Recaps

Cheng Shi learned that Destiny had begun accepting Faith Fusions on a large scale and worried She was gathering power as Nothingness neared a rupture. The chapter ended with him realizing that God of Merriment had already prepared a separate faith for the coming split.

• Hu Wei and Da Yi discussed drawing closer to Nothingness, and Da Yi asked Cheng Shi for guidance on Faith Fusion.
• Da Yi chose to fuse with Destiny, hoping to investigate Her recent changes, and Cheng Shi warned that She was usually indifferent.
• Da Yi explained that Destiny had recently accepted many players' prayers for dual-faith fusion, prompting Cheng Shi to suspect She was expanding Her power of faith.
• Cheng Shi asked whether any Followers of Deception had fused with Destiny, and Hu Wei said he knew of none among the peak players and agreed to investigate.
• Cheng Shi linked Destiny's expansion and the Void Civil War to an approaching rupture of Nothingness, then realized God of Merriment had prepared a faith separate from His main body.

Cheng Shi learned that Li Jingming had returned to reality and puzzled over the God of Merriment’s cryptic message about a clown and its audience. He realized Deception might be guiding him to merge faith in Ultraman with faith in Lord Foolish Play, leaving him to recognize that She had prepared this path to godhood long ago.

• Cheng Shi warned Da Yi to watch Destiny’s believers and avoid provoking Her, then promised that he and Hu Wei could walk the Chaos Divine Steps again after their mission.
• Katarro told Cheng Shi that Li Jingming had awakened in the void, waited for him, and eventually returned to reality without being summoned by the Lord of Grace.
• Katarro relayed the God of Merriment’s message that a clown’s identity depended on what the audience believed it to be.
• Cheng Shi realized that Ultraman and Lord Foolish Play were different roles before different audiences, and that believers might redirect their faith from the Chaos vessel to the Deception vessel.
• Cheng Shi understood that Deception had planted traces of Ultraman throughout history to establish Lord Foolish Play and prepare His path to godhood.

Cheng Shi spoke with Li Jingming after escaping the mirror, and learned that the Dragon King had chosen to relive his own past at Yunye Temple. Li Jingming admitted he had become lost in the mirror and warned that preserving another person’s memories in detail could destabilize one’s consciousness, while Cheng Shi pressed him to reveal what he had seen.

• Cheng Shi considered how to guide players toward discovering Ultraman’s identity and exposing Deception’s tampering with history.
• Li Jingming called Cheng Shi and asked how he had escaped the mirror, but Cheng Shi tried to turn the question into a memory exchange.
• Li Jingming said he had chosen to revisit his own past at Yunye Temple and preserve its memories for himself.
• Cheng Shi accused Li Jingming of getting lost in other people’s memories before retracing his old path, and Li Jingming admitted he had failed to find the jesters’ deeper memories.
• Li Jingming explained that preserving another person’s memories in detail could cause consciousness to waver, and Cheng Shi demanded to know what memories of the jesters he had seen.

Cheng Shi learned that Li Jingming’s Nightmare Shadow had left the mirror and that My Nightmare, Your Dream had stopped working on the Dragon King. Li Jingming offered the mirror as a clown asset, but refused to reveal the Black Dragon King’s letter until Cheng Shi told him the truth about the path he had taken.

• Cheng Shi discovered that Li Jingming had never seen the seventh path and lied that he had escaped by climbing the maze’s mirrored walls.
• Li Jingming told Cheng Shi that his Nightmare Shadow had left Yunye Temple with a letter and that My Nightmare, Your Dream no longer worked on him.
• Cheng Shi volunteered to test the mirror, and Li Jingming agreed to make it a common clown asset that Cheng Shi could manage.
• Li Jingming offered to reveal the Black Dragon King’s letter in exchange for the truth about Cheng Shi’s escape, but he recognized Cheng Shi’s answer as a lie and ended the call.
• Li Jingming stored six name-marked scriptures in the temple’s repository, prayed, read the note saying “Desire is not a crime. I'll spare you this once,” and silently recited a name.

Cheng Shi entered Folly’s Prayer Trial to investigate a town near the Tower of Civilization Isolation, but woke badly injured in a cliffside prison with five other players. Among them were Chen Shu, Mo Shu, Ji Yue, and the mysterious Wei Mu, who seemed to recognize Cheng Shi as the Fate Weaver.

• Cheng Shi called Zhang Jizu to join him in investigating Folly town, while the Lord of Grace told Zhang Jizu to finish carving Truth’s tombstone and warned that Old Bones could not enter Folly’s territory.
• Cheng Shi prayed to observe life in a town near Tower of Civilization Isolation No. 413 and entered Folly’s trial, whose objective was described only as “Yet another foolish act.”
• Cheng Shi woke in a cliffside prison with shattered limbs and severe injuries, then used his shadow to heal himself.
• Cheng Shi recognized Chen Shu, Mo Shu, and Ji Yue among his fellow prisoners, while an unfamiliar woman regarded him with hostility.
• An unremarkable man greeted Cheng Shi as the Fate Weaver, and Chen Shu identified him as Wei Mu, leaving Cheng Shi stunned.

Wei Mu identified the prison’s likely location and leapt from the cliff after declaring he had found the answer. While Mo Shu and Chen Shu fought over the cakes, Cheng Shi and Ji Yue escaped the collapsing prison, leaving Mo Shu caught in Chen Shu’s verbal trap.

• Wei Mu deduced that the prison was near a Tower of Civilization Isolation ranked within the first four hundred and twenty, then jumped from the cliff, saying he had found the answer.
• Mo Shu ate six cakes to annihilate his pain and began feeding cakes to his female teammate.
• Chen Shu stole and ate the cakes meant for Mo Shu’s teammate, prompting Mo Shu to punch him and start a fight.
• Mo Shu and Chen Shu fought evenly, nearly tearing apart the cliffside prison.
• Cheng Shi slipped through the shattered railing to continue his mission, and Ji Yue fled shortly afterward.
• Chen Shu taunted Mo Shu with contradictory demands about annihilating his words, leaving Mo Shu frustrated and conflicted.

Cheng Shi escaped the prison in Redicor and learned that its people revered folly while outlawing foolish acts. At the statue of the first Hunter of Fools, he saw its eyes move and was approached by Ji Yue, who explained the statue’s wind-driven design.

• Cheng Shi left the prison disguised as a Foolishness Prohibition Guard and discovered that passersby mocked him rather than respecting his authority.
• Cheng Shi subdued a passerby and learned that Redicor was a mountain city known as the birthplace of the first Hunter of Fools, where foolish acts were forbidden.
• Cheng Shi went to the town center to inspect the statue of the first Hunter of Fools and suspected that the town’s secrets were connected to it.
• The statue’s stone eyes shifted and cast a gaze on Cheng Shi, though the worshippers nearby showed no surprise.
• Ji Yue joined Cheng Shi and explained that wind moved the statue’s lightweight stone eyeballs.

Cheng Shi avoided Ji Yue’s attempt to recruit him into investigating the trial, then gathered rumors in Redicor about the dead executioner, Koshner. As he was about to leave the street, he spotted a familiar bald man calling him “brother-in-law.”

• Ji Yue greeted Cheng Shi as the hero who had foiled Experiment 0221 and asked him to help investigate the trial’s crime.
• Cheng Shi refused to team up, but Ji Yue noticed he knew she followed Truth and questioned how he had learned that.
• Cheng Shi explained that Ji Yue’s way of reasoning had revealed her affiliation, then left before she could press him further.
• Cheng Shi listened to townspeople discuss Koshner’s death and their acceptance of the prisoners’ convictions.
• A bald man appeared at the end of the street and called out to Cheng Shi as his brother-in-law.

Cheng Shi questioned Chen Shu about the Fire Keepers and learned that Chen Shu had no idea their Hope’s Flame existed. The two noticed the residents had gone silent, and Chen Shu identified the historian Zhao Xishi as the cause.

• Chen Shu followed Cheng Shi while chattering, then fell silent when Cheng Shi asked how Qin Xin had taught him to pass on the flame.
• Chen Shu said he joined the Fire Keepers because he was afraid of dying, and Cheng Shi admitted he felt the same before punching Chen Shu for calling him his brother-in-law.
• Cheng Shi asked about the Fire Keepers’ Hope’s Flame, and Chen Shu revealed that Qin Xin had recruited him as an independent branch without taking him to headquarters.
• Cheng Shi and Chen Shu noticed the residents had gone quiet, and Chen Shu said the historian Zhao Xishi was nearby.
• Chen Shu explained that Zhao Xishi had a history with him and Cheng Shi, then promised to stand with Cheng Shi as a Fire Keeper who sheltered brother-in-laws.

Cheng Shi and Chen Shu were ambushed by Mo Shu and Zhao Xishi, but they fought back and forced the attackers to retreat. Chen Shu then collapsed from the annihilation power he had secretly swallowed, and Cheng Shi rushed him toward an alley for help.

• Cheng Shi discovered that Chen Shu had eaten a trapped cake and was suppressing annihilation power, so he treated him and gave him medicine.
• Mo Shu attacked Chen Shu, who revealed he had already expelled most of the annihilation power and fought the Cleaner head-on.
• Zhao Xishi ambushed Cheng Shi as a passerby, but he dodged her dagger and escaped the exploding Memory illusion.
• Cheng Shi and Chen Shu regrouped back-to-back, and Mo Shu withdrew after being told there was no chance to continue.
• Chen Shu collapsed after admitting he had lied about clearing the annihilation power, and Cheng Shi dragged him toward a dark alley.

Mo Shu and Zhao Xishi discussed their search for the secret Jie Shu had mentioned and agreed to pursue their original plan. Cheng Shi resurrected Chen Shu, who learned that Annihilation was hunting him and immediately peppered him with questions.

• Mo Shu and Zhao Xishi considered whether the secret lay with the Fate Weaver, Wei Mu, or other players, then agreed that Mo Shu would follow his Lord of Grace's decree while Zhao Xishi investigated Cheng Shi.
• Cheng Shi used the Lush Antler Crown to resurrect Chen Shu after deciding that killing and reviving him cost less mental energy than healing him.
• Chen Shu guessed that the Cleanser had annihilated Cheng Shi's shadow, and Cheng Shi confirmed that Annihilation's believers were pursuing him.
• Cheng Shi told Chen Shu that he had angered Annihilation by striking It with lightning, but Chen Shu doubted him and kept asking questions.
• Cheng Shi threatened to expose Chen Shu as a Fire Keeper unless he stopped talking or left; Chen Shu then asked to take back his earlier comment.

Cheng Shi and Chen Shu investigated Redicor and discovered that Ji Yue had deliberately gotten them wanted to draw out clues about their identities. After overhearing Candelt’s suspicious orders about Koshner’s death, Cheng Shi agreed to speak privately with Ji Yue, who asked what it meant to pass on the flame.

• Cheng Shi and Chen Shu learned that the six escapees were wanted, and Chen Shu openly misdirected the Foolishness Prohibition Guards searching for them.
• Cheng Shi and Chen Shu saw Ji Yue at a public execution, where she revealed that she had reported the group and disguised herself in the portraits to attract attention.
• Cheng Shi warned Chen Shu that Ji Yue, an Erudite Scholar, might experiment on people, while the guards carried out the execution under Candelt’s direction.
• Cheng Shi and Chen Shu secretly overheard Candelt order an investigation into Koshner’s death and the control of outsiders, then concluded that Candelt was lying and acting suspiciously.
• Ji Yue asked to speak privately with Cheng Shi, and after he sent Chen Shu away, she asked what it meant to pass on the flame.

Ji Yue revealed that she had joined the Fire Keepers and tried to recruit Cheng Shi, but he refused, demanding that they kill Annihilation to resolve his concerns. She left him as a friend of the Fire Keepers, only to find that he had slipped away.

• Ji Yue set up a barrier and explained that the gods used the Faith Game to manipulate mortals, then asked Cheng Shi to join the Fire Keepers.
• Cheng Shi denied being motivated by kindness, but Ji Yue argued that his actions in an Experiment Field showed he was suited to protect others.
• Ji Yue urged Cheng Shi to join the Fire Keepers and promised to help resolve his worries; Cheng Shi challenged her to kill Annihilation.
• Ji Yue realized she could not fulfill his demand and asked whether Fang Shiqing had approached him, while explaining that she had meant to recruit him for the City Defenders.
• Ji Yue bowed to Cheng Shi and called him a friend of the Fire Keepers, but when she looked up, he had disappeared.

Cheng Shi searched Candelt's residence for clues about the Gaze of Mockery while Cheng Shu read an investigation report about murmurs from the Hunter of Fools idol. Cheng Shi discovered that pages had been torn from the report and suspected the idol concealed Redicor's secret, while Cheng Shu took the bargain as proof they were now Fire Keeper colleagues.

• Cheng Shu followed Cheng Shi and repeatedly tried to persuade him to join the Fire Keepers, while Cheng Shi headed to Candelt's residence.
• Cheng Shi searched Candelt's study for clues about the Gaze of Mockery, and Cheng Shu entered and asked why Cheng Shi had not stopped him from contacting a scholar.
• Cheng Shi handed Cheng Shu an investigation report about murmurs from the Hunter of Fools idol and got him to read it aloud by promising to consider joining the Fire Keepers.
• Cheng Shu read that witnesses heard the idol's murmurs after drinking, but investigators and sound-recording equipment detected nothing unusual.
• Cheng Shi noticed the report's writing styles differed and found scraps near its spine, concluding that several pages had been torn out.
• Cheng Shi suspected the idol held Redicor's secret, while Cheng Shu declared that the report-reading bargain made them colleagues and called Cheng Shi brother-in-law.

Cheng Shu tried to recruit Cheng Shi into the Fire Keepers, calling him the solution to the world, while secretly investigating Folly on Qin Xin’s orders. Cheng Shi realized his reaction had revealed something and burned the document; Cheng Shu responded by producing gasoline.

• Cheng Shu urged Cheng Shi to join the Fire Keepers and said he was the solution to the world.
• Cheng Shi wondered whether Cheng Shu knew something about the real universe, while Cheng Shu’s hidden goal was to learn about Folly.
• Hope's Flame told Qin Xin about Folly, and Qin Xin assigned Cheng Shu to investigate the Deception envoy.
• After failing to learn about Folly from the History School, Cheng Shu prayed to Silence and was sent into the trial where Cheng Shi was present.
• Cheng Shi denied knowing how to pass on the flame, then set the document and curtains on fire.
• Cheng Shu pulled out a bucket of gasoline after agreeing with Cheng Shi’s explanation.

Cheng Shi and Chen Shu set fire to Candelt’s house to uncover what Candelt was hiding, then found the real Candelt’s corpse buried beneath the bedroom. Cheng Shi concluded that someone had killed Candelt and impersonated him to approach the secret inside the divine statue, and prepared to question the dead man.

• Chen Shu accidentally soaked himself and Cheng Shi in gasoline before Cheng Shi’s house fire drew Candelt back to inspect the ruins.
• Cheng Shi realized Candelt had repeatedly checked the bedroom to make sure something beneath one patch of ground remained undisturbed.
• Chen Shu stomped around the spot, exposing a buried corpse that Cheng Shi and Chen Shu recognized as the real Candelt.
• Chen Shu deduced that the Candelt who had inspected the fire was an impostor seeking the secret inside the divine statue.
• Cheng Shi suspected the impostor might be connected to chaos and took out his Finger Bone Brooch to question Candelt.

Cheng Shi learned that Redicor's idol had bestowed divine grace upon Koshner and found that Koshner's corpse was missing its eyes. He suspected the eyes might have been the Gaze of Mockery and began considering how to question the dead executioner.

• Cheng Shi used the Finger Bone to ask Candelt's corpse what secret was hidden inside the Hunter of Fools idol, and it revealed that the idol had manifested and bestowed divine grace upon Koshner.
• Cheng Shi dismissed Chen Shu's attempt to trade for the Finger Bone Brooch and returned with him to the Foolishness Prohibition Institute.
• Cheng Shi and Chen Shu found Koshner's corpse in the morgue, and Cheng Shi noticed that both of Koshner's eyes were missing.
• Cheng Shi inspected Koshner's fatal neck wound and suspected someone had restrained and killed him to take his eyes.
• Cheng Shi wondered whether Koshner's missing eyes were the Gaze of Mockery as an unknown figure approached the institute.

Ji Yue refused Zhao Xishi’s offer to help hunt Cheng Shi and attacked her instead, alerting the Cleaners’ target before escaping. Zhao Xishi’s forces then confronted Cheng Shi, whose shadow killed her.

• Ji Yue searched for clues to the Fire Keeper’s God Creation Plan and went to the Foolishness Prohibition Institute after losing track of Candelt.
• Zhao Xishi offered Ji Yue rewards in exchange for helping the Cleaners trap Cheng Shi, but Ji Yue attacked her and fled into the void.
• Zhao Xishi activated formations around the institute, but Ji Yue’s attack had already alerted Cheng Shi.
• Mo Shu arrived, and Chen Shu mocked Zhao Xishi and Mo Shu from the institute’s entrance.
• Shadow Cheng Shi appeared behind Zhao Xishi, broke her neck, and killed her.

Zhao Xishi survived Cheng Shi’s attack by sacrificing a historical substitute, while Mo Shu and his enemies withdrew after an unknown force disrupted Cheng Shi’s power. Zhao Xishi proposed recruiting Ji Yue against the Fate Weaver once she recovered, but Mo Shu remained wary of the plan.

• Zhao Xishi’s historical substitute died in her place, leaving the real Zhao Xishi temporarily weakened and unable to fight.
• Mo Shu defended himself against Cheng Shi, Shadow Cheng Shi, and Chen Shu until an unknown force annihilated Cheng Shi’s mark on him, prompting both sides to retreat.
• The Foolishness Prohibition Guards arrived at the ruined alley and learned that Lord Candelt was missing, then turned on their captain for admitting they could not report it.
• Mo Shu confronted Zhao Xishi at a house outside town, warning her against acting superior while she was weak.
• Zhao Xishi told Mo Shu that she planned to recruit Ji Yue by helping her recover memories contaminated by the Fate Weaver, and Mo Shu questioned whether Ji Yue would join them.

Cheng Shi vanished to escape Herobas’s attention and began considering a plan to kill the emissary by drawing a god into the conflict. Meanwhile, Chen Shu sought Ji Yue and revealed his supposed connection to the Fire Keeper’s God Creation Plan, leaving her to wonder who he really was.

• Cheng Shi used the Chaos Acting Method and exchanged beliefs with Shadow Cheng Shi to disappear from Chen Shu, then considered a gamble against Herobas.
• Chen Shu searched for Cheng Shi, decided to find Ji Yue, and went looking for her near the Hunter of Fools statue.
• Ji Yue attacked the statue with a torrent of blades, but the weapons lost their momentum before reaching it.
• Chen Shu revealed the Fire Keeper’s code phrase and the God Creation Plan to stop Ji Yue from leaving.
• Chen Shu told the stunned Ji Yue that he was the man behind Qin Xin.

Chen Shu told Ji Yue that Cheng Shi was connected to Fool's Game, so they set out to eliminate the Cleaner and the Historian before searching for him. Meanwhile, Shadow Cheng Shi and Cheng Shi cornered a drunkard who appeared to know about the Idol Murmurs.

• Ji Yue questioned Chen Shu's claim that Qin Xin and An Mingyu had recruited him, and Chen Shu said Cheng Shi had disappeared.
• Chen Shu told Ji Yue that Qin Xin had sent him to investigate Fool's Game and that Cheng Shi knew about it; Ji Yue agreed they needed to find Cheng Shi and learn about Fool's Game.
• Ji Yue decided to deal with the Cleaner and the Historian first, and she and Chen Shu headed out together.
• Chen Shu set himself on fire, and Ji Yue demanded that he put it out so they would not be spotted or endanger their mission.
• Shadow Cheng Shi restrained a drunkard in an alley while Cheng Shi threatened him with a scalpel and questioned him about the Idol Murmurs.

Cheng Shi interrogated Max and learned how Candelt murdered Koshner to steal a divine gift, but neither Max nor Cheng Shi knew where the gift was hidden. Cheng Shi let Max go on the condition that he remain in Redicor and help find it, and Max learned that Cheng Shi claimed to know Lord Ultraman well.

• Max confessed that Candelt used emotion-controlling drugs to make Redicor citizens kill Koshner, then took control of them and directed the murder.
• Max revealed that he killed Candelt after discovering Candelt had murdered Koshner for a divine gift, then impersonated him to search for it.
• Max said he had not torn up Koshner's report and described how Koshner received the divine gift after getting drunk before the idol.
• Max disclosed that he worshipped Chaos and had hunted the escaped prisoners because he suspected the gift had affected them.
• Cheng Shi ordered Max to stay in Redicor until the divine gift was found, and Max reacted with shock when Cheng Shi said he was familiar with Lord Ultraman.

Cheng Shi learned that the Hunter of Fools' idol stood over Skalt's grave and went to investigate it for clues to a creation of Folly. Meanwhile, Ji Yue faced Zhao Xishi, and Chen Shu unexpectedly returned to help her attack.

• Cheng Shi learned from Max that the Hunter of Fools' idol had been erected over the grave of Skalt, the first Hunter of Fools, and that strange events had once occurred around it.
• Cheng Shi planted a Dice on Max, released him, and sent Shadow Cheng Shi toward the idol while he hid nearby; Max later examined the Dice and looked back at the idol.
• Ji Yue sent Chen Shu away to search separately, and Chen Shu's parting remark angered her before Zhao Xishi appeared and challenged her.
• Zhao Xishi struck Ji Yue after her spear vanished, and Ji Yue opened the void to unleash weapons from an ancient battlefield near Mo Shu.
• Chen Shu burst through the storm of weapons and attacked Zhao Xishi, while Ji Yue taunted Mo Shu about which of them would die first.

Chen Shi rescued the mortally wounded Ji Yue instead of killing Zhao Xishi, allowing Zhao Xishi and Mo Shu to escape. As Ji Yue asked Chen Shi to burn her body after she died, a powerful Healing Art struck the room and an unseen Priest refused to let her die.

• Ji Yue unleashed a wave of flames against Mo Shu, but Zhao Xishi used a pseudo-divine artifact to attack Ji Yue with azure threads.
• Chen Shi froze the battlefield with his silence ability, tore away some of the threads, and carried Ji Yue to safety.
• Mo Shu warned Zhao Xishi that she had risked her life, while Zhao Xishi predicted Chen Shi would take Ji Yue to the Fate Weaver and help bring the Purgatory Bishop back.
• Chen Shi brought Ji Yue to a residence and gave her potions, but she told him her injuries and contamination left her no time.
• Ji Yue asked Chen Shi to burn her body after her death, and he promised as she urged him to let her finish speaking.
• A powerful Healing Art washed over Ji Yue, and an unseen Priest declared that he would not let her die.

Cheng Shi saved Ji Yue by sharing his vitality with her, then demanded payment from Chen Shu before explaining what he knew about the Foolish Play. Chen Shu traded him an S-rank Silence Incarnate Puppet, and Cheng Shi began to explain the Foolish Play.

• Cheng Shi used the power of Order and his Endless Life to treat Ji Yue's injuries and put her into a peaceful sleep.
• Cheng Shi teased Chen Shu about his dramatic attempt to find him, then demanded an equivalent item as payment for treating Ji Yue.
• Chen Shu explained what he and Ji Yue had done and asked Cheng Shi about the Foolish Play.
• Chen Shu gave Cheng Shi a Silence Incarnate Puppet, an S-rank sacred artifact that could silence everything nearby when smashed.
• Cheng Shi accepted the puppet despite learning that its effect would silence him too, and prepared to explain the Foolish Play.