Chapter 704: A Heavenly Hand? A Half-Hand!

A Heavenly Hand? A Half-Hand!

Cheng Shi's attitude was correct, but the state of his teammates was not quite right.

The discrepancy occurred to three players simultaneously. As soon as the hour struck, a dazzling holy light suddenly erupted from the smoke, dispelling all darkness.

The power of 【Order】 directly enveloped the entire room, forcing a thought of law-abiding compliance into everyone's mind. Cheng Shi's eyelids twitched; he almost had the impulse to retrieve the "phlegm" he had just spat into the 【Time】 trap and swallow it back down.

"......"

It was fortunate that this 【Order】 wasn't strong, otherwise, wouldn't he be staging a "Little Food Phlegm Chronicle"!?

Once the smoke cleared, the gazes everyone cast toward Cheng Shi were filled with suspicion and scrutiny. Although they had changed, it was clear that they were now aware of what had just happened.

The Blind Woman's gaze was particularly complex. Being the closest to Cheng Shi, she had been stunned for a good while after guessing his intent, and only then did she roll up her sleeves to wipe the sweat from her forehead, tentatively speaking:

"Invitation, companionship, clues, mystery, death, reunion... Very good. Your expression tells me that this trial is indeed not one of infinite transformations."

"Fate Weaver, you are worthy of being a favored one of 【Fate】. To think you could use such a method to bring you and me back onto the same timeline."

What the Blind Woman said clearly referred to everything that had happened when she traveled with Cheng Shi today. Hearing this familiar tone, Cheng Shi felt a surge of joy, thinking that the destined person he had recruited had truly returned. But immediately, he steadied himself, his eyes rolling as he probed back:

"I wanted to take advantage of the thick smoke to finish one off, so as to make your prophecy come true, but...... the Investigator was too alert. I had no chance to strike. It's a pity; I don't know who will be eliminated next."

Hearing this, the Blind Woman's brows furrowed slightly as she looked at the Investigator. Clearly, in her consciousness, if the one to be eliminated in the current situation were Li Wufang, that would be the best result.

Of course, elimination here did not mean death; it could also mean disappearing or leaving the trial.

However, it was this very glance of deep conviction from the Blind Woman that caused Cheng Shi's rising heart to sink to the bottom once more.

There were five people on the field in total, and he had just said he wanted to finish one off, which would leave only 4. But the other party had no doubts about this number. Didn't this mean......

It was ruined; he had encountered the real deal. The An Mingyu before him was not the original An Mingyu; she seemed to be the An Mingyu who had made the four-person prophecy!

It seemed this smoke trick hadn't changed the "Heavenly Collapse" into a "Heavenly Hand." I wonder about the other two......

Li Wufang's eyelids twitched twice upon hearing Cheng Shi's words. He retreated slightly, looked at the Blind Woman and Cheng Shi, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the Arrow of Punishment in his hand, and said:

"No way, you two. You can even bring yourselves to strike at a harmless 【Order】 believer?"

"Brother Cheng, and here I was, having taken away the allergen for you!"

"And you, God-Chosen An, I admire you so much that I even specifically asked you for a divination at the start. Don't easily shatter the good-person filter I have for you."

"But I must remind you of one thing: the number of remaining players on the last day of the prophecy you made is not four, but five. So, the people who survive to the end in the prophecy must include me, and not you."

Li Wufang's words naturally didn't mean the Blind Woman would die; he was simply expressing that he and the Blind Woman were not from the same timeline.

Hearing this, Cheng Shi's eyes lit up, and the Blind Woman's brows sank.

Clearly, this unreliable-sounding Investigator was an extremely shrewd person. He had already realized what had happened and was expressing his identity through his own logic.

He was recounting his own actions at the beginning of the trial. Emphasizing this period so much could only mean he had mastered some clues that allowed outsiders to distinguish his identity, and he was using this method to find teammates belonging to his own timeline.

It had to be said, he was worthy of being a believer of 【Order】. This method of handing the opportunity for judgment to others—perhaps if it were anyone else, others wouldn't believe it. But precisely because 【Order】 believers have the highest credibility, when he did this, the players who had figured everything out would unconsciously project their own perspectives to judge whether Li Wufang was from their own world.

And the Investigator was best at reading people. When his observations yielded results, he could naturally find the way home, or at least find his teammates, based on everyone's reactions.

This was similar to the approach Cheng Shi had used earlier when sharing his experiences beneath the mine, only 【Order】 believers were generally more credible when they spoke.

Smart! Very smart!

It was precisely because he had figured out this layer of the opponent's logic that Cheng Shi began to ponder the identity of the Li Wufang before him.

The Investigator's statement clearly matched Cheng Shi's own cognition, and he called him "Brother Cheng" without giving him any hints, which ruled out the identity of him coming from the world of the "Destined Person."

And before the smoke trick, he was a person from that prophecy-error world. So, the current Li Wufang belonged neither to a "future" nor to a "past"; he could only be the current discrepancy, or the original.

Originally, Cheng Shi wasn't sure if there was definitely a "current discrepancy" in the trial, but upon seeing the Li Wufang before him, he knew that there indeed existed a "current discrepancy" in this trial.

That is to say, each player indeed existed in four states within this 【Time】 game: original, current discrepancy, past discrepancy, and future discrepancy.

Because he remembered that after Li Wufang was swapped simultaneously with Wu Cun for the first time, he became an Investigator who didn't believe in fate. But whether it was the Li Wufang before him, the "Destined Person" Li Wufang, or that prophecy-error Li Wufang, they all believed in fate!

Therefore, that Li Wufang who didn't believe in fate was not the same person as the Li Wufang before him, and they were precisely the so-called "original" and "current discrepancy"!

Their pasts were all the same, only differing in their attitudes toward certain people and things!

Then, following this logic, the current Li Wufang was undoubtedly the original Li Wufang; he matched perfectly with the one from the beginning of the trial!

Of course, there was another possibility: he wasn't the original Li Wufang and was just lying.

The Clown had truly been cheated enough; he had to be wary of any "All-True Disciple." So, he looked at Li Wufang and probed directly:

"Investigator, I think you've found the right path, but I still can't guarantee it. If you are willing to trust me, why not...... say a lie for me to hear."

Li Wufang was startled, a flash of brilliance instantly crossing his eyes.

"Sorry, as a believer of 【Order】, I'm not very good at lying."

"......"

A lie!

Very interesting. This Investigator had said such a lie.

Now Cheng Shi was relieved; he was the Investigator from the same timeline as himself.

Good, good, good. Finally, a "person from home" had arrived, but it turned out to be the "least important" one.

The joke of 【Fate】 continued!

Then what about Qin Xin? Who was he?

Cheng Shi looked at Qin Xin, and the other two in the room followed his gaze to look at Qin Xin. Qin Xin's expression turned serious; he glanced at the Blind Woman and then smiled slightly:

"It seems that only Mingyu does not belong here."

"?"

Once these words were out, Qin Xin's meaning was clearly that he had recognized the identities of Cheng Shi and Li Wufang, acknowledging that he came from the same timeline as them. Cheng Shi pondered slightly, ruling out the two from the "Fire-Passing Not Easy" and "Prophecy Error" timelines according to the logic just now, but he still couldn't determine whether the Qin Xin before him came from the "original" or the "current discrepancy."

Because throughout the entire trial, he hadn't been able to find the difference between these two types of Qin Xin. They were too similar. The only place that could attract Cheng Shi's attention was that the original Qin Xin had scrutinized the Blind Woman more, while the later Qin Xin trusted the Blind Woman abnormally.

However, this expression, which "could also not be considered abnormal," could not serve as key evidence to determine Qin Xin's identity.

So, for the moment, it was very difficult for Cheng Shi to define the other party's identity, but it wasn't entirely impossible.

Cheng Shi still had one method, and it was an extremely simple one, which was......

To trust Qin Xin.

Because he knew that no matter how Qin Xin changed, every Qin Xin was a true Fire-Passer. Their wills were similar. Although they differed in the breadth of their commitment to goodness, he figured that a person like Qin Xin, if he didn't have his own judgment, wouldn't randomly impersonate a Qin Xin from another timeline.

Because they knew that every world needed the original self.

Therefore, Cheng Shi accepted Qin Xin, accepted him generously, without making the other party prove himself, nor did he probe further.

There had been enough probing regarding Fire-Passers in this trial, and every time, the feedback received was:

This was undoubtedly an organization that could be called great, especially since they possessed a founder with immense personal charisma and firm convictions.

And this founder was precisely the Qin person before him.

"In that case, God-Chosen An, your situation...... seems a bit awkward."