Recaps

Li Jingming revealed that My Nightmare, Your Dream trapped people by reflecting their desires, and used it to invite the clowns to expose themselves and form an understanding. The mirror exposed Wang Weijin, who had been hiding among them, and the Doctor shared the results of his slice-fusion experiment, which might have caused personality fragmentation.

• Li Jingming explained how My Nightmare, Your Dream trapped a Memory Traveler and reflected people’s desires as Nightmare Shadows.
• Zhen Xin stepped up to look into the mirror, which revealed Wang Weijin’s Nightmare Shadow to the gathered clowns.
• Cheng Shi recognized Wang Weijin and threatened to blast him, prompting the Doctor to reveal himself.
• The Doctor offered Cheng Shi his notes on a successful slice-fusion experiment and described its possible side effect of personality fragmentation.
• Cheng Shi realized the Doctor’s experiment might have brought Destiny to the gathering.

The clowns watched Wang Weijin and Zhen Xin face the nightmare shadows in the mirror, revealing the dangerous desires within them. As Long Jing prepared to look into the mirror, Zhang Jizu stepped forward instead and saw a murderous version of himself.

• Cheng Shi introduced Wang Weijin to the clowns, and the doctor’s reflection in the mirror appeared as a nightmare resembling 0221.
• The nightmare taunted Wang Weijin, who looked away and made it disappear from the mirror.
• Zhen Xin faced a nightmare version of Zhen Yi, whose flirtatious and destructive words prompted Zhen Xin to end the encounter.
• Cheng Shi encouraged Long Jing to try the mirror, but Zhang Jizu stepped ahead of him.
• Zhang Jizu’s reflection threatened to bury everyone and fill their tombstones.

The group questioned their Nightmare Shades in Li Jingming’s mirror, but Zhang Jizu’s shade offered little beyond its desire to survive by burying others. When Long Jing’s shade claimed it could lead them to the Primordial Origin, Cheng Shi mouthed the forbidden name, causing the shade to explode into black mist and leaving Li Jingming to investigate the mirror.

• Li Jingming asked the group to question their Nightmare Shades for the memories and intelligence the mirror contained.
• Cheng Shi asked Zhang Jizu’s Nightmare Shade why it buried people, and it explained that their deaths would extend its life and serve as an offering to The Great One.
• Li Jingming asked whether the mirror’s destination involved Filth and Decay or Deception, but Zhang Jizu’s shade refused to answer and threatened to bury him.
• Long Jing’s Nightmare Shade offered to lead the group to what they sought, and Cheng Shi mouthed the name of the Primordial Origin.
• Long Jing’s shade shuddered, exploded into black mist, and vanished, so Li Jingming examined the mirror while Zhen Xin asked Cheng Shi how he had dispersed it.

Cheng Shi used the Filth and Decay container to drain his Nightmare Shadow’s desires, discovering a way to farm divinity while the others questioned his methods. The Doctor then suspected someone was secretly taking Prosperity’s divine authority by strengthening its followers.

• Li Jingming’s Nightmare Shadow urged him to enter the mirror to recover memories, while Li Jingming warned Cheng Shi to act before the Clowns risked exposure.
• Cheng Shi faced his Nightmare Shadow, which immediately gave up on everything after Cheng Shi used the Filth and Decay container to absorb its desires.
• Cheng Shi discovered that draining the Nightmare Shadow generated divinity for him, though the divinity was Filth and Decay, and told Li Jingming the item was a Fear Tree Core from Lele’er.
• Cheng Shi told Zhen Xin that Lele’er had died in the Fall of Prosperity, and Zhen Xin concluded they had lost access to Prosperity’s vacant divine seat.
• The Doctor observed that Prosperity followers were gaining points and extra talent slots, and suspected someone had obtained part of Prosperity’s divine authority through the Ladder of Audience of Prosperity.

Li Jingming led Cheng Shi and the jesters into Memory’s Archive, where they discovered a museum-like collection of memories they could not read. As the group headed toward the secret, another Wang Weijin watched from outside, while Cheng Shi quietly dropped a Dice.

• Li Jingming explained how to enter the secret place through the mirror, then went inside first and waited for the jesters.
• Zhen Xin stayed behind to probe Cheng Shi about Hong Lin, then entered the mirror after concluding that Cheng Shi had seen her recently.
• A second Wang Weijin appeared at the cemetery, watched My Nightmare, Your Dream, and concealed himself while wondering whether Cheng Shi had discovered him.
• Cheng Shi and the jesters entered Memory’s Archive and found white walls displaying memories that mortals could not properly see or activate.
• Zhen Xin wondered aloud whether destroying the Archive could earn them an identity like Fool’s Game, and Cheng Shi secretly let a Dice fall as he followed the group.

At Memory’s Archive, the jesters discovered a Deception riddle and suspected Foolish Play’s Mask was connected to Memory’s sealed-away memories. The group left without testing Cheng Shi’s fragments, while he privately planned to return to the archive.

• The jesters examined a smeared painting and concluded that a Mask might be the key to Memory’s sealed memories.
• Cheng Shi questioned Lips of Foolish Play, which revealed that he had collected three Mask fragments and was missing the eyes and nose.
• Zhen Xin agreed to have the History School watch for clues about the missing fragments, while Cheng Shi refused to test the three pieces in front of the group.
• Li Jingming led the jesters out of Memory’s Archive, and they returned to discuss the gods, their followers, and potential allies.
• Cheng Shi ignored the discussions and wondered when he could sneak back to the archive to try again.

After the Jester's Gathering ended, the Doctor asked Cheng Shi to help him reach Zainjil so he could study 0221's experiments. Cheng Shi returned to Memory's Archive and was caught by Memory, where he unexpectedly encountered Zhen Xin and another jester.

• The jesters assigned each other tasks to investigate the Foolish Play Mask, the Method of Becoming a God, multi-faith personality vessels, space and time, and the gods' intentions, while Cheng Shi was told to stay alive and report the God of Merriment's moves.
• After the gathering, Wang Mou asked Cheng Shi whether Zainjil was still alive and explained that he wanted to reverse-engineer 0221's experiments.
• Cheng Shi agreed to ask Hu Xuan about arranging a visit to Zainjil, while suspecting the Doctor might have a second personality.
• Cheng Shi returned to Memory's Archive and found the Eyes of the Deity waiting for him, accusing him of sneaking into the archive.
• Zhen Xin appeared in the archive, followed by another jester, who was startled to find Cheng Shi and Zhen Xin there.

Cheng Shi tried to save himself and the other Clowns from Memory by claiming Deception had sent them with a message about a forgotten memory. Their escape brought Memory face-to-face with Deception, who confirmed that Memory was forgetting something and asked about Folly's Authority, while hinting that the world might still be saved.

• Cheng Shi blamed Deception for bringing the Followers into Memory's vault and said Deception claimed Memory had forgotten a memory concerning him.
• As Memory considered the message, Zhen Xin used a golden playing card to open a door, while Cheng Shi teleported back to the sealed painting.
• Memory left the vault and confronted Deception, who observed that Memory was forgetting and asked him where Folly's Authority was.
• Deception laughed after Memory concealed himself and remarked that the Clowns were too bold to browse every memory in the world.
• A tiny skull told Deception that the Lord of Death had questioned it about signs of his arrival, and Deception urged it to keep working while hinting that the world might still be saved.

Cheng Shi, Zhen Xin, and Long Jing tested Tongue of Lies against Memory’s sealed painting, but it only reacted without revealing anything. Back at his theater, Long Jing reflected on a ring that could carry him away from this world and chose to keep facing its despair.

• Cheng Shi and Zhen Xin blamed Long Jing for their troubles, and Long Jing arrived at the archive to demand answers.
• Cheng Shi held Tongue of Lies before Memory’s painting, and the tongue sensed a call from it.
• Cheng Shi concluded that the Mask needed its two missing pieces before they could uncover the truth behind Memory, and the three left the archive.
• Long Jing returned to his theater and examined the ring the other Cheng Shi had given him, which could take him away from this world.
• Long Jing recalled testing whether the other jesters wanted to escape and decided not to use the ring to run from despair.

An Mingyu visited Zhen Xin, who was secretly sharing control and memories with Zhen Yi while trying to keep her friend unaware of a Jester's Gathering. Meanwhile, Wang Weijin prepared to merge with his imprisoned counterpart, who hoped Zainjil would defeat him, and someone elsewhere agreed to exchange places with the person in a mirror.

• An Mingyu visited Zhen Xin, and Zhen Xin interrupted her attempt to speak before asking her to help with History School research and clean up the conference room.
• After An Mingyu left, Zhen Xin confronted Zhen Yi about the Jester's Gathering, and Zhen Yi admitted she had left her memories to Zhen Xin and deceived the others.
• In his workshop, Wang Weijin confirmed the Jester's Gathering messages with another doctor, then tried to persuade his imprisoned counterpart to merge with him.
• The imprisoned doctor accused Wang Weijin of reviving his personality through the experimental slices and said he and Wang Weijin no longer pursued the same truth.
• The imprisoned doctor hoped Zainjil would defeat Wang Weijin, while someone elsewhere agreed to exchange with a presence in a mirror.

Cheng Shi reunited with Xie Yang, who had returned from Experiment 0221 determined to help repair the world and pursue A Mian. Xie Yang invited Cheng Shi to join a group working toward that cause, but Cheng Shi questioned whether repairing the world could change its fate as a pasture for the gods.

• Cheng Shi greeted Xie Yang on the neighboring rooftop and heard that he had found a purpose in contributing to the world's repair.
• Xie Yang said he had failed to rescue Xiao Li, then described A Mian, whom he had freed from a Beast Tamer's cages and now cared for and pursued.
• Xie Yang gave Cheng Shi an experimental manuscript from Experiment 0221, explaining that the Grand Marshal and Da Yi had yielded it as a thank-you gift.
• Xie Yang invited Cheng Shi to join a group seeking to repair the broken world, but refused to identify the group.
• Cheng Shi challenged the idea of repairing a world that remained a pasture for the gods, while Xie Yang insisted that repair could bring change.

Truth confronted Deception about whether truth still existed in the universe and hinted that he needed an experiment to verify his suspicions. Meanwhile, Cheng Shi entered a new Special Trial of Truth just as Destiny appeared, leaving him unconscious and transported into the trial.

• Truth asked Deception to prove that Deception stood ahead of him and then offered him the Abundance authority in exchange for an answer about whether truth still existed.
• Deception refused to give Truth a direct answer, and Truth explained that he needed an experiment and someone to oversee it.
• Truth declared that the trial would soon be over, provoking Deception to react with alarm.
• Cheng Shi received the Special Trial (Seeking the Truth), whose objective was “Limited truth is never truth” and whose time limit was three days.
• Destiny appeared as Cheng Shi entered the trial, but the matching completed and his consciousness fell into darkness.

Cheng Shi and Hu Xuan reunited in a Tower of Reason meeting room, where the dead Scholarly Council and Galiusha’s attack revealed the scene’s bloody history. Wei Zhi, Truth’s chosen one and head of the Rationality Association, offered to trade for Zainjil, and Cheng Shi demanded something practical first.

• Cheng Shi recognized Hu Xuan as the other player in the trial, and they silently agreed that the match favored them.
• The players found six dead Grand Scholars from the Scholarly Council in the meeting room while Galiusha killed another scholar outside.
• A burly player identified the dead council members and revealed that he belonged to the Rationality Association.
• Hu Xuan crossed the table to join Cheng Shi and introduced Wei Zhi as Truth’s chosen one and the Rationality Association’s head.
• Wei Zhi thanked Cheng Shi for taking down 0221 and offered everything he had in exchange for Zainjil.
• Cheng Shi refused to agree without a practical show of gratitude, and a silent long-haired player applauded him.

Cheng Shi met Meng Youfang, the Chosen of Time, during the trial and won his fervent support by seeming to validate his claim to a divine throne. He decided to keep Meng close because he needed a believer of Time for his backup plan, then learned the identities and allegiances of the other teammates.

• Hu Xuan introduced Meng Youfang as the bard leading the Worship God Society and the current Chosen of Time.
• Cheng Shi cautiously praised Meng Youfang and advised him to keep a low profile until he reclaimed his divine throne, which made Meng believe Cheng was the first person to understand him.
• Cheng Shi denied seeking a reward and claimed he had spoken sincerely, leaving the others astonished that Meng trusted him.
• Cheng Shi decided to tolerate Meng's attention because he needed a believer of Time to support his backup plan.
• Meng identified Fang Yuan as the nominal president of the Order Alliance and dismissed the pale-skinned teammate as a madman with delusions.

At the Three-Day Tower, Cheng Shi’s group tried to investigate the Scholarly Council’s dead Grand Scholars and split up before Galiusha arrived. Just as Cheng Shi prepared to leave, the Assassin of Memory attacked him over his connection to Zhen Xin, and Meng Youfang intervened.

• Square and Round urged the group to investigate the Grand Scholars’ deaths and find the experiment needed for the trial, while Wei Zhi searched Ernil’s trail by consuming his flesh and blood.
• Square and Round entered a void with a corpse, and Cheng Shi proposed that everyone investigate separately and meet in three hours at the ruins of Yesterday’s Truth.
• Meng Youfang gave the exact real-world time, and Cheng Shi learned that his pale-skinned teammate resented his relationship with Zhen Xin.
• Cheng Shi revealed that he was the History School’s vice president, prompting the teammate to call him a servant of Deception and attack him.
• Cheng Shi readied a scalpel, but Meng Youfang moved to defend him.

Cheng Shi and Hu Xuan escaped the Three-Day Tower while Meng Youfang fought the Pale-skinned Man with Zhen Yi summoned beside him. Hu Xuan explained why Chen Yi hated Deception believers, leaving Cheng Shi stunned by the story of Chen Yi’s obsessive devotion to Memory and his feud with Zhen Xin.

• Meng Youfang summoned Zhen Yi to fight the Pale-skinned Man and told Cheng Shi to leave while he finished the trial.
• Cheng Shi grabbed Hu Xuan and escaped through a window, then revealed he planned to have the Bellringer Knights search Tusnat for the Scholarly Council’s elders.
• Hu Xuan told Cheng Shi that Chen Yi, a Chosen of Memory, hated Deception believers and had become fixated on the god Memory.
• Hu Xuan explained that Zhen Yi had urged Chen Yi to change his gender, while Zhen Xin later told him that Deception’s god called other gods brothers.
• Chen Yi went mad after hearing this and began targeting Deception believers, with his hostility toward Cheng Shi heightened by Cheng Shi’s relationship with Zhen Xin.

Cheng Shi impersonated a high-ranking Twilight Church figure to redirect the Bellringer Knights and revealed to Hu Xuan that vessels could be traded. He left Hu Xuan wondering how many vessels he possessed and whether his disguise would attract trouble from the real Katarro.

• Cheng Shi disguised himself in Twilight Church robes and scolded a Bellringer Knight for letting chaos disrupt the assault on the Scholarly Council.
• Cheng Shi threw the Vessel of Chaos at the knight, convinced him that he was the Great One, and sent him to find the Church's leader.
• Hu Xuan recognized the vessel and questioned why Cheng Shi could manifest it in reality when hers existed only in her consciousness.
• Cheng Shi explained that he had multiple vessels and that vessels could be traded, attributing the authority to trade them to the one he indicated in the sky.
• Hu Xuan asked whether Cheng Shi's impersonation of the chaos figure would provoke the real one, and Cheng Shi privately dismissed the concern.

Cheng Shi and Hu Xuan went to Pelaya's laboratory to investigate why Grand Scholars had seized the Desolate Walker's body. They discovered that the body and several Existence Tracing School scholars were gone, and Cheng Shi set out to question those at the scene.

• Cheng Shi told Hu Xuan that he had taken the Gift of Scars and explained why the Grand Scholars might have seized the Desolate Walker's body to save Tusnat.
• Cheng Shi and Hu Xuan questioned two informants and followed their directions to Pelaya's laboratory.
• Cheng Shi and Hu Xuan found corpses and signs of fierce infighting around the laboratory, but arrived after the body had been taken.
• Square and Round emerged from the void and told Cheng Shi that the Desolate Walker and several Existence Tracing School scholars had disappeared.
• Cheng Shi entered the laboratory and said he would ask the people there what had happened.

Cheng Shi and Square and Round deduced that the Scholarly Council had staged the fake deaths to delay Galiusha while preparing an experiment-based trap involving the Desolate Walker. Their search for the Grand Scholars was interrupted when Meng Youfang arrived after fighting and continued to mistake Cheng Shi’s feigned interest for sincere friendship.

• Cheng Shi questioned the dead scholars and learned that they had been ordered to seize the Desolate Walker, while only their two unknown Grand Scholar leaders knew the full plan.
• Cheng Shi and Square and Round reasoned that the Scholarly Council had deliberately left clues to make Galiusha hesitate and buy time.
• Cheng Shi concluded that the Grand Scholars were preparing an experimental trap somewhere in Tusnat, and Square and Round proposed that the trial might require them to help the Council correct its defeat.
• When Cheng Shi asked about the experiment, Hu Xuan advised him to seek Wei Zhi’s knowledge of the Scholarly Council and the Tower of Reason.
• Meng Youfang arrived covered in blood and told Cheng Shi that he had fought cautiously, then claimed his divine name and memories would return after his training.

Meng Youfang summoned a temporal reflection of Pelaya so the group could learn about the Scholarly Council and its experiments. Pelaya revealed that Warren still held the Truth Ritual, leaving the group to wonder what experiment it could begin.

• Meng Youfang suggested questioning a Grand Scholar and offered to summon one temporal reflection.
• Cheng Shi chose Pelaya, reasoning that an enemy of the Scholarly Council might reveal more than one of its loyal members.
• Meng Youfang summoned Pelaya, and Square and Round explained the situation and asked about the Council’s plans for its experimental materials.
• Pelaya said she could help if the group aided her, then explained that Warren ruled the nation and held the Truth Ritual.
• Pelaya revealed that the Truth Ritual, a demigod-level creation said to be capable of creating Truth, remained in Warren’s hands.

Pelaya explained how the Truth Ritual reshaped faith cores using human lives as consumables, revealing the Tower of Reason’s rules and priorities. When Cheng Shi asked why she had betrayed the Scholarly Council, she said she had no regrets because truth was not the only thing in the world.

• Pelaya taught the players that the Truth Ritual could reorganize faith cores and required people as raw materials.
• Cheng Shi questioned why natural materials could not be used, and Pelaya explained that human faith cores contained more truth than those of other things.
• Square and Round asked why scholars were not used as fuel, and Pelaya cited a law forbidding scholars from using their own lives in experiments.
• Meng Youfang praised Pelaya’s lesson, and Cheng Shi redirected the conversation by asking why she had betrayed the Scholarly Council.
• Pelaya looked toward the Three-Day Truth Tower and declared that she regretted nothing because truth was not the only thing in the world.

Pelaya revealed that the Scholarly Council planned to rewind time by deconstructing the connection between her and the Desolate Walker, potentially targeting Galiusha as well. After the group split up to investigate, the Twilight Church arrived at the laboratory.

• Pelaya concluded that the Scholarly Council intended to rewind time and erase the consequences of her betrayal, possibly using Galiusha as another target.
• Pelaya could not identify where the Scholarly Council would set its trap before her image vanished.
• Square and Round left to search suspicious locations south of the city.
• Cheng Shi sent Hu Xuan to investigate the northern part of the city and stayed with Meng Youfang for another scene.
• Three men and one woman from the Twilight Church appeared in the courtyard outside the laboratory.

Cheng Shi posed as the Great One to command the Twilight Church in Tusnat City, but Galiusha recognized him and he stopped her from leaving. The two faced each other as Galiusha called him Mr. Prisoner.

• Cheng Shi put on clerical robes and went to confront the Twilight Church rulers, leaving Meng Youfang behind as a possible scapegoat.
• Cheng Shi recognized Galiusha among the rulers’ followers, but she lowered her head and did not expose him.
• Cheng Shi rebuked the rulers and gave them a decree ordering them to intensify the chaos and overthrow Order in Tusnat.
• The three rulers accepted Cheng Shi as the Great One and left to carry out his orders, while Galiusha began to withdraw.
• Cheng Shi stopped Galiusha and greeted her, and she addressed him as Mr. Prisoner.

Cheng Shi confronted Galiusha and questioned why she wanted to destroy civilization. Galiusha explained that she sought to end suffering by keeping truth and wisdom from the masses, while the unseen Lord of Grace watched and mocked her conviction.

• Cheng Shi recognized how much Galiusha had changed and asked what she was thinking as she targeted scholars.
• Galiusha accused Cheng Shi of secretly manipulating the Twilight Church and proposed becoming his partner in destroying the world.
• Cheng Shi denied her suspicions but promised not to interfere with her plans if she explained her purpose.
• Galiusha said human meddling with wisdom caused suffering and vowed to remove truth from the masses so civilization could remain peaceful.
• Cheng Shi realized that Folly’s influence had turned Galiusha’s desire for revenge into a mission to prevent suffering.
• An unseen pair of eyes watched the exchange and mocked Galiusha’s grand act of foolishness.

Cheng Shi manipulated Meng Youfang into believing he was Folly, a lesser god of Nothingness and Deception’s emissary, while posing as his invigilator. After Cheng Shi showed Meng the Order ring as proof, Meng resolved to continue his trial until he reclaimed his divine throne.

• Galiusha left, and Cheng Shi kept her marked in case she tried to scheme against him.
• Meng Youfang greeted Cheng Shi as a fellow god and guessed that he was an apostle of Chaos.
• Cheng Shi claimed to be Folly, a lesser god of Nothingness and Deception’s emissary, and described his actions as part of Meng’s trial.
• Cheng Shi said he could end the trial early, but Meng insisted it continue until he reclaimed his divine throne.
• Cheng Shi showed Meng the Order ring, and Meng recognized its power as proof of Cheng’s invigilator role.