Chapter 1290: I Thought I Wasn't Me, but Who Knew You Aren't You! |
Cheng Shi didn't choose two because he feared it was a trap.
He'd realized the same thing Zhen Xin had: he couldn't be certain whether what he was looking at was the Sunset or Morning Joy. He was afraid Deceit would play another mental game on the clown at this crucial moment.
If he lost this round, it wouldn't just be about vindicating the clown's name—Cheng Shi might truly shatter completely. So he called it out directly:
"The second choice shouldn't exist. It contradicts your purpose—unless this current world is what you're actually after.
I can't understand what choice two means for you. But I know that after all your scheming, you'd never let me die so easily under this starry sky. You can read minds—you know what I'm thinking. Death, for me right now, would be the most 'perfect' ending.
Therefore, I'm more inclined to believe choice two is a trap—a lie that would make me lose my agency forever."
Deceit listened with upturned eyes, regarding Cheng Shi with a gaze of utmost admiration—unmasked, as though saying:
'See? This is the collection I personally handpicked.'
Cheng Shi refused to meet that gaze. He looked away quietly:
Deceit's expression stayed playful, yet His words were ice-cold—eerily like Fate's.
"You have no standing to negotiate."
"I do!"
Cheng Shi raised his head. His gaze passed over Deceit, reaching toward the infinite Void beyond, and he spoke with absolute conviction:
"Since you presented this multiple-choice question at the moment of certain victory, it means this choice isn't only important to me—it's equally important to you.
An endless stalemate of indecision clearly isn't the ending you want, which is why you described the 'punishment' in such vivid detail. You're spreading fear. You're trying to force me to choose.
Therefore, not choosing is my leverage—my standing to negotiate.
I can cooperate with you even more. Cooperate to journey to another starry sky, cooperate to test methods of resisting Origin, cooperate with your so-called vision of saving the world—as long as you agree to my condition."
Deceit's spiraling eyes turned slightly—the whirling pattern made it impossible to read Her thoughts. After a moment, She chuckled, intrigued:
"Worthy of my follower. Go on—what's your condition?"
"I want to become Yu Xi!" Cheng Shi's voice was iron.
Deceit laughed uproariously: "That was already one of the choices. No need to emphasize it."
"No—it's different." Cheng Shi's eyes sharpened. Fists clenched. A final attempt: "I don't want to become the fake Deceit envoy that the Flame of Hope described—one who can only rely on lies to win the world's recognition.
I want to become the real Yu Xi. The one who holds authority and can deceive even the gods!
My Lord... this is the last time I'll call You 'my Lord.' You once said that when I became the Chosen One, You would grant me the power to deceive gods.
Now You've used this trial to sever my path of ascent—I can never reach those heights on the Ladder of Ascent again. For that, shouldn't You offer 'compensation'?"
"Tch—
The clown has always been shrewd. But you've forgotten—I am Deceit. Who told you that Deceit's promises count as promises?"
A glint flashed in Cheng Shi's eyes. He'd been waiting for precisely that line.
"If your words can't be trusted, then what meaning does the current choice hold?"
"?"
Deceit blinked—then erupted into earth-shaking laughter.
"Hahaha! I'd say you're already Yu Xi! At the very least, this authority of sophistry—even without it on your person—has been mastered to perfection.
But your desire to become Yu Xi isn't about cooperating with me. Ha—you can't fool me now.
Clever clown. You've figured out how to 'contaminate' yourself this way. You're dead set on staying in this world, aren't you?
You're sure?
The road of rebellion paved by countless clowns with their time and lives could very well be destroyed by your hands. Can you... face them?"
At this, Cheng Shi fell silent.
But before long, he snapped his head up, met Deceit's pressing gaze dead-on, and laughed just as loudly as Him.
No—even more wildly!
"I don't need to face them. I only need to face myself.
The premise of will-coercion is that you deeply understand that will. But, Deceit—even with your mind-reading, you'll never understand this: the road they paved was never meant to bind, shackle, or coerce another 'him.' It was meant to give the ones who came after more choices!
Every Cheng Shi strives to write his own story. We never interfere with another Cheng Shi's decisions. When we can, we reach out a hand—but whether he accepts that goodwill is always his own choice.
This is the true goodwill born from countless Cheng Shis: we will always support his choice!
And you, using their goodwill to threaten me? That's laughable beyond measure!
If I buckle under your threats, waver in my will, alter my heart's decision, and smear my own story—then I'd truly be a traitor who's failed them!
No version of me would ever submit to you. That must also be why your 'world-saving plan' failed in your original world!
Deceit!
You can never impose your will upon the clown!
Everything you do only drives the clown further away—until in the end, you become the real, lonely, road-less clown!"
"..."
Every word cut to the heart.
Deceit fell silent—a rare occurrence. A flicker of inexplicable complex emotion crossed Her eyes, but She hid it well. Cheng Shi didn't notice. But Fate saw everything.
Fate struggled but couldn't break free, couldn't make a sound. After a long silence, Deceit scoffed.
"Worthy of my follower. Silver-tongued enough to nearly pass off lies as truth.
But too bad—it's useless.
The fixed leaving this world is already set in stone. The only reason I'm here wasting time with you is that I'm waiting for the next spacetime storm.
Remember how much time your trial has left? Don't worry—you won't have to wait long. Time will twist eventually.
Though the Mockery and Jeering could also leave this world, our destination isn't the Real Universe. I won't give you any 'jailbreak' opportunities out there—I know it's swarming with clowns just like you.
Come to think of it, my 'deportation plan' failed precisely because of them.
If they hadn't sent you onto the Spacetime Dolphin Bridge, you'd have been brought back to my world long ago."
"!!!"
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted violently. Shock and fury surged through him.
Suspecting and confirming were two entirely different things. He'd always suspected Deceit had deliberately sealed the way home, stranding them in the Real Universe, but he'd never found proof.
After they'd returned, Deceit had even prepared a ready-made excuse: a Void civil war had severed the Mockery and Jeering.
Now, Deceit's brazenness also meant His plan was truly on the verge of success. There was nowhere left to run.
Cheng Shi still refused to accept it. Forcing himself calm, he lowered his head and asked in a heavy voice:
"Does the choice still matter?"
"Of course it does. But conditions don't.
Don't negotiate with me. No matter how prettily you talk, I won't agree to a single demand."
"Fine—no demands then. I just want one answer." Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened, his voice sinking further: "Where did the original Deceit... go?"
Deceit blinked and laughed aloud.
"You already guessed it, didn't you?
What—in that Corpse Field of Gods, you didn't find His body?"
"!!!!!"
Cheng Shi's head jerked up. Pupils contracted in disbelief. What came to mind wasn't Deceit's death—but the divine throne hidden in a crevice of the corpse field, painstakingly pieced together!
"You've been there!?
That divine throne—you placed it there!?"
"What divine throne? There's a throne in there too? Don't tell me it's Origin's throne?"
Deceit played dumb, but Cheng Shi didn't buy a word of it. He could see—that throne had been planted by the Deceit before him!
Only He—only He understood his greed. Only He could predict that when that sound rang out, he would absolutely venture deeper to investigate!
So what exactly was that throne he'd shattered and carried home?
Before Cheng Shi could even ask, Deceit answered in a murmur:
"The answer.
That is what I spoke of—the answer pieced together by countless worlds' clowns and gods with their very lives.
Don't you find the star-eye patterns on it familiar?
Mm. Your benefactor's corpse... served its purpose well."
"..."
Cheng Shi was utterly stunned. His mind detonated, thoughts scattering into chaos. He had no idea how to react.
And at that very moment, the imprisoned Fate suddenly broke free of the Starlight Canon's restraints and addressed Deceit in a voice colder than the abyss itself:
"I thought I wasn't me, but who knew—you aren't you!
You are absolutely not Deceit! Who are you, really!?"
...
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