Chapter 2509: Meeting by Fate

“Zuo Er? Zhong Li Yan?” Miao Ru Tai’s surprise didn’t seem faked. “How are you all here?”

Zhong Li Yan grinned. “You asked us to come to the East Sea, yet you don’t even know why we’re in this place? You still dare to say you are Zhuge Lao—Adult?”

He smiled contemptuously. “I could tell you were a fake at first glance!”

Miao Ru Tai thought very seriously. “I created your and Jiang Wang’s encounter, asked him to use the Immortal Palace’s confirmed name in the battle of Fallen Immortal Forest to force out the traces of Wuming’s battle. At the same time, I used your eyes to observe this place, to experience, to feel, ultimately becoming the foundation for creating the ‘Chaotu Jar’. But you all—”

“Because you only pinched out Zhuge Yixian from Wuming!” Zhuge Zuo interrupted him. “You possess Zhuge Yixian’s power, know Zhuge Yixian’s past. In some sense, you can also be Zhuge Yixian. But you are not the true him.”

“You know what Zhuge Yixian did, but you don’t know why he did it. All you can know are his already revealed intentions, but his hidden thoughts, you know nothing about.”

“You fundamentally do not understand what kind of determination Zhuge Yixian made, what kind of sacrifice he can make!”

“You will even less know what a good child I, Zhuge Zuo, am.”

Little Zhuge Zuo lifted his head. “From this perspective… the old man can still be proud.”

As he lifted his head, two streams of tears flowed down.

And Miao Ru Tai’s Star Witch mask peeled off like porcelain. Along with it peeled off, was Miao Ru Tai’s face.

When the true Zhuge Yixian stood out, the fake Zhuge Yixian could no longer exist.

Beneath this physical shell, there was a complex amber color, flowing with a kind of viscous yet fresh and tender posture.

A terrifying aura rippled within.

As Jiang Wang said, the descendant in Guanlan’s Tian Zi San room was an existence that had already died. There were exactly four people who died in the Tian Zi San room of Guanlan Inn, and there were exactly four people who entered this room to descend—

Wuming, Huang Weizhen, Jiang Wang, Zuo Xiao.

This was a seamless heavenly mechanism, logical.

So from the beginning, Zhuge Yixian fundamentally didn’t walk into this room!

It was Wuming who prevented Zhuge Yixian’s descent.

The moment He stepped into the East Sea, Wuming already knew He had fallen into a jar. Or perhaps even earlier than this, although He found the only gap in the heavenly mechanism at a critical moment, He was still suspicious, so He made preparations in advance.

The moment He left Fallen Immortal Forest, He decisively did four things. One was to exclude Zhuge Yixian, the one who set the trap, two was to confuse the Chaotu Jar, wiping off everyone’s identity, three was to pinch out a Zhuge Yixian, and four was to guide and establish this ‘Confirmed Name’ game!

Huang Weizhen used the power of fantasy turning real to replicate the details Zhuge Yixian observed, pinching them into living people.

Wuming then used the power of cognition to shape a soul named ‘Zhuge Yixian’.

This person truly believed himself to be Zhuge Yixian, and indeed possessed Zhuge Yixian’s power and knowledge. Only thus, his thinking and behavior as Zhuge Yixian would not be seen through.

When Miao Ru Tai thought he was Zhuge Yixian’s descendant body, he would of course instinctively exclude himself, and in this heavenly mechanism-confused Chaotu Jar, he would search for the Wuming who must exist—He would also inevitably have a wrong answer.

Wuming’s true body was simultaneously hidden beneath this ‘Zhuge Yixian’ shell, conducting some subtle guidance… and manipulation.

The guidance was mainly aimed at this fabricated ‘Zhuge Yixian’. With the identity of the creator, He gave small hints, letting ‘Zhuge Yixian’’s thinking direction conform to expectations.

The manipulation was mainly aimed at Lin Guangming.

Wuming knew the secret of the Urban King, knew that the current Lin Guangming was the former Lin Zhengren, so He naturally understood that this person dared not confirm his name in front of Jiang Wang. Hence, He advanced step by step, accumulating his panic, destroying his mental defenses, making him become ‘Wuming’!

In the ‘Confirmed Name’ phase, He, in Zhuge Yixian’s name, opened his mouth to directly kill the remaining three people. This was actually just waiting for someone to stop Him, to shatter those doubts, and further deepen everyone in this room’s ‘certainty’.

Thus, He step by step forced out Lin Guangming, this ‘Wuming’.

This was the last possibility after excluding all other possibilities. He had both Wuming’s power and Wuming’s expression of not daring to confirm his name. In theory, everyone would believe that this was Wuming!

On this basis, Zhuge Yixian’s time was no longer urgent, and the joy of Zhuge Yixian’s long-cherished wish about to succeed could all be reasonably explained.

Unless, from the beginning, Jiang Wang didn’t believe that this Miao Ru Tai was the true Zhuge Yixian.

But how could that be?

He had the confidence to deceive Huang Weizhen, thus opening this game with this method, using the trap of forcefully killing Wuming as His ladder to escape.

He believed that Zuo Xiao, who was deeply etched in His mind, could also not see any problem, because the ‘Zhuge Yixian’ He pinched out was equal to Zhuge Yixian in all aspects.

While Jiang Wang was not unintelligent, he was absolutely not as wise as Zuo Xiao.

So where did the problem come from?

The amber color inside Miao Ru Tai’s body pinched into a fuzzy face. He clearly didn’t have clear eyes, but Jiang Wang clearly felt himself being watched.

The true Wuming emitted a strange sound, a confusing mix of many emotions: “Why were you able to discover from the beginning that this was not the true Zhuge Yixian?”

Anyone could feel an intense desire for knowledge in Wuming’s body at this moment.

He so urgently wanted to understand everything.

He understood more than Tian Anping, and had more curiosity than Tian Anping.

The sword qi constantly shuttling inside Qu Shoufu’s body slowly calmed down.

Jiang Wang’s transformation of this body was, by this time, completely finished. Every wisp of sword silk he chopped towards the meat tentacle monster also penetrated himself.

He was originally like a buzzing alchemy furnace, now he was a static mountain.

About to erupt yet enduring.

He was very clear what Wuming wanted for an answer.

Wuming was a transcendent being who knew everything. Almost all secrets were not secrets in His eyes.

In today’s trap, His only blind spot was the scene inside the Tian Zi San room of Guanlan Inn. Because this place involved transcendence of cause and effect, He could not personally know without personally seeing it.

When this trap began, Jiang Wang, who had descended into Qu Shoufu, appeared not far from the window—

This was the only position that didn’t conform to the traces of the scene in Guanlan Inn’s Tian Zi San room observed by Jiang Wang. Every other person stayed in the place they had once appeared, only Qu Shoufu’s position was different.

Everything in Guanlan’s Tian Zi San was simulated by Huang Weizhen with the power of fantasy turning real, but the details were given by Zhuge Yixian!

So this position was a vague hint in itself.

It was a reminder from Zhuge Yixian.

At that time, the position he saw through this window was exactly the position where Zhong Li Yan and Zhuge Zuo stood when he and the Da Liang Star God left the East Sea. And the Da Liang Star God had even specifically said to Zhong Li Yan at that time, “Wait here. Don’t move casually.”

Zhong Li Yan and Zhuge Zuo would definitely act on this room!

And after the Chaotu Jar was formed, what other role could these two people have?

It was actually not difficult to imagine.

So he walked forward, saw the wind, rain, and thunder outside the window, and as if in the thunder, saw Zhuge Yixian’s reflection in the positively ordered time and space!

He closed the window, indicating that he already understood.

It was also to cover Zhuge Yixian’s layout.

At that time, he was still not certain what Zhuge Yixian would use this point to do.

Until Miao Ru Tai stood out, claiming to be Zhuge Yixian, beginning to confirm his name, beginning to announce the game rules, and even, like Tian Anping, being curious why he closed the window, he suddenly understood—

What if Zhuge Yixian didn’t enter the jar?

Wuming thought that Zhuge Yixian didn’t appear in this place. His behavior of impersonating Zhuge Yixian just nakedly exposed himself!

This was the ‘Heavenly Mechanism gap’ that Zhuge Yixian intentionally left!

So from the beginning, Jiang Wang just suspected Miao Ru Tai’s true identity. He was only confirming step by step, and also waiting for the true Zhuge Yixian to lift the layout.

But at this moment, Jiang Wang of course would not thoughtfully tell Wuming the truth. He wanted to further confuse Wuming’s cognition.

So he said, “Actually, I’ve always been thinking, why would this trap, the Chaotu Jar, have such a game of confirmed name? This game looks very simple, it seems as long as you find Wuming, it’s fine. It seems killing Wuming is a very easy thing to achieve. In reality, once you identify the wrong person, Wuming will escape forever.”

“I cannot understand why Star Witch designed this trap, having such a complex embodiment in the jar, with a game process that instead favors Wuming.”

“So I think this is not Star Witch’s handiwork. What he did, perhaps only stopped at sending Wuming into the jar.”

He looked at Wuming’s amber-colored face, as if wanting to see some truth from within: “And who is leading all of this? It depends on who benefits. I think it should be Wuming!”

He reverse-engineered a process from the result, and the line of reasoning he summarized was very forceful.

Thinking about Sheng Ge’er’s posture of having wisdom in hand, he slightly narrowed his eyes in the end and smiled indifferently: “Instead of asking me why I could discover your problem from the beginning, you should ask yourself—why are you so stupid! You actually thought you could deceive my eyes?”

Your cognition of Zhuge Yixian is not accurate enough, and your cognition of Jiang Wang is also wrong!

For this kind of transcendent being who knows everything, a shaken cognition will have very serious consequences, possibly even affecting the fundamental.

Wuming was silent for a moment.

But in the end, He just turned around and looked at Zhuge Zuo, who was being parasitized by Zhuge Yixian: “I don’t understand why you shed tears.”

He had a faint confusion: “Since you have already made your choice, why are you still sad?”

It wasn’t that He didn’t understand why Zhuge Yixian shed tears.

The Zhong Li Yan in front of Him was Zhong Li Yan, but Zhuge Zuo was Zhuge Yixian.

The descendants in the Chaotu Jar were all existences that had already died. Everything was already as clear as could be.

What He didn’t understand was why there was this kind of useless emotion—this was a trap set by Zhuge Yixian himself, a choice made by himself, yet He was shedding tears here! It was truly inexplicable. Who was He sad for?

“Because you have transcended for too long, and also secluded yourself from the world for too long,” Zhuge Yixian said slowly. “You don’t understand that some things, even if painful, we cannot give up. Some choices, although difficult, we must make.”

Standing here was Zhuge Zuo’s body, with Zhuge Yixian’s soul.

The two rows of tears on his face were Zhuge Zuo’s tears, and also Zhuge Yixian’s tears.

Zhuge Zuo cried for his grandfather.

Zhuge Yixian was sad for his grandson.

Yes, Zhuge Zuo was already dead!

He died when he and Zhong Li Yan went to investigate the scene of Guanlan’s Tian Zi San. His subsequent actions were all supported and simulated by Star God’s power.

This was his tacit understanding with Zhuge Yixian, and also this pair of grandfather and grandson’s habitual game of guessing each other’s intentions.

The moment he saw this complex room, Zhuge Zuo understood that this was his grandfather’s last trap, and also clearly knew what he should do.

So he died silently.

With this, he allowed Zhuge Yixian to descend into this trap.

“I probably understand… Emotions are a burden to thought most of the time, but there are also very few times when they can erupt with power that transcends thinking,” Wuming nodded with a research-like posture.

He sought knowledge as if thirsty, His mind never stopped thinking: “But I still have a question—even if Zhuge Zuo died in this room, even if he had various causal connections with you, but this trap, the Chaotu Jar, intercepted time and space, and he hadn’t even appeared yet. How could you break this kind of barrier?”

In the confirmed name game temporarily constructed by Wuming in this trap, the biggest problem was His ‘Zhuge Yixian’ identity.

If Zhuge Yixian could descend into this trap, the Chaotu Jar, Wuming would not be so certain to stand out with this identity. This best card was instead a fatal knife.

It was precisely because He personally prevented Zhuge Yixian and cut off the possibility of this happening, that He was so surprised.

Without waiting for Zhuge Yixian’s answer, He immediately said again: “Did Qi Country support you?”

If He was still in normal time-space order at this moment, He would immediately understand that the final step in helping Zhuge Yixian complete his descent, from hovering outside the window as a reflection to truly pushing open the window and walking into the room… was the national power support given by Da Qi’s Bo Wang Hou, and the power of the stars mobilized by Da Qi’s Qin Tian Jian.

The East Sea was under Qi Country’s actual control.

Da Qi’s national power had already preliminarily covered this area.

Zhong Xuansheng, far away in Lin Zi, borrowed Qi Country’s power through the channel left by Zhuge Zuo. He sent Zhuge Yixian into this profound and unpredictable Chaotu Jar!

And Zhuge Zuo’s own body was not enough to bear the heavy pressure of this channel, so this was the meaning of Zhong Li Yan’s appearance—perhaps he wasn’t the best at anything else, but his body was extremely resistant to beating and consumption, and had been certified by Dou Zhao for a long time.

After Wuming stepped into the Chaotu Jar and drove away Zhuge Yixian, this trap had already begun, and the possibility of external force interference was refused.

Originally, Zhuge Yixian alone couldn’t squeeze in, even if this was the trap he designed. Relying solely on Zhong Xuansheng or Ruan Qu would have absolutely no chance.

So Wuming couldn’t calculate this!

He couldn’t calculate that Zhuge Yixian was willing to let Zhuge Zuo die, nor could He calculate that the twelve-year-old Zhuge Zuo could actually comprehend this level of planning, nor could He calculate that Qi Country, which was completely unrelated to this trap, would get involved.

If there was a plot between Zhuge Yixian and Zhong Xuansheng, Wuming might also be alerted.

However, they had no communication beforehand.

Zhuge Yixian and Zhong Xuansheng hadn’t even met.

This was true tacit understanding, wordless exchange between top-level wise men!

Little Zhuge Zuo, letting go of Zhong Li Yan’s hand, this body controlled by Zhuge Yixian walked within the Chaotu Jar that he had participated in constructing: “You can think of Qi Country because this inn is located within Qi Country’s jurisdiction. But you didn’t truly guess my full plan—look, even transcendent beings only possess transcendent imagination, they don’t have transcendent wisdom.”

“All your so-called wisdom is just a kind of shallow thinking that highly depends on information expressed based on cognition and vision,” Wuming quietly looked at him. “To use words you can understand—you only have the cleverness of schemes and plots, no profound wisdom that sees ten thousand years.”

Zhuge Yixian walked forward slowly, every step of his seemed to fit the iron rules of this inn room, very slow but very firm: “Respected transcendent one, I have not yet reached your realm, and I indeed cannot see ten thousand years. I only know that after you die, my heart can be at peace. Or because of today’s trap, Chu Country can have ten thousand years!”

Wuming gently lifted His head: “Very interesting. Even when you look at the long river of history, your collision creates quite interesting ripples.”

“Old thing,” Jiang Nanpeng’s face had completely melted away by this time, becoming Huang Weizhen’s face, divinely elegant, born with bright qualities.

He smiled faintly and said, “Actually, I’d quite like to know what your profound wisdom that sees ten thousand years is.”

“Does it refer to hiding for countless years until you are pulled out by a newly promoted transcendent being like me and killed like a dog?”

He shook his head, smiling and walking forward: “But I have no interest now.”

“I haven’t… met my daughter for a long time.”

His long hair lightly rose, his eyes shone with divine light, the four walls of the entire inn room flowed, and time changed rapidly: “I shouldn’t make her wait for another two years.”

Wuming’s body was penetrated from the back.

Zuo Xiao’s face completely manifested in Chen Kaixu’s body, which represented that he had thoroughly changed this body—originally, at this time, Miao Ru Tai would also have completely become Zhuge Yixian. In Wuming’s design, everyone would announce their great achievements and walk out together, laughing heartily, returning to the present world, declaring the success of this trap.

But now only a complex amber-colored human shape remained.

The outer layer of clothes, even the skin and flesh, all peeled off.

Zuo Xiao didn’t say half a word of nonsense, directly giving Him a palm knife. It pierced out from His back, through to His front abdomen.

That black ring-shaped palm knife, hard as iron, dripped amber-colored liquid like oil, soon gathering into a pool on the ground, looking very disgusting.

But Wuming just stood there.

He was like a huge candle, unconcerned with some candle tears. He was also like a river, unstoppable.

“You think it ends here?”

He had a strange smile: “You all join hands to kill me, just like we killed Lin Guangming? Right—”

He turned His head and looked towards Jiang Wang: “You want to know who Lin Guangming is? Do you want to know who is related to the White Bone Descent World body? I have many of your secrets here, and also many secrets you want to know—”

“Of course, I know you won’t trade with me.”

He smiled: “Today, if you kill me with all your might, the secrets you want to know more will be hidden deeper. For example, I will help the White Bone Descent World body hide more secrets, so that no one can ever calculate Him again.”

“You actually care so much about my power, I feel deeply honored. All the efforts on this path have not been in vain after all,” Jiang Wang said politely, holding his long sword horizontally in front of him. “Thank you for confirming that I can participate in this battle. Please allow me to use your fresh blood to decorate my sword body!”

Wuming chuckled foolishly: “Truly… as stubborn as I knew.”

Zuo Xiao’s power roared within His body.

But the amber-colored liquid instead climbed onto His hand, spreading towards him.

Red flames ignited on His body, as if raising a sea, and in the flame sea stood flag shadows one by one.

But His figure was forced to retreat!

“Let’s make a deal!” Wuming ignored the wound in His abdomen and suddenly said.

But when He said this, He wasn’t looking at Jiang Wang, Zuo Xiao, Zhuge Yixian, or Huang Weizhen.

Instead, He twisted His head and looked towards the honorific stone sculpture standing at the edge of the door…

That was the already dead Tian Anping.

Under Wuming’s gaze, this honorific stone sculpture made a clear cracking sound, then produced cracks, and then stone powder rustled down.

Tian Anping became fresh again.

But everyone knew that was no longer Tian Anping.

In His eyes, there was not Tian Anping’s usual confusion, curiosity, or madness, but a kind of inclusiveness, pity, and vastness.

His eyes were like the celestial sea!

He looked at every single person equally!

At this moment, Jiang Wang just understood where the deep waves of the heavenly path he had felt earlier came from. That was not an illusion, nor was it Wuming’s cover.

It came from this honor, from the cause and effect involved in this Chaotu Jar—that temporarily unknown transcendent being!

This honored transcendent being was once probably a heavenly being, or at least related to heavenly beings!

Staying in the deep sea of the heavenly path for a long time would become ‘stone’ that the power of the heavenly path could not dissolve.

Jiang Wang had once seen many black shadows in the deep sea of the heavenly path.

Those were all ‘stones’ eternally sinking in the deep sea of the heavenly path, and also once ‘heavenly beings’!

So there was such an honorific stone sculpture in front of them.

Tian Anping’s impact on becoming a heavenly being and death was to open the door for Him to enter the trap!

From this perspective, Tian Anping in the Chaotu Jar was clearly within this honorific being’s calculations!

Then what about Tian Anping in the present world order?

Was he also His bridge?

Who is He?

An innocent heavenly being who escaped from the Sin Sea?

Or…

“Dizang!”

Tian Anping casually tore off the shackles on His hands, His body’s aura violently rose section by section, yet He was very calm.

His eyes seemed to have already penetrated hearts. He understood the ignorance of the world’s people and gave a pitying explanation: “You can all call me Dizang. If fate allows us to meet, do not be overjoyed by victory!”