecatingly and restrained his intimidating aura.

"Sorry, it's just a stress reaction."

The progress of the times will always bring tragedies of all kinds. Although I have gone further than others, I am still an actor in this tragedy.

I always want to try again before the drama ends.

Well...

Forget it, why bother talking about this? It's utterly boring.

Great Cheng Shi's gloomy expression vanished instantly, and he looked at Cheng Shi, a smile appearing on his face once more.

"Tell me about yourself. I'm curious how you managed to open that gap."

Cheng Shi's mind was in turmoil from receiving too much information, and he hesitated for a long time before speaking.

"I didn't create that opening, it was..."

He wanted to say "Memory," but then he suddenly felt that there wasn't much to say about "Memory," since Great Cheng Shi had jumped back from His Memory Archive.

So he changed his mind and said a name.

"Su Yida".

Who is that?

"..."

Cheng Shi has now confirmed that Great Cheng Shi is not someone who came back from his previous future timeline, as for which future he comes from.

Who cares?

"A Master of Trickery who was never observed by Him."

"Oh?" Great Cheng Shi's tone suddenly became strange. He looked at Cheng Shi thoughtfully, unusually refraining from making any sharp comments.

The room suddenly fell silent.

Cheng Shi pursed his lips, feeling utterly foolish.

Such a great opportunity, why waste time here instead of asking for help? It's insane.

So he cleared his mind of the jumbled thoughts and asked seriously:

"Is the wandering swordsman who was with me still alive?"