TRYMBPIETM 137: When I went in the Past (19)

The system had a lot of questions it wanted to ask, such as why Shen Wenxu was your first friend, and why, despite my good performance all this time, you still don’t trust me. But many questions circled around its core area and were eventually thrown into the trash.

It was silent for a long time before it asked softly, “Host, you are from this world, yet you even deceive your own Heavenly ways. Are you not afraid of retribution?”

“Retribution? What retribution?” Chi Qingzhou casually countered, “Why do you think the Heavens would care about such small matters?”

Small matters?

The system couldn’t help but sneer.

If this were truly a small matter, would the host really need to look for inspiration from it, trying to improve the array?

If the Heavenly ways truly didn’t care, why didn’t the host directly confront the red-robed ghost deity? Would a roundabout approach make the host seem more skilled?

Chi Qingzhou lifted his eyelids, still looking relaxed.

“This kind of gain and loss is temporary. If it weren’t for the frailty of the human body, of course, I could just take action.”

Shen Wenxu was an ordinary human, even if he was a cultivator, he wasn’t made of steel and iron.

He was in a semi-human, semi-ghost state, able to withstand the karmic debts without any problem, but inevitably, he would further develop into a vengeful ghost.

Avoiding for a while was only to better carry out the next plan, not truly to evade the consequences.

Chi Qingzhou smiled and said, “Don’t worry, when the karma is ultimately settled, whether it’s me or Shen Wenxu, we will definitely come out with more merit than faults.”

They would only receive rewards, not be held accountable.

The system chuckled but didn’t comment on Chi Qingzhou’s words.

Chi Qingzhou blinked and asked with a hint of confusion, “You don’t believe me?”

Gripping the untouchable light sphere in his hand, he stepped into the main tomb room, grinning wider.

“If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. Ah Shang is learning Star Divination. His predictions are quite accurate. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him?”

The system remained silent.

In the main tomb room, which was about twenty meters square, dim firelight flickered on the four walls, casting a yellowish hue throughout the tomb.

A coffin, three meters long and one meter high, was secured in the center of the room by eight chains as thick as an adult man’s wrist.

The dome above the coffin was covered in celestial star patterns, with beads made of an unknown material embedded at star positions, emitting a faint milky white glow.

On the floor, a silver fine powder of undetermined material formed a near-circular array, the glowing fireflies’ light corresponding with the dome above.

Some red cinnabar symbols intertwined within the array, appearing dark red, like congealed blood, due to the dim lighting.

Four bundles of calming incense flickered in the corners of the tomb room, with white smoke rising, giving off a peculiar fragrance.

Cheng Shang sat cross-legged at the center of the array, holding a green jade compass, with the coffin hanging directly above him.

A slightly mischievous look lingered on his face, but his beautiful phoenix eyes were filled with tears, gazing pitifully at Chi Qingzhou outside the array, full of expectation.

“Zhou Zhou, you finally came. I missed you so much.”

Chi Qingzhou smiled with his eyes narrowed and waved at him, “Ah Shang, long time no see. I missed you too.”

The shadow hanging on his shoulder was also influenced by his emotions, raising its hand and waving joyfully.

Cheng Shang looked around, feeling like he had fallen into a happy house, even forgetting to cry.

“There are two Zhou Zhous. Both Zhou Zhous are so cute. Zhou Zhou is amazing!”

Chi Qingzhou smiled and praised, “Ah Shang has been here alone for several years. Ah Shang is amazing too.”

Cheng Shang laughed, looking completely silly.

Xing Shuangzhan glanced at him indifferently, then wrapped his arm around Chi Qingzhou’s shoulder, speaking softly to him, “Let’s get down to business.”

Chi Qingzhou responded, and Cheng Shang sulked, shooting Xing Shuangzhan a harsh glare.

He angrily asked, “Why are you here too? You’re so annoying. Wherever Zhou Zhou goes, you follow. Who are you to always follow Zhou Zhou!”

Xing Shuangzhan didn’t even raise an eyebrow, “I’m his companion and contractor. It’s only natural I follow him. That ghost deity is not useless. Don’t waste time on trivial matters.”

This tone ignited a surge of anger in Cheng Shang’s heart.

Frowning, he coldly glared at Xing Shuangzhan and disdainfully said, “What do you mean by wasting time? I’m just catching up with Zhou Zhou! Xing Su, don’t think just because you look like someone Zhou Zhou would be attracted to, he’ll definitely stand with you!”

“I’ve seen movies that say people who rely on looks don’t last. I’ll tell you, Zhou Zhou is not the type to care only about looks!”

Xing Shuangzhan remained silent for two seconds, then looked at Cheng Shang with a bewildered expression, “Stop watching palace dramas, it’s affecting your intelligence.”

Cheng Shang: “…”

He stared at Xing Shuangzhan, stammering, “You… you…” before suddenly bursting into tears.

“Zhou Zhou! Look at him! He’s bullying me! Boohoo, this kind of dog of a man is no good. He’ll definitely make you angry in the future!”

Chi Qingzhou blinked and tilted his head, his gaze drifting, clearly uninterested in managing this conflict.

Cheng Shang, furious, glared at Xing Shuangzhan, giving him a menacing “you wait” look.

… He looked even less like a good person now.

Xing Shuangzhan ignored him.

Chi Qingzhou patted Xing Shuangzhan’s arm, urging him to calm down. He then said in a composed voice, “Let’s save the catching up for later. Ah Shang, after all these years of trying, have you come to any conclusions?”

Cheng Shang regained his composure, raising the compass without a needle, his tone now calm.

“I’ve tried many methods, but there are still many things I don’t understand. However, at least I’ve figured out that Zhou Zhou’s birth was inevitable.”

Just like the settings in the online novels Chi Qingzhou often read, with spiritual energy revival and calamities, the rise and fall of any world are natural laws.

The world they were in had also arrived at the end of the Dharma^[1] era, and its conclusion was unavoidable, with chaos and conflict being part of it.

As long as it didn’t affect normal progress, even the Heavenly way, let alone ordinary humans, wouldn’t necessarily care.

Unfortunately, at such times, smooth sailing is rare, and trouble is common.

Cheng Shang put down the compass, his expression serious, “So, for a long time now, there have been many people who unconsciously stabilized the process.”

Chi Qingzhou and their situation were very similar.

His peculiar fate had also come from this.

The Heavenly way had chosen him to take on such a responsibility, so he could be considered a legitimate recipient of its favor.

But at the same time, he had to constantly face the chaos and troubles that required him to handle them. The most convenient solution was to give him what others would consider bad luck, leading to misfortune.

Cheng Shang continued, “So Zhou Zhou, this is actually not your inherent fate. I can’t see what your real fate is yet. Perhaps only when these troubles are over, will I be able to uncover a hint of it.”

Chi Qingzhou slowly responded with an “Oh,” not very surprised.

He crossed his arms and was even in a mood to comment on his own fate: “Simply put, my current situation is roughly equivalent to that of a mysterious high school student who is the god of death, right?”

Cheng Shang carefully looked at his friend, seeing that his mood was fine, and couldn’t help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

“Zhouzhou is really amazing!” Cheng Shang couldn’t help but praise, “The analogy is spot on!”

The system, which had been silent, shook in Chi Qingzhou’s hand, feeling that Cheng Shang was oozing a strong sense of oddness from the core.

It cautiously observed Cheng Shang for a moment from its upside-down angle and soon caught Cheng Shang’s attention.

Under the dim firelight, Cheng Shang’s phoenix eyes turned, his originally normal pupils expanded, filling his entire eyes with black sclera.

The inhuman eerie feeling grew stronger, and the system couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of Cheng Shang like this.

Cheng Shang lifted his lips and smiled, “Zhouzhou, do you have another system in your hands?”

Chi Qingzhou replied, “Its serial number is 16594, does that sound familiar?”

Cheng Shang thought for a moment, “Is it from the same place as the one that forcibly bound me before?”

Chi Qingzhou: “They’re colleagues, but they cover different areas. However…”

He raised the light ball in his hand, his gaze meaningful, “They’re both equally self-talking and annoying.”

“I agree.”

Cheng Shang’s eyes, now with only pupils, stared at the system with a particularly cold expression.

The system trembled even more.

It glanced at Cheng Shang, then at Chi Qingzhou, finally realizing that everything Chi Qingzhou had said earlier was true.

With Chi Qingzhou’s situation, as long as he could bear the responsibility, small matters like temporarily obscuring causality probably wouldn’t be “bothered” by anything.

This meant that the opportunity to escape that the system had long hoped for simply didn’t exist, and its plan to team up with the main system to deal with Chi Qingzhou was impossible to realize.

All the system had hoped for was just a reflection in the water, shattered with the first breeze.

Could it even still have a chance to go back?

After 66594 was completely destroyed by the host.

After all its little schemes and true intentions were exposed.

After their system’s usual tricks of deception and taming had long been discovered.

Would the host still let it go?

The more the system thought about it, the more scared it became, even unable to stop doubting if it was the will of the heaven to close one eye when it had entered this world so easily.

Since the heaven needed the host to take action, it seemed understandable that the host’s needs were also satisfied.

In that case…

Did the host truly deceive the heaven by temporarily avoiding causality using its reward module, or had the heaven also turned a blind eye?

The system dared not think further.

It only felt that coming to this world was the biggest mistake.

Chi Qingzhou watched the system trembling in his hand, knowing that it had misunderstood, but he didn’t explain.

No matter what responsibility the heaven wished for him to bear, it was always fair and just.

Only true ruthlessness could accommodate everything.

He was just one of the myriad beings in this vast world, and responsibility wouldn’t make him any more special.

As for this system…

It was indeed something he had attracted, but whether it was his own choice of type was another matter.

At least in the memories he had sorted out, he had not specifically designated a system with a “reincarnation” element.

On the contrary, reincarnation, a key term with obvious reversal of timelines, was far more useful to another existence——

His “new friend,” the wild god who had been scheming for thousands of years, had clearly started his game with him from the beginning.

The other party eagerly wished to use this reincarnation reverse system to steal time from him, and to say that there was nothing left behind in the system, who would believe it?

Chi Qingzhou didn’t expect the system’s misthinking to mislead his “new friend,” but the more the other party worried, the more beneficial it was to him.

That was why he wasn’t in a rush to purify his bloodline, instead wasting time with this nonsense here.

Chi Qingzhou subtly glanced over at Xing Shuangzhan, who had no idea of his plans before, and lightly smiled.

He still hadn’t revealed his intentions, gripping the light ball tightly in his hand, avoiding the silver powder on the ground, and walking calmly toward the center of the array.

Cheng Shang looked up, his eyes without a trace of white, staring at him.

Chi Qingzhou’s tone was gentle, “A-Shang, you’ve worked hard these past few years. I’ve brought the key, you can leave this tomb now.”

“The key…?” Cheng Shang froze for a moment, subconsciously repeating the word.

His gaze shifted from Chi Qingzhou’s face to his hand, finally landing on the system’s light ball, and he opened his mouth in stunned silence.

“This… is the key? But my key, shouldn’t it be a thread of causality?”

The system also panicked, its code in disarray, with countless questions flooding the core area, but due to being held by Chi Qingzhou, it couldn’t ask a single one.

Cheng Shang quickly regained his composure after the brief shock.

Even though Chi Qingzhou’s words were sudden, he chose to believe in his friend.

Seeing Chi Qingzhou squat down and place the light ball into the array’s center, Cheng Shang immediately stood up, stepping out of the array without hesitation.

The coffin above their heads shook a few times and soon fell silent.

Cheng Shang couldn’t help but show some joy, while the system felt its energy was greatly extracted and nearly had its code collapse in fear.

It couldn’t help but scream in mechanical tones, using all its might to shout at Chi Qingzhou: “Host, why me? You made a mistake, right? I’m not 66594, what kind of causality could I have with others?”

Chi Qingzhou reached out and pulled Cheng Shang, who hadn’t walked the path in a long time, so he wouldn’t accidentally step on the array.

“This question, actually, you shouldn’t ask me. You should ask your good colleague, what exactly did it do to make A-Shang take the path of Star Divination?”

You see, Cheng Shang had once been a very ordinary person.

Years ago, he hadn’t even shown any talent.

The system vaguely sensed the mockery in Chi Qingzhou’s words, and its CPU began to overheat again.

Its mechanical voice began to tremble, as if being interfered with by some signal.

“66594… What did it do?”

Chi Qingzhou smiled and said nothing.

Cheng Shang stretched his stiff legs, turned around, and gave a cold, sharp smile.

“It… disturbed my original destiny.”