Chapter 1295: The Second Blade of Three

Foolish Game of the Gods

In a way, President Gong was a master of time management.

After all, an actor who couldn't manage time would never win an audience's love and attention.

While searching for the Dragon King, he'd already contacted the Doctor through the Joker's communication channels. So by the time he emerged from That Dream My Nightmare, Wang Weijin had already left his trial and was waiting at the gathering place.

The Doctor still wore that serious scholar's demeanor, leaning against Truth's tombstone reading his experiment notes. When he saw Long Jing, he raised his head quizzically:

"What's so urgent?

Praise Yu Xi."

Indeed—Long Jing's message to the Doctor had been exactly four characters: "Extremely urgent."

And upon receiving it, the Doctor had immediately understood and come to the Joker gathering place. Watching President Gong constantly checking the time, he had a distinct feeling something enormous had happened without his knowledge.

Long Jing didn't waste a single second. He tossed down a Memory Page created by the Dragon King, then left the Void without stopping—off to find his next target, that motor-mouthed Silence Chosen.

The Prisoner was no Joker member. Long Jing had barely exchanged words with him. One Zhen Yi from his own faith was already enough of a headache—no sane person would actively seek out The Prisoner's friendship.

In hindsight, Cheng Shi was precisely that "sane-deficient" person. Or rather, Yu Xi was—otherwise why would He play two roles just to deceive one acrobat?

'Normal people didn't do things this twisted.'

'Except Zhen Yi.'

Seeing Long Jing racing against the clock, the Doctor immediately realized this "mission" from the Jokers was no simple affair. He glanced at That Dream My Nightmare standing behind Memory's tombstone, then opened the pages and absorbed the memories within.

Every detail was staggering. But for Wang Weijin, nothing was more shocking than learning Cheng Shi was Yu Xi.

The instant he saw Cheng Shi's confession, every truth in his mind evaporated—replaced entirely by vivid playback of himself shouting "Praise Yu Xi!" to Cheng Shi's face again and again...

'Some people die, yet live on. Some people live, yet are already dead.'

The Doctor's hands—which had never trembled through any experiment—were now shaking slightly, just from holding a piece of paper!

Fortunately, as a Truth follower, he was supremely practiced at analyzing one's own "failures." He swiftly collected himself, entered "experiment mode," and began parsing Lord Yu Xi's "orders" word by word.

He had no choice. Even if the secondhand embarrassment made him want to claw through his shoes, the devotion written into his very soul wouldn't change. For others, this might be a plea for help—a call for the Jokers to save the world—which they could answer or decline.

But for the Doctor, this was no mere plea. It was an order!

Lord Yu Xi had spoken. He must complete the mission.

Yet even for a former Truth Chosen, the inscription "Doctor — Decay" left him in deep thought.

Honestly, all his connections to Decay were through experiments. His deepest link was 0221—that experimental body cobbled together from half-Prosperity and half-Decay. Based on that alone, he couldn't determine why Lord Yu Xi would send him to seek out Decay.

But Cheng Shi's brilliance was this: while others might think, hesitate, and agonize—wasting precious time—the Doctor, whose faith in Yu Xi was carved into his bones, would simply obey first!

So even though he hadn't figured out Cheng Shi's meaning, Wang Weijin still found a way to attract Decay's attention.

Truthfully, as a Truth follower who'd spent years using Decay as experimental material, the Doctor felt rather nervous about requesting an audience. He wasn't sure Decay would even see him.

Then again, precisely because he was a Truth follower, he knew best how to achieve "experimental objectives" with maximum efficiency.

He wove "Lord Yu Xi's plight" into his prayer. And to highlight just how dire Lord Yu Xi's circumstances were, he suppressed his guilt, allowed himself a tiny blasphemy, and changed "Yu Xi" to "Cheng Shi"—using a mortal's suffering to beg for Decay's compassion.

The Doctor assumed that since Lord Yu Xi had told him to seek Decay, perhaps a pact already existed between them. He only needed to do his part.

Little did he know: no such pact existed. This was another gamble by the clown!

Cheng Shi wasn't just calculating who could save him. He was also thinking about who could gain an audience with Decay on his behalf. Decay valued compassion above all—He Himself was begging Origin for mercy. Therefore, only someone who could clearly convey his own desperate situation had a chance of resonating with this second god of Descent and earning a rare audience during the ebb of the universe's Decay tide.

After much deliberation, only the Doctor—who approached everything as an experiment—could pull this off. So Cheng Shi had written the Doctor's name on the second blade.

Sure enough, the Doctor—who had never once been granted an audience with Decay—was pulled by that withering giant into the Septic Final Tomb. There, beholding the giant reduced nearly to bare bone, Wang Weijin stood in the center of the tomb without uttering a word.

He didn't know what to say. He also knew he shouldn't say anything.

For this audience, he was merely a vessel carrying a message—a mascot tasked with delivering mail. Everything he needed to say was already in the prayer. As for Decay's response, that was up to Him.

As the Truth follower who understood variable experiments best, Wang Weijin knew that as long as he—the external variable—kept quiet, didn't interfere with the internal variable Decay's judgment, and didn't add unnecessary flourishes that altered the experimental environment, then Lord Yu Xi's assignment would be fulfilled.

As expected, the thoroughly calcified giant paid no mind to the mortal before Him and rumbled in a low murmur:

"I understand His intent...

I simply never imagined Deceit came from beyond the universe... If that's so... perhaps countless versions of me are enduring the same agony... begging for the same compassion...

I was wrong... I should have known sooner... that Deceit follower was also a pitiful soul...

But it is too late... What's done is done... There is no going back... I must be the first among all of me to decay... to earn His mercy...

As for the pitiful Deceit follower... it is not I who should show him compassion... but Void...

Go... There is nothing here for you..."

With that, the calcified giant closed His eyes. Even His massive skeleton began to rot—bones cracking inch by inch, white dust drifting away like ash. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before Decay disintegrated entirely within the Septic Final Tomb.

The Doctor dared not speak further. He offered the giant a slight bow.

Yet when he raised his head again and saw handful after handful of divine bone-ash crumbling down, a flash of inspiration struck: 'This stuff would be one of the finest divinity experimental materials in the universe.'

'If I just took a tiny bit...'

Fortunately, the instant the thought formed, a terrifying Sighing Sorrow Tide swept him out.

Back at the Joker gathering place, the Doctor broke into cold sweat as he realized how close he'd come to botching Lord Yu Xi's mission.

"When Truth is inappropriate, refrain from Truth. Remember this next time!

Praise Yu Xi."

...