Chapter 1239: Speculations About the Spacetime Dolphin Bridge |
"???"
Hong Lin was still baffled. She couldn't understand how simply bumping into Jie Shu and a stranger had shown Cheng Shi the way home.
Qin Xin seemed to have an inkling but wasn't certain yet.
Before long, Cheng Shi gathered his composure and explained to the other two:
"From the moment they appeared on this bridge — no, the moment I ran into both of you — I started wondering why I could see your physical bodies so clearly.
You've seen it too: this bridge is full of countless versions of you and me, but they're like fleeting light — gone in a flash, leaving behind nothing besides a glance that barely counts as a look.
At the time, I wondered whether we could see each other clearly because we came from the same world.
But it was only a guess, impossible to verify. Until... Jie Shu and Su Yida arrived."
"!!!"
Cheng Shi nodded, then shook his head:
"I'm not sure, but I suspect it was him.
Regardless of who it was, it doesn't affect my theory.
That clearly wasn't our world's Jie Shu. You may not know this, but our world's Jie Shu is actively trying to eliminate me — to find or create a world without me in it..."
"What?!" Hong Lin cut him off, bristling with fury. She looked ready to chase after the Jie Shu they'd just seen and take her "revenge" on him. But she realized she was far from omnipotent here — she couldn't even find Jie Shu's silhouette. So she deflated with a huff: "He wouldn't dare!"
Cheng Shi smiled knowingly and gestured for Hong Lin to calm down.
"Indeed he wouldn't. At least not while you two are at my side.
But even if he wouldn't dare, he wouldn't use such a vague excuse to justify himself. I'd imagine Jie Shu is the same type as Wei Mu.
I refuse to believe that a man seeking to 'solve' the world lacks grand ambition."
Qin Xin nodded:
"True. I've crossed paths with him a few times.
He views Wei Mu as both his greatest rival and the person he admires most.
He chases Wei Mu's footsteps, aims to challenge Wei Mu's authority, yet knows he's still far beneath him. So he's been holding back, itching to prove himself.
I just never imagined his method of proving himself would be..."
He trailed off, casting a sympathetic glance at Cheng Shi.
Hearing this, Cheng Shi grew even more certain of his theory. His gaze sharpened:
"Exactly.
He is Jie Shu — a [Folly] follower, number two on the Road to Ascension, the only player who looks up at Wei Mu while looking down on all of creation.
He wouldn't use a hasty act of folly to mask his failure. If today's encounter really was a thwarted assassination attempt, he absolutely would not have uttered those words in front of you two.
Refusing to confront failure would only push him further from Wei Mu.
Naturally, in a [Folly] follower's eyes, this doesn't count as failure — they can always rationalize anything.
But it proves that those two were definitely Jie Shu and Su Yida from another world.
And here's the interesting part: if they came from another world, why could we see them clearly — when we can't even make out other worlds' versions of ourselves?"
Qin Xin frowned, mulling it over:
"Maybe they figured out the rules and used some rule-based power? After all, only seeing people from your own world is just your hypothesis..."
But halfway through, Qin Xin's eyes lit up with sudden understanding: "You want to test the hypothesis!"
Cheng Shi snapped his fingers and laughed:
"Exactly!
Remember what Jie Shu said before he left?
'So this is where they are. Good thing we didn't jump!'
If Jie Shu is anything like Wei Mu, he never wastes a word. Even under the pressure of improvisation, his deception would only draw you in using knowledge you don't possess.
So his mention of 'jumping down' was deliberate. He wanted me to understand how to leave this twisted spacetime tunnel."
"Why? Is he really that kind-hearted?" Big Cat was confused again. She couldn't fathom why an enemy would help them at a time like this.
A keen light flashed in Qin Xin's eyes. He had already grasped Cheng Shi's meaning:
"This isn't kindness. It's pure 'malice.'
Remember what Cheng Shi said? Jie Shu wants to find a world without Cheng Shi.
He probably used some method to lock onto our world — because our world's Cheng Shi had vanished. But when he arrived at this spacetime breach, he discovered that not only had this world's Cheng Shi not disappeared — he was standing right in front of him.
With a Cheng Shi this 'powerful' already present, this world obviously no longer met his requirements.
So he urgently needed the powerful Cheng Shi to return to his original world. Only then could he continue searching for the Cheng Shi-less world unimpeded!
But he couldn't tell us the exit method outright. He could only use that ambiguously defiant [Folly]-like tone to drop us a hint..."
"Exactly!" Cheng Shi grinned. "I now suspect that simply jumping off will lead us to the way home. And the method of anchoring the correct world is probably our meeting.
I don't understand spacetime, but I understand [Folly].
They have genuine talent for looking down on others. And they never assume the world is full of wise men. Only by telling 'those idiots' in the most blunt way possible can they achieve their intended goal.
On this unknown bridge, both sides were on edge. They could easily have retreated to a safe distance before departing. Yet Jie Shu chose the most 'aggressive' option — vanishing right before our eyes.
If that move had no deeper meaning, would you call it reasonable?
Obviously not. So he was definitely using that display to tell us: people from different worlds can meet on this bridge when they share a common purpose — and can become invisible to each other again by changing that purpose!
Linking the limited information together, there's only one conclusion I can draw:
When beings who want to reach the same world encounter each other on this bridge of twisted spacetime, the distortion has already anchored the world beyond the bridge for them!
In other words, as long as we can see each other, it means our purpose is aligned. At that point, anywhere we leap — we may find our way back to our original world!"
His tone grew progressively more serious. "But before that, we need to run a few tests!"
After listening this long, Hong Lin finally began to understand. She stared past the bridge's edge in astonishment:
"You're saying this bridge is subjective? As long as you want to go to the same place, you can see the people heading there?"
Cheng Shi nodded. In his mind, he swapped his desperate desire to "go home" for the wish to visit the swindler Cheng Shi's world. And then he...
...failed.
He neither vanished from the other two's sight nor saw any "fellow travelers."
In that instant, the Clown's nose turned faintly red.
Thankfully, he had tried in secret, drawing no attention. But the result still made his heart sink.
Failure didn't necessarily disprove the theory. It was possible that no one on the bridge wanted to go to that world — or that world had long since...
In any case, many explanations existed. Not just one.
Cheng Shi buried the flicker of emotion in his eyes and turned to the other two, signaling them to give it a try.
Qin Xin was still deliberating which alternative destination to choose. Hong Lin, on the other hand, was brimming with ideas. She arched an eyebrow, and before she could even speak, her entire body vanished from sight.
It actually worked!
The remaining two exchanged a sharp glance and were about to test it themselves when Hong Lin reappeared before them the very next second.
Looking at her "lost-and-found" friend, Hong Lin nodded, visibly shaken.
"Cheng Shi, you were right. The spacetime distortion here really is subjective."
Cheng Shi smiled broadly: "What destination did you switch to?"
Hong Lin's voice hitched. She shook her head: "Nothing. Just a random thought."
Hong Lin had lied.
It wasn't random. She had wanted to revisit the world where she'd left [Prosperity]'s token — to see whether the other version of herself had fared as well after leaving the Path Starting Point.
But she had given up.
Compared to a self who had already been "looked after," her friends clearly needed her more. So she had immediately switched back.
She wanted to go home. To her own home. To see her own friends.
"Let's go. Let's leave this terrifying place." Hong Lin's voice carried both wistfulness and urgency.
Qin Xin nodded. He looked past the bridge's edge, gazed into the abyss below, and answered firmly:
"Yeah. It's time to go home."
...