Chapter 1287

Audience with 【Fate】 Part II

Mockery and ridicule.

When Cheng Shi stepped into it, the spiderweb he embodied grew another round, almost "capturing" all the colorful brilliance in his field of vision and hanging it upon the web.

He cautiously examined his changes, searching for 【Fate】's figure, yet he found nothing.

He could not see 【Fate】.

Fortunately, the massive aura of 【Fate】 surged in the same direction. He looked along that direction and finally sensed a figure that might exist beneath the surging mockery and ridicule.

To sense a presence within a twisted river of 【Existence】 that was actually a 【Void】—is this not a kind of irony?

Cheng Shi looked there, his eyes flickering, his expression strange.

After days and nights of accumulated blasphemy, it ended in a plea for help. No matter how thick-skinned a person is, they cannot pretend nothing is wrong and issue that call to their benefactor.

But Cheng Shi did not consider himself a person.

He immediately switched to his devout form, weeping as he begged for help in that direction: "Lord Benefactor, save me!"

A terrifying wave of 【Fate】 exploded from the mockery and ridicule, surging in all directions with the aura of world-ending destruction.

The immense pressure caused Cheng Shi's body to hunch for a moment, but soon, this pressure from the god bypassed the only Fate Weaver present and turned to crush the surrounding mockery and ridicule.

The twisted was boiling, the absurd was burning, the abstract was unwinding.

At this moment, Cheng Shi saw those spiral-spinning, star-flashing eyes of the stars open before him once again.

His gaze remained cold, the corners of His eyes slightly drooping, clearly harboring endless fury. He looked at His believer, angry at his lack of ambition, yet He softened the coldness in His tone and lamented his misfortune:

"The wrong path... is it easy to walk?"

"......"

He felt like he had been slapped.

Cheng Shi's cheek felt phantom pain. He lowered his head awkwardly, still quibbling:

"If I don't enter the wrong path, how can I comprehend the Predetermined of 【Fate】? Change is also your authority. At least the path walked on the wrong path is also approaching you..."

This was a quibble with absolutely no confidence. Usually, Cheng Shi would wait for divine punishment after saying this, but today was different; 【Fate】 was trapped and unable to punish him.

Even more unexpectedly, the trapped 【Fate】's gaze softened significantly because of these words, and even the boiling mockery and ridicule around them gradually subsided.

Seeing that it worked, Cheng Shi immediately spoke of the 【Deception】 metaphor he had guessed during the trial. He no longer cared whose territory this was; there was only one chance. If he couldn't win 【Fate】's support here, then perhaps only a "wrong path" awaited him.

Of course, 【Fate】's support probably wasn't a good thing either; an offering could never escape the fate of an offering. But choosing the lesser of two evils, staying in his own world as an offering was far better than being taken away from the world as a tool to save other worlds.

Cheng Shi was in a hurry. He tried his best to remain restrained, clearly and logically recounting his suspicions about 【Deception】, his fear of 【Deception】, his resistance to 【Deception】...

【Fate】 remained silent.

Cheng Shi sensed something wrong with 【Fate】. He paused for a moment, looked up in confusion, and seeing no response from 【Fate】, he gritted his teeth and finally asked the question that had troubled him for a long time.

"The Outer God 【Deception】 intends to trick the Clown away, which is already an affirmation of the Predetermined.

But your believer has always been puzzled: what exactly is the Predetermined, and why... am I the Predetermined?

And how can you be so certain that the high and aloof 【Origin】 needs the Predetermined you champion?"

"Presumptuous!

Do not be disrespectful to 【*Him】!"

"......" Hearing 【Fate】's reprimand, Cheng Shi laughed, suddenly feeling relaxed.

He spread his hands, stared at those eyes, and said indifferently, "Presumptuous is presumptuous. I'm almost dead, why worry about so much?

Lord Benefactor, since I cannot escape the fate of the Predetermined, why not let me be an enlightened ghost?

If I am offered to the Creator in confusion, wouldn't 【*He】 be displeased by this devotion mixed with impurities?

No matter how you look at it, you should let me know the truth now, right?

I have accepted my fate. When I learned that 【Deception】 came from outside the world and wanted to trick me into another world, I accepted my fate.

The Predetermined is the Predetermined after all. Even if I reject it or resist it, it always has a way to make me return to the right track and 'willingly' become the Predetermined.

I just didn't expect the final method to be breaking all my illusions about the Fear Sect...

And now, I am only one truth away from being 'willing'.

Tell me the truth of the Predetermined, and I am willing to become the Predetermined as you understand it.

You once said that it wasn't you who chose me, but that the Predetermined is in me, so why would the Predetermined be in me!?

I know I may not be qualified to seek the truth, but please protect me one last time, Lord Benefactor......"

"......"

The mockery and ridicule instantly solidified, as if frozen for eternity, and even the brilliance gradually converged. Everything stopped twisting, reflecting those star-like eyes becoming even more dazzling.

【Fate】 lowered His gaze, looked at His believer, and sighed faintly.

He was soft-hearted after all, and told Cheng Shi the answer.

"This is not my will, but......"

"【Origin】!?" Cheng Shi's pupils contracted sharply, cold sweat breaking out, "Lord Benefactor, don't tell me that the Creator above billions of lives, no, billions of universes, is hosting this cosmic experiment just to anchor a mortal!

Me!?"

【Fate】 was silent. He didn't finish, but He had already said everything.

"Ha, hahahahaha!"

Cheng Shi suddenly laughed. His laughter grew louder and louder, clutching his stomach and pounding the ground, utterly insane and uncontrollable.

He could not understand, nor could he understand.

"What virtue or ability do I have to make a Creator cast His only gaze upon me?

What does 【*He】 want to do, what is 【*He】 doing!

Lord Benefactor, you chose me to be an offering perhaps to please 【*Him】, but why did 【*He】 choose me?

Could it be that there is something above 【Origin】!?

If not, it couldn't be to pass the throne of 【Origin】 to me, right!?

Hahaha, wouldn't I be about to become 【Origin】 then!?

Good, good, good, the gods perish, the universe collapses, this is 【Origin】!

No wonder this sentence floats in the graveyard of the real universe, I understand now!

When I succeed to 【Origin】, that will be the day this absurd universe collapses!

Gods should never have existed in this world!"

Sensing the despair in his believer's heart, 【Fate】 forgave his blasphemy against the Creator.

But He did not comfort Cheng Shi, because the Predetermined cannot be changed.

He could tolerate Cheng Shi going astray for the sake of the Predetermined, but He would not tolerate Cheng Shi deviating from the Predetermined due to despair. This is 【Fate】; what He favors is never a specific believer, but the path ahead of Him.

Heartless!

Two words popped into Cheng Shi's mind, but he didn't dare say them.

He was asking for help, after all, and no matter how broken he was, he couldn't throw those two words in 【Fate】's face.

Cheng Shi was tired of laughing. He lay flat in the mockery and ridicule, emptying himself, looking up at the twisted, muttering madly to himself:

"What is good about me, what is the use of choosing me?

How can this world be so absurd?

Ha, come to think of it, the last person who took a fancy to me for no reason was Old Jia.

Old Jia?

That's right, what if 【Origin】 is Old Jia?

Maybe this is just a succession test given by a Creator father to his adopted mortal son.

I can only inherit 【*His】 throne if I pass the test, right, Lord Benefactor?"

"Nonsense!"

The mockery and ridicule boiled again, and the coldness of the 【Void】 surged out.