His Willfulness Could Not Be Stopped by Anyone

Upon hearing these two questions, Yu Xing thought to himself, "As expected of me."

It's obvious he could have gotten that answer from that question.

"That's not all," he continued, "Even if you didn't exist in life, you can't just mess with me like that. Wouldn't it be better to have your family burn a paper effigy of a beautiful woman for you? I'm not a good person."

If this were to fall into the ears of others, it might be met with extreme ridicule, or even considered a demonic attack.

But to Yu Xing, "he" sounded like a cat with its fur slightly ruffled, and all of this was just a bluff. He could only get more information by provoking "him" to reveal his true colors through such tangential questions.

Yu Xing's smile deepened as he wrote his answers to these questions on the ground.

Is it a boy or a girl?

Male.

Do you have a partner?

None.

Not a good person?

Know.

Three short words appeared silently on the ground. Yu Xing deliberately moved closer and breathed into "his" ear. While pushing his luck, he used the heat of his breath to convey the information that he was alive.

The next second, "his" pupils contracted, and the flashlight in his hand shone backward again, breaking the previous balance. Yu Xing felt that his body was in an unprecedented illusion, and he could not even touch "his" body.

"Hmph..." Yu Xing clenched her fingers, feeling a little regretful that her hands were no longer able to feel "him".

He stood there for a while, then slowly backed away, retreating all the way to the cave entrance under Yu Xing's watchful gaze, before returning to the rubble.

Scattered on the ground were the statues that Yu Xing had just processed. He began to piece together the broken stones. The magnetic force between the stones allowed each piece to be firmly assembled. Before long, the statue was restored. The face of Yu Xing on the statue's head was lifelike, and the expression of disdain was even more vivid.

He stood there, staring at the face of the stone statue for a long time, his brows twitching slightly.

Yu Xing guessed that through this carving technique, "he" should already feel familiar with it, right?

Then, he watched as "his" hand went to the statue's neck, and he decisively twisted it, breaking the statue's neck as if his own neck had been broken.

"... Hmm, is it that I don't like this statue?" Yu Xing murmured. He had to admit that he really didn't like it. And when he was carving it, he hadn't paid attention to whether the statue contained any hidden mechanisms, so he carelessly carved his own face onto it.

He coldly took two steps back, and the ground beneath his feet trembled. The interior of the cave seemed to be undergoing a dramatic transformation. When Yu Xing followed him back in, she immediately felt that the cave was much more spacious.

As they ventured deeper, all their senses changed. In the distance, a flowing light shone, and a firefly enveloped in a glowing green light flew from the depths of the cave and landed on "his" shoulder.

Both Yu Xing and "he" quickened their pace, and when they stepped into that bright place, a new space appeared before them.

Stone statues stand on both sides of the road, and fireflies gather together, bringing clear light.

Unlike the one Yu Xing carved outside, these stone statues were faceless; instead, they were all different in shape, and Yu Xing had seen almost every one of their faces.

Carlos, Alice, Shi Jiu, Master Li, Uncle Zhang, the man with glasses, Zheng Zhan, the tomb raiding family, and so on...

Those I hadn't seen before were wearing the same clothes as Zheng Zhan, so I could assume they were from Oster Company.

Apart from Shen and Unica, all the other statues are here, and the number matches.

Most importantly... the carving techniques of these statues are different from those of Yu Xing. At least Yu Xing himself could see the differences in details at a glance. In fact, the carving techniques of these statues are more advanced than those of Yu Xing, and they must have been made by professionals.

"Besides Oster Company and Carlos's team, has anyone else been here?" Yu Xing had experienced several more days than "him" and had a more comprehensive perspective. He wasn't unaware that "he" was secretly memorizing these people's faces, but it was all in vain.

He twisted the neck of the Carlos statue, but nothing happened, so he continued forward.

Further in, there was another narrow path sloping downwards. Fireflies fell here and there in twos and threes. The rock layer gradually became shallower. After more than ten minutes, the ground turned into soil, which was then soaked with water and turned into mud.

Ultimately, a stone door blocked Yu Xing and "his" path.

On either side of the stone gate is a story depicted; the story on the left concerns demon daoist and Ghost Tree wood core, while the story on the right relates to a coffin.

Yu Xing observed for a moment and saw that the painting on the stone gate on the left side beautified the demon daoist as an innocent victim whose treasure was stolen. Without realizing it, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He seemed to hear Yu Xing's laughter, but he didn't turn around, focusing instead on the painting.

"In tombs, murals are generally used for recording information..."

He murmured, seemingly wondering who had carved the image of the demon daoist's death on the stone gate after the demon daoist and his followers had all perished.

Even though Yu Xing comes from the "future," she is still puzzled.

Because the style of the painting on this stone gate resembles his own.

If that's the case, he's been here at least three times. But when was the last time?

Is it in the future again?

If the timeline converges after he completes his mission, or at least there won't be multiple versions of him appearing simultaneously, then this future is worth considering.

Once the mission is completed, he will leave this simulation world, and his future self can only exist in the linear realm. In other words, one day after he left this simulation world, he returned here and painted this mural.

How long later?

Yu Xing's mind was clear. Although he couldn't know what would happen in the future, he was certain that some event in the future would be related to this tomb, forcing him to return here and complete the murals.

Logically speaking, Shen should have already dealt with the demon daoist Ghost Tree. Thinking about it this way, he must have indeed participated in the investigation of Ghost Tree in the future!

This discovery dispelled Yu Xing's resentment, and he was happy.

At the same time, after realizing that he was the one drawing, "he" spoke up, "What do you want me to do? I can't see you, can I?"

Yu Xing's eyes lit up. "That's so cool!"

He had indeed guessed that the person who had been following him all along was himself!

Yu Xing reached out and tapped three times on a ghost face embedded in the middle of the stone door.

Of course, for "him," who was unaware of the existence of the timeline, even if he sensed something was wrong with the timing, he still needed to confirm it further. "He" drew his bloodied Tang knife, slashed it across the demon's face, and then asked, "Are you alive?"

Upon seeing the scratch, Yu Xing knew it was "his" test, so he drew his Tang sword and drew a checkmark on it.

The problem isn't important; what's important is that "he" can confirm that the person following "him" is indeed himself by looking at the identical knife marks.

His pupils contracted, and he smiled as if he had just figured it out, "I never expected this. So, what should I do?"

Because his appearance in this space was so strange and out of the blue, "he" realized that he was the one who shouldn't have been there.

For Yu Xing, when such a problem arises, he will consider many possibilities, including that he himself is the imposter. Now, "he" has easily found the key.

Yu Xing thought he was really clever, and then circled the coffin drawn on the stone gate.

"Coffin."

He said, "Should I go back to my coffin?"

Yu Xing experienced the ease of communication with him.

He tapped the ghost mask twice more.

He now fully understood. Yu Xing took a few steps back, knowing that he no longer needed to concern himself with this task.

Because if he guesses the mission details in this timeline, he will definitely be able to complete it.

He will definitely keep his promise and lie down in the coffin behind the stone gate to completely end this mistake of time.

The difficulty of this task lies in the fact that the deducer or experiencer must kill themselves. For the deducer, this is undoubtedly the most personality-shaking thing. Even if they really kill themselves and complete the task, the increase in Personality Assimilation Degree after returning will be an unbearable consequence.

Sometimes, an excessive increase in Personality Assimilation Degree is no different from suicide. Yu Xing remembered Zhao Yijiu's family elder, who, due to Personality Assimilation Degree, became a brutal and terrifying monster who had completely lost his self-awareness.

But Yu Xing was not troubled by this; he had deep trust in himself.

Yu Xing turned around and walked alone back the way she came. The farther away she was from "him", the stronger the sense of reality became.

There was another noise behind him, it seemed to be a sneak attack by the bone vine, but "he" dealt with it easily. Yu Xing didn't even turn his head, only heard "him" let out a soft sigh after the stone door opened.

In this timeline, Yu Xing said before stepping through the stone gate, "I believe you."

Just as Yu Xing trusts "him" now, "he" also trusts himself, who has appeared out of nowhere.

A madman finds it hard to trust the world, but he finds it easier to trust himself than an ordinary person.

The stone gate closed, and Yu Xing walked back to the very first stone wall and abyss.

He stood on the edge of the stone wall, waiting, almost one more step and he would fall, never to be saved, and be shattered to pieces.

[You have completed the Main Quest]

About ten minutes later, a system notification appeared in his mind.

[Quest Reward: Survival]

[Because you did not choose to kill your version of yourself in this timeline, you have received a hidden reward: the Key of Self]

[Mission complete. Liquidation will take place in reality. Leaving the simulation. Countdown: 10, 9...]

Almost the instant the countdown began, Yu Xing's smile suddenly widened, revealing a crazed grin as he spread his arms and leaned forward.

He stood by the stone wall, like a bird with broken wings, falling into a bottomless abyss.

[8...]

[7...]

The wind blew from below, as if tearing Yu Xing's exposed skin, causing her slightly long black hair to fly upwards, and her narrow phoenix eyes to squint, yet stubbornly refusing to close.

[6...]

[5...]

What lies Yuan Xia?

This is inside Heavy Yin Mountain. No matter how high the mountain is, it should have an end.

Even the deepest abyss must have a bottom; what could possibly be at its bottom?

The wind howled and roared, screaming in Yu Xing's ears.

Yu Xing fell, he finally couldn't help but let out a somewhat manic laugh. Even though the laugh was instantly blown away, it couldn't stop a madman from going crazy.

[4...]

[3...]

Tiny specks of firefly light pierced the darkness and appeared in Yu Xing's field of vision.

Fireflies are not bright; as the saying goes, "The light of a firefly cannot compete with the brilliance of the moon."

But here, we don't need a bright moon; fireflies are enough.

A hazy tree shadow appeared in the firefly light, becoming clearer as Yu Xing fell.

[2...]

The shadows of the trees, carrying a sticky, bloody stench, blotted out the sky and grew rampantly in some distant places.

Human heads hung from the treetops and below, their roots intertwined and bulging like small mounds.

Yu Xing's laughter became clearer.

Joke.

How could he possibly listen to Shen's words and actually give up on seeing Ghost Tree even once?

The power within Ghost Tree resonated with his own, and it was related to the secret he had been pursuing. The connection was so deep that even though Chen was just a stranger he had met for the first time, no matter how nicely "fate" or "destiny" was used, it was not enough to shake Yu Xing's interest.

Shen is not qualified enough. No, in the face of Yu Xing's willfulness, no one is qualified.

Yuan Xia, there must be only the Ghost Tree, whose true form could never be seen in the tomb palace. Yu Xing had already guessed this outcome the moment he saw the abyss.

[1...]

The last second.

He saw, in the glow of the fireflies, a figure that had somehow descended to the bottom of the abyss, standing in the center of a giant tree, its body covered in black patterns, looking at him with a hint of shock as he fell from the sky.

Yu Xing Yu Fengchen an extremely provocative and delighted laugh. The giant tree's branches trembled, as if before it could do anything to the intruder, Yu Xing's body disappeared as the countdown reached zero.

Because this was the very moment when Yu Xing sat up from the black coffin in the ancestral hall and overturned Carlos's paper effigy.

The timeline began to split in Yu Xing's world and converged in this world, at Yu Xing, naturally, Yu Xing ceased to exist.

The uninvited guest from the abyss arrived suddenly and left even more gracefully. Yu Fengchen's fingers were stuck in the bark of the Ghost Tree, his pale skin covered with fine black lines, and his eyes were so deep that they seemed to exude black mist.

He was locked in a stalemate with the Ghost Tree, but because he had seized half a piece of Gui Chen Wood core from the demon daoist, the Ghost Tree's attacks were not as fierce as in the legends.

Therefore, even under immense pressure, Yu Fengchen still had the energy to stammer out, "This madman..."

The sky was bright, and the sunlight was just right.

It seems that when Yu Xing was deducing this, the first thing he saw was sunlight. Having been used to darkness and cramped spaces, he felt a sense of openness and relief when he was exposed to sunlight, in addition to feeling uncomfortable.

Yu Xing raised her hand to shield her eyes from the light and slowly stood up.

The feeling of jumping off the cliff was so thrilling, and coupled with his overwhelming excitement in the last ten seconds, he was still a little dazed.

In his mind, the system began to settle accounts, making up for the results of hastily pulling Yu Xing out of the deduction as if he were fleeing.

The Sheqing Dreamscape fell onto the carpet.