Chapter 1437: Silence's Farewell |
The Void.
When Cheng Shi found the Prisoner, the Ascetic Monk was standing in the Void, head tilted back, gazing at something. The surroundings were utterly quiet, exactly like the domain of Silence.
Anyone who had been granted an audience with Silence would have no trouble understanding the Prisoner's posture — to look directly at that colossal Leaking World Silent Puppet, one truly did have to crane their neck upward.
The problem was, there was no Leaking World Silent Puppet in front of the Prisoner. Boss Death had said that Silence had already departed alongside Time. So what exactly was the Prisoner staring at in this empty expanse of Void?
Cheng Shi drew closer, but the Prisoner showed no reaction. He didn't even spare a sideways glance — he simply stood there, motionless, staring straight at the place where the Leaking World Silent Puppet had once existed.
In that moment, Cheng Shi felt a pang of empathy.
He never would have guessed that the Prisoner was the one who found it hardest to let his Benefactor go. Perhaps many couldn't bear to see their Benefactors leave, but few would express that sentiment as openly as the Prisoner...
Even though Silence had been gone for a long time, the Prisoner still stood here, refusing to leave.
But then again, who wanted them to go?
The Prisoner didn't move a muscle.
"..."
Cheng Shi thought for a moment. Out of respect for Silence, he chose to stand alongside the Prisoner for a while.
After all, Silence had shouldered an era's worth of secrets for the Fear Faction and had, at every critical vote, stood firmly behind Fixed Destiny. A proper send-off was the least they could do.
But to his surprise, the moment Cheng Shi fell silent, the Prisoner became restless instead. He began frantically signaling to Cheng Shi with his eyes.
Yet Cheng Shi was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him, facing forward, his mind drifting with scattered thoughts — he hadn't noticed the Prisoner's gestures at all.
The Prisoner grew anxious. He lunged in front of Cheng Shi, his face full of indignation.
"Brother-in-law, did you do that on purpose?"
"?"
Cheng Shi had long since resigned himself to the issue of what the Prisoner called him. Seeing the Prisoner suddenly snap out of that emotional state, he assumed the man had made peace with it and chuckled softly.
"Not really. We should at least see Him off."
"See Him off?
More like you're trying to see ME off!
Do you have any idea how long I've been standing here to win this game?
You weren't even here from the start — what gives you the right to join halfway through?"
"???"
The Prisoner was fuming. Cheng Shi was utterly bewildered.
Wait — what game?
He looked at the Prisoner, then back at the spot where the Leaking World Silent Puppet had once stood, his face stunned. "You're... playing a game?"
"Obviously!"
"With... whom?"
"With my Benefactor — who else?
Name one other deity who can go this long without speaking!"
Cheng Shi's expression shifted. His pupils contracted sharply. "You and your Benefactor — is Silence still here?"
He stepped around the Prisoner and peered into the Void, but it was utterly empty. There was no trace of Silence anywhere.
The Prisoner was still nodding.
"Of course.
My Benefactor suddenly summoned me, handed me a Silent Puppet, and then vanished into the Void.
Being the sharp mind that I am, I immediately grasped His intent and joined this game of 'whoever moves first loses.'
You knew I always want to chat with you — yet you chose THIS moment to come find me. Tell me — did my Benefactor send you here specifically to make me lose?"
"...?"
For a moment, Cheng Shi's mind was in utter chaos.
'Are you kidding me...
I thought you were standing here motionless out of sorrow over Silence's departure — and now you're telling me you've been playing a game with thin air?'
'Prisoner, oh, Prisoner — has your brain been silenced too?
How else did you become as surreal as Old Meng?!'
'No, wait — he was always surreal.'
Cheng Shi fell silent again. In that moment, he felt the Prisoner had practically inherited the Authority of Silence already.
Cheng Shi even wondered whether the Prisoner might be using this absurd performance to deceive him — that he actually missed his Benefactor terribly but was putting on an act as though Silence had never left.
But looking into the Prisoner's clear, guileless eyes, Cheng Shi decided he was overthinking it.
The man was simply surreal by nature.
"..."
Cheng Shi's mood had been thoroughly derailed. He took a deep breath and told the Prisoner, with utmost seriousness, that Silence had left.
The Prisoner blinked, glanced back over his shoulder, and suddenly laughed. "No wonder He didn't dare show Himself — turns out He sneaked off! Ha — does that mean I won?"
"..."
Cheng Shi was defeated. Utterly, unconditionally defeated.
He spent some time reorganizing his emotions and gathering his words before speaking again.
"Prisoner, stop fooling yourself. Silence has left this starry sky and gone out into the Real Universe. He left the universe's silence to you..."
"..." The Prisoner's smile vanished in an instant. He turned away for a moment, then said, "Why? Is it because there are no good people here either?
But everyone here is actually quite decent."
"..."
Hearing this, a complicated smile — a tempest of emotions — pulled at Cheng Shi's face.
"Everyone IS quite decent, and there are plenty of good people here.
But other places have far too few. He wanted to go help — to go to the places where good people are scarce and lend a hand to those lonely souls.
That's a wonderful thing, isn't it? This way, there will be good people everywhere. There will be hope everywhere.
You are part of His hope, too."
The Prisoner clearly agreed with that. A smile blossomed across his face once more. He turned back around and gave Cheng Shi's shoulder a hearty slap.
"That's my brother-in-law for you — always sees things so clearly!
Gone is gone. Everyone has to leave sometime. Granny already taught me that lesson.
Anyway — what did you come to find me for?
I'm not stupid. Something big must have happened in the universe, and you need me to handle it. Go ahead — did you and my sister get into another fight?"
"..."
Cheng Shi's smile couldn't even survive a full minute on his face. He directly bestowed the Authority and the Divine Throne of Silence upon the Prisoner, and then pulled out the Dyeing Container.
Cheng Shi knew that the seemingly unreliable Prisoner was actually very much worth trusting — otherwise, his own contingency during the False Curtain Call wouldn't have activated. Since that was the case, there was no need to waste more words on this headache-inducing Silence.
By now, the Dyeing Container had been dyed by Oblivion and had transformed into a cyclic hourglass — two celestial bodies inverted against each other, one collapsing while the other reconstructed. The Prisoner stared at the hourglass for a moment and said:
"The Silent Puppet He gave me seems a bit like this..."
"Dye it. Then shut up."
"..."
The Prisoner clearly wanted to say more, but seeing how serious Cheng Shi's expression was, he took care of business first.
When the Container had been dyed into a blank, rigid puppet hourglass, Cheng Shi said nothing further. He stowed the Container and left immediately, dropping a single sentence behind him:
"The era is ending. Be ready. Wait for me to come find you."
The Prisoner stood in the Void, feeling the true power of Silence coursing through him. He gazed off in the direction his brother-in-law had departed and mused:
"Is it my turn to keep the universe's secrets now?
Don't worry, brother-in-law. I've got a plan."
...