The metal-boned man in front of him, his body gray with black marks, his face bearing slight human features, looked more humanlike than the Captain, yet all the more eerie because of it. At least the Captain had fully taken on the appearance of an entirely different creature.

Yang Zicang, staring at its face, began: “Why do you preserve your memory while they do not? “

The “shoe-shaper ” opened and shut the rigid bones of its face, displaying a blunt expression akin to surprise and bewilderment. Under the collective gaze of the hall, it hesitated and said:

{Undying King, do you not know the reason? }

Qiao Bing stepped forward and said, “Of course the Undying King knows. But in times like these, how many others capable of speech still remain among you?Besides, whether your mind is still filled with the same logic as half a million years ago is also open to debate—is it not? “

{Ah! } It immediately fell to one knee, prostrating itself, {Forgive me, great King. A keeper of sleep like myself dared to doubt the trial you put me through. }

It lifted its head, slowly mulled things over, then flickered its two souls’ flames and continued:

{The reason I still retain mere memory is probably because… I died too few times. }

“Died … few times? ” From behind the watching scene, Corden shuddered right to the marrow.

What the hell happened on those damn Fogfolk’s continent? Was it true that their own land was on the verge of destruction too, destined to share the same fate?

Qiao Bing silently watched.

{Because I was also tasked with guarding the temple of the Sleeping King, even during the harshest and most painful times, very few came to attack me. }

The Straw Sandal Maker was lost in memory.

{In those indescribable days, a horde of demons, led by the ‘Beauty King’, slaughtered every city-state and village across the world. The resistance of humans was ultimately in vain, for after the demon army fell, they would always be reborn from their own flesh and blood, rising anew as skeletal bodies. }

Rising anew… The group looked upon the bleak, bone-littered land.

“And then? ” Kaden couldn’t help but ask.

{And then some humans also began to switch sides. They actually envied the enemy for possessing lives that could stand up again and again. }

“Heh… ” Yang Zicang gave a cold snort.

“There’s a price for that, isn’t there, ” Qiao Bing asked with a hint of gravity. “Are those bizarre creatures, with their minimal intelligence, part of that price? “

The Straw Sandal Maker’s head slowly nodded.

{Precisely, my King. They… while we are immortal, with each resurrection, our wisdom slowly fades, and our bodies distort more and more, until… we completely become monsters. Li…like devils. }

Whooooosh~~~!

As his words fell, a golden path of light emerged amidst the palpitations in Yang Zicang and Qiao Bing’s hearts.

｛I have obtained a piece of ‘Ancient Gold.’｝

……

｛I have heard of a piece of ‘Ancient Gold’!｝

Ancient Gold?

Under the shadow of the colossal, decaying ancient building, Qiao Bing’s tiny figure stood frozen in place. It was only after several breaths that he snapped out of it and lifted his head.

“Bro, brother! “

He looked at ‘Yang Buchen,’ whose face lit up with joy.

“You do realize, we’ve just gotten our hands on a Golden-level ancient world intelligence, don’t you? “

“Hold on! Wait! ” Yang Zicang raised a hand, brimming with elation, and stopped Qiao Bing from unleashing his eager words.

｛A Golden-level intelligence has been born. All distributors will increase their acquisition price for my Radiance of Glory by 100%.｝

｛Fate unreal, the person unreal, Boboli, requests entry into my domain.｝

Kqdeng, standing nearby, asked in confusion, “What are you two on about? “

He had been deeply immersed in the tragic plight of the Straw Sandal Maker’s world, never expecting that these two would actually delight in it.

“Apologies. “

Seeing the ‘Straw Sandal Maker’ fall silent, Yang Zicang, having caught several mental prompts, suppressed his excitement. Composing his expression, he addressed the skeletal creature before him with a grave apology:

“It’s not because of your suffering that I feel this way. “

The sandal-maker savored this hard-won, faint flicker of “astonishment ” that once belonged to humanity, and spoke slowly:

{I am… fine. Life as a human is, for me now, only… a faint memory from my childhood. }

“If you have time, I’ll come visit you again later, ” Yang Zicang said, pulling the crate at his feet and striding forward with excitement. “Let’s find a quiet place quickly. “

“Aren’t we going to talk a little more? ” Qiao Bing had no choice but to follow. He had originally wanted to exchange a few more words with that skeleton.

What a bizarre world this was! Qiao Bing walked along, taking in the barren wasteland around him, never imagining that such a ruined place could hold such treasures. He couldn’t help but wonder—was this guy up ahead excited because he’d just gotten some piece of “new Ancient Gold “? But… it didn’t quite seem like it.

Or maybe he already had enough “Ancient Gold “-level information? No wonder he had made a splash the moment he arrived.

Even in the original, “failed-to-rewrite ” Track of Fate, he must have done something remarkable!

“What the hell is going on? ” Ka Deng shuffled along timidly behind them, arms tucked in.

He, who originally held the strongest bloodline, now felt like nothing more than an errand boy.

｛I’m looking forward to seeing an old friend.｝

“A friend of mine is coming! “

Yang Zicang himself hadn’t expected he’d ever get a chance to meet someone from his past life. Boboli had actually managed to pick up on it—he was just too incredible!

“Let’s find a quiet spot. He’ll need some time to adjust after just arriving. Oh, by the way, does anyone have snacks or water or something? “

Existing in this world required none of those items, but it is human nature to crave food and drink, and seek pleasure. Even though it was no longer a necessity, savouring the treat would still be wonderful. The youth at that moment was like a host wanting to entertain guests, but looking around, all he had to offer was yellow sand and bones in endless varieties. Kim Christ would have perhaps been a man of fine appetite.

The three of them pathetically patted themselves down for a while before eventually giving up.

They spread out a blanket carried along into the thought-energy field on a desolate, hilly terrain, waiting for Boboli just like they were on a picnic.

They waited for more than half a day. After a gust of wind and sand, the sky became clear and bright again.

A faint, difficult-to-detect gathering aura appeared in the air.

｛New applicant has entered.｝

｛Lost Court, the green and white star has told me: Because I am the Great Quadrilateral! Thus, the number of fellow travelers has reached the upper limit of four.｝

Yang Zicang let out a long breath.

As he stood up, the two people beside him also got up and looked around.

A familiar figure appeared from behind the hills!

“Boboli!“

“Cough… cough, cough! So much sand!” A figure of medium build emerged from the wind and sand.

Cada chuckled softly as Daiyin watched, aghast with shock, as that fellow carrying a school backpack and dressed in an obviously set high-hang official uniform and pop-rich ones immaculate—his arrival totally from scudge?

“It’s wind and sand.” Yang Zicang walked toward him and joked, “What ‘password matters then gave-in from the unexpected catch-of-terxiation effect? Playing tricks again? Haven’t gotten comfortable place to perfect a fancy Chinese communication-sluggist-level-of-eruption-time yet his all attention at catching now-bling that (eith—metonym-system-part-type seems break)?“

“Ah, that word isn’t used very often. Sorry about that. “

With that, the two of them sized each other up.

“Big brother… You’ve lost weight. But you’ve gotten more handsome! “

“You’ve grown quite a bit taller, and your skin is so good now. Your mental power must have increased quite a lot, right? “

Boboli nodded apologetically, then looked at the two people behind Yang Zicang. “Brother Zicang, are those two our new teammates? Hello! “

He raised his hand and waved at them warmly with a bright smile.

“I’m Boboli! “

Yang Zicang’s smile instantly froze on his face.

This must be what he hadonce said—that seeds of unexpected trouble can sprout from the most inconceivable places, breaking through the ground; they might even have been planted by someone right beside you.

At the same time, the two people behind him also froze solid.

They both knew exactly how crucial a true name was for members of the Fogfolk, so… now he just went and let them know this guy’s true name just like that?

Kadeng instantly felt like he could hear the Reaper sharpening his scythe—no, he heard thosemetallic skeleton soldierssharpening it instead.

As the two waved back awkwardly, Yang Zicang said stiffly, “Keep your voice down, the man in the old-man shirt is someone I just met tonight. “

“Huh? ” Boboli’s hand froze mid-wave.

Qiao Bing gave a slight nod, confirming that he was the “someone just met ” Yang Buchen had referred to.

“Well, then… who’s the other one? “

Boboli quickly flipped through the contents of the book in his memory. Since all the people and events had been replaced, he had no idea who had entered together with them.

“Ah… he’s not your enemy, is he? “

“Me, I’m his subordinate! ” Calstool felt an overwhelming aura of death closing in on him. Damn it, whose unlucky day was it today anyway…

Boboli held back the rest of his words. He recalled what the book had said:

— “No. 1224 ” had foreseen that within the complete world of the Mailed Realm, that enemy overlooking history from the future might have left behind some danger waiting for him to step into… To retrieve the statue, better not go alone.

“So the people Brother Yang ultimately chose to go with… ended up being these two guys. “

Boboli broke into a cold sweat.

Damn it, he hadn’t read the book to the end, so he mistook these two for the companions who’d been by his side lately.

“Alright, no worries. Anyway, that’s not my real name either. ” Yang Zicang put his hands on his hips and noticed the little pair of scissors in Boboli’s hand.

These curved pruning shears for snipping off branches… weren’t they about the same as the pair Bai Yuan had given him at Fee’s Travel Hotel?

To see them in action twice now, and without that fake phoenix wood called Phoenix-Perching Tree acting as a suit this time.

“What about these scissors? “

“Oh, you mean these. This is the thing necessary for me to send a wish notification to you across the orbit of fate. “

Boboli took out the gardening scissors and gave them two snips—click-click.

“They are theGrafting Shears. Wherever the ‘Grafting Shears’ are found, an invisible connection is formed with the ‘Temple of Grafting’ in the order of destiny. Without them, I could never have successfully sent a wish from there and entered this telekinetic field. “

Yang Zicang wore an expression as if hearing this for the first time.

“Grafting Temple?“

“Well, the name ‘Grafting Temple’ is something ordinary people couldn’t possibly know. But if I put it another way, you’ll understand what it represents. The lineage nurtured by the Grafting Temple today is called ‘Cangyu’; hence, it is also known as the ‘Cangyu Soul Hall.’ Got it now, big brother?“

“Temple, or Soul Hall? Why does it have two names?“

The boy opened and closed the scissors:

“Each layer of the Lunar Realm hides an ancient temple imbued with bloodline traits, but these temples don’t actually exist in the real Lunar Realm. The temples you can find in the Lunar Realm are all doppelgangers of those ancient temples. And right now, the doppelganger temple of the ‘Ancient Grafting Temple’—in other words, the Soul Hall—is Cangyu.“

“Traits…“

Yang Zicang pondered this term for a moment, and his gaze toward the unremarkable pair of scissors grew strange.

He more or less understood what was going on; the ‘grafting’ trait had caused subtle entanglements to form between two Tracks of Fate, making it possible for him and Boboli to cross paths smoothly.

Sensing an undertone of conspiracy, Yang Zicang said:

“I also have a pair of scissors like that. What else can they do?“

“You do, too? That can’t just be a coincidence.“

Since everything that happened in the Divine Hotel was hastily brushed over in the book, Boboli had no idea that Yang Zicang actually possessed a pair of ‘Grafting Shears’ himself.

When he actually saw the scissors pulled out from the luggage, a look of astonishment spread across Boboli’s face.

Placing the two pairs of scissors together, while their decorations differed considerably, their shapes were more or less the same.

Yang Zicang raised his head to look at Ka Deng, who was watching them, and Qiao Bing, whose expression was shifting.

“Qiao Bing, do you know about this thing? “

The man shook his head rapidly. “This is the first time I’ve heard of such a secret. Damn it, what exactly did you two do in your original world? All this information is top-level intelligence that I’d never even come close to! “

Another thought remained unspoken: these two were actually using a complete Stamp Emblem World to transmit messages across the Track of Fate…

This guy!

…

Just as Boboli was frowning and mulling over various possibilities, Hong Haocheng yawned on a certain sea. He turned his head to silently look at the woman beside him. “Gui Lan. “

The woman furrowed her brows tightly, calmly sensing in her mind.

“Still not successful? “

“Don’t call me. ” Shen Wuyue opened her eyes in fury and cast a disdainful glance at the man yawning beside her. “I’ve tried several times with no success. Is your investment really working? “

Hong Haocheng scratched his head, then turned to pull aside the cabin window curtain, revealing sweeping waves of seawater outside that looked like a painted scroll.

“It shouldn’t be, ” the boy thought seriously, his round eyes wide open. “Although we’ve already reached the central sea zone of the Annulus Eras Era, we’re still within one Track of Fate. Even without the ‘Scissors of Grafting,’ we shouldn’t be failing so many times. “

He suddenly lifted his head. “Ah, I’ve got it. “

The woman had just closed her eyes again, trying to enter the psionic field through the “Wish Talisman ” in her heart, when she opened them and stared at the man beside her, who wore a serious expression.

“Know what? “

“Perhaps it’s because that kid Yang Zicang has completely stopped liking Miss Xu Aiyuan, so your name simply doesn’t trigger any reaction from him. “

Shen Yue was stunned for a moment, then stared intently at the man beside her, her eyes revealing a hint of icy coldness.

“What’s the matter? Isn’t my analysis correct? “

The woman said through gritted teeth: “I thought you would have figured out that it’s entirely possible there’s another person targeting us with this information. “

Hong Haocheng was taken aback. “You’re really sharp. That’s also not impossible. “

“What else did you think of? “

“No, this time it’s not about memories. ” The boy stood up and gazed closely at the layered blue silk-like waves outside. “I overlooked something. “

“Overlooked? What is it? “

“The future history has already changed. So, what if, besides me, there’s someone else making that ‘unrecorded’ ‘flash’ investment in him from that memory? “

Hong Haocheng said slowly:

“Then, depending on the different degrees of mutual attraction among various current events, the other person’s investment might have a higher trigger rate that kickstarted this situation. If so, even if we were fully prepared, at some point, the other party might have touched upon a small deviation we couldn’t control, thereby completely overturning all our efforts. “