Return

The mystery of [Time] is that it can not only be shortened, but also lengthened.

Regardless of what Shadow Cheng Shi experienced outside the True Universe, Cheng Shi reality.

He had thought that sending the shadow out would allow him to receive two sets of Memory at the same time, but he was wrong. The Spacetime Barrier blocked the shadow from seeing everything, just like the scene when he and the shadow parted ways in the Space-Time Storm. Only when Shadow Cheng Shi returns can he bring back the Memory of these days.

On this day, the Clowns, deeply involved in the plan, were also busy, constantly probing the Jie Shu in order to understand Jie Shu true purpose.

As Believer in [Memory] and a former member of the History School, Zhao Xishi was always collecting information, so it was not abrupt at all for her to be the one asking the questions.

She had asked countless questions, from the highest gods to the Mortals, and her Jie Shu were almost worn out, yet she didn't find it annoying at all, asking a question every now and then:

"Your plan seems to have failed. More than 26 hours have passed, and the Master of Trickery has still not returned."

I cannot understand what you mean by "mutual benefit." All I see is murder, a brazen murder.

"You're Believer in [Memory], not a devotee of [Time], so there's no need for you to announce the time every hour." Jie Shu glanced at him dismissively and sneered.

"When I contacted you before, you didn't seem so interested in my plans, let alone that you would pay so much attention to the Master of Trickery."

"What, you've taken a liking to him?"

Zhao Xishi dismissed the malicious teasing. "I wouldn't say I'm attracted to you, it's just curiosity."

"Curious? I think you're more curious about me than the Master of Trickery."

Zhao Xishi raised an eyebrow, not refuting, but going along with Jie Shu's words, "Since you're all curious, and since you're free anyway, why not share? I can exchange with you; you know, [Memory] Believer know many people's secrets."

"I'm not interested in other people's secrets; I'm only interested in my Experiment."

Experiment!?

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at him.

Jie Shu glanced around, taking in everyone's reactions. His mocking gaze seemed to have anticipated everything. He chuckled and said:

"That's right, this is not just a plan, but an Experiment."

I'm not lying to you. Su Yida is indeed a competitive and self-aware Master of Trickery. It's true that he wants to kill Cheng Shi. And I happen to need an Experiment subject to verify my research on the Spacetime Trace Connection Theory.

We hit it off immediately, achieving a win-win situation. What's wrong with that?

Etc!

Everyone's expression changed.

Since the so- Jie Shu Spacetime Trace Connection Theory has not been proven, how did he use this theory to send the Master of Trickery out?

Oh no, have we been tricked by the Wise One?

The Clowns felt a chill run down their spines, realizing the problem.

The Jie Shu's plan didn't seem to be riddled with flaws; rather, it used these flaws to extend an "invitation" to them!

No, seduction!

He's fishing!

I just don't know who he's hooking up with. Clown, or someone specific? Or perhaps... Cheng Shi?

Jie Shu chuckled twice, it was hard to tell whether it was praise or sarcasm:

"As I said, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Isn't one of you using my plan to accomplish what you want?

Since you've hitched a ride with me, you don't have to be so heartless as to refuse to give me a ride too, do you?

Cooperation leads to a win-win situation; isn't that what you... Cheng Shi is best at?

"..."

"..."

"..."

Who is Cheng Shi?

Zhao Xishi —no, Zhen Xin's expression remained unchanged. With a casual wave of her hand, she brought the rooftop back into the [Chaos] realm. The three swindlers exchanged glances, all pondering the same question:

A test or a feigned settlement?

Cheng Shi, who played Mo Shu, chuckled and waved to Zhen Xin as he watched the confused Jie Shu fall into chaos without realizing it.

"It's a problem if Wise One can't guess what's going on; just ignore him and let him guess."

Given your [Chaos] identity, all he can do is speculate.

This cleared up my confusion; no wonder he wasn't in a hurry for the plan—it turned out to be an Experiment as well.

He was certain that someone would be interested in Su Yida —no, he was certain that I would be interested in Su Yida, and even certain that I would get involved.

So, his and Mo Shu's behavior in front of the Dragon King and Long Jing was most likely an act. He deliberately leaked the information to you, and poor Mo Shu didn't even realize it.

This means he knows far more about Su Yida than we do; he knows about the relationship between the Master of Trickery and me, and even some things I don't know...

Interesting. We are leveraging his plan, and the Wise One is also using our strength.

But he probably didn't realize that the power he wanted to borrow didn't belong to us, but was a gift from Cheng Shi of Another World to Long Jing.

Countless accidents pieced together a coincidence, but can a coincidence with so many coincidences still be considered a coincidence?

Temporal and spatial traces connect...

What is he trying to find through this connection?

"Looking for you?" The Dragon King raised an eyebrow.

"No, if he really was looking for me, he's already found me."

Cheng Shi couldn't figure it out, so he simply gave up thinking about it and said, "Forget it, who cares who he looks for? Maybe when Shadow comes back, he'll bring back the answer."

If not, after the plan is over, I'll follow him. I want to see what this Wise One is really up to."

The three Clown exchanged glances and nodded simultaneously. To avoid giving themselves away, Zhen Xin waved away the [Chaos], and the rooftop quickly returned to normal.

Jie Shu didn't find anything wrong, but when he saw Zhao Xishi smiling at him with amusement, neither admitting nor denying it, he frowned in surprise.

You guessed wrong, she's not Cheng Shi?

Jie Shu only knew that Cheng Shi was definitely involved in this plan, but he couldn't be sure who Cheng Shi was or whether Cheng Shi even present.

He was a little slow today, far less astute than usual. He didn't know that this was due to [Chaos], and only thought that the other party was hiding it very well.

Jie Shu around for a moment, and seeing that everyone had their eyes closed and were silent, he frowned again and fell into deep thought.

The rooftop fell silent once more.

The silence didn't last long. Soon after, the spacetime on the rooftop experienced violent fluctuations, and the spacetime passage that Jie Shu had left on the rooftop shattered.

Immediately afterwards, a "click" came from the stairwell leading to the roof of the Abandoned High-Rise building.

A hand pushed open an ordinary wooden door.

The four people outside the door opened their eyes in response, looking at the man who dragged in the charred corpse with different expressions.

They claimed to be looking at the man, but they were actually observing the charred corpse in the man's hand; clearly, it wasn't the corpse of the Fate Weaver.

The assassination attempt failed, but the Passing the Torch Plan succeeded.

Because the returning shadow had brought Cheng Shi all the Memory of the world beyond.

Cheng Shi breathed a sigh of relief; all that remained was to rescue Long Jing and Zhao Qian.

As for the Master of Trickery who returned alive... no one cared.

Even the Jie Shu say this is an Experiment to verify the Spacetime Trace Connection Theory. Therefore, the fact that the target returned safely means that the Wise One has gained something from this Experiment.

The four people present instantly reached a tacit understanding. Long Jing, on the far left, sighed, "Looks like bad news."

Zhao Xishi, on the far right, scoffed and turned to leave.

Mo Shu, who had been unusually An Jing in the middle, and Jie Shu, who had anticipated this, stared at the man who had entered for a while, and then said at the same time:

Who's coming?

"You're coming?"

Jie Shu wanted to extricate himself, but Mo Shu disagreed.

Long Jing smiled knowingly, feeling that he had to contribute something to this plan, and said:

"I'll handle it, I'll take care of it."

Jie Shu scoffed and vanished in an instant, with Mo Shu following closely behind, disappearing from sight.

Long Jing whistled, he threw the charred corpse of Su Yida, who died with his eyes wide open in death, off the high-rise building.

Beneath the high-rise building, Zhang Jizu, who had been waiting for a long time, rummaged through the charred corpse that had fallen in front of him and found the Parasitic Wood, quietly reviving the soul attached to it.

When the real Long Jing opened its eyes again and stood before the Gravekeeper once more, it laughed heartily, patted Zhang Jizu on the shoulder, and said:

"Old Zhang, long time no see."

Zhang Jizu squinted and smiled in response, "It's only been 3 days and 4 hours since the last Jester's Gathering. This should be the shortest interval since we met again. It's not a long time."

"..."

Long Jing's smile froze instantly, and her expression became quite interesting.

"Old Zhang, you're... so boring."

"Never mind, let's save them first."

When it came to saving lives, Zhang Jizu's smile faded slightly, his eyes narrowed into slits, and he said in a deep voice:

"Something went wrong, this person... can't be saved."