[Possession Role: Li Mingyue (Fourth Principal)]

[Current Plot Direction: Deity announces erasure of history → Transmit to escape into Experimental City → Agree to participate in Peace Festival → Nine Serenities' location discovered → Xia Jiawen abandons Nine Serenities → Travel for fifty years seeking the founding site of The Republic → Reincarnation]

[You have completed the causality tracing of "Li Mingyue," the map is now lit up.]

…

[Old God, you have returned.] Blood-red words emerged on the mirror.

Su Ming'an found himself standing in front of the original mirror. Yuanyuan, beside him, had been waiting for a while, the candlelight flickering on the wall.

"I..." he started, his voice extremely hoarse. Having experienced Li Mingyue's life, although the sense of immersion wasn't that strong, it was still quite a shock.

No wonder the Republic of Nine Serenities would exist simultaneously in Dao Ya City.

No wonder when he distributed bread in the square, Li Mingyue would always gaze at him deeply.

No wonder there was an almost finished "Rule Book" on Li Mingyue's desk, the paper already worn and yellowed.

No wonder when he first met Li Mingyue, Li Mingyue was discussing the issue of "pears" and "apples" with Boris.

— If an apple claims to be an apple, its appearance is an apple, social recognition is an apple, and self-perception is also an apple, then even if its essence is a pear, it is now an apple.

— But if only society and appearance fix it as an apple, and it always claims itself to be a pear?

— What's the use of that, the whole world thinks it is an apple, so it can only be an apple. No matter how much it emphasizes or claims to be a pear, even if it truly is a pear, everyone will assert it to be an apple.

Back then, Li Mingyue was actually puzzled by his own essence. Even though he had reincarnated for dozens of generations, he still couldn't figure out the "Schrodinger's Cat" problem. Was he really Li Mingyue from a thousand years ago? Was his consciousness sourced from a thousand years ago, or had his self accepted him?

But he still remembered the instructions of the first Li Mingyue—to nurture the vessel of the Old God, personally guide the Old God within The Republic, and not to go soft on the vessel... until the lake east of Dao Ya City was filled with moonlight.

"Are you okay?" Yuanyuan held Su Ming'an's arm.

"What... did you see?" Su Ming'an asked.

"I saw your past, everything proceeded as it should have, but when you were ten, I found a way to stop the car accident, and afterwards your life was very happy. The World Game never happened, and after graduating from college, you became a famous content creator, and then we've always lived close, and I accompanied you... until we were old and gray." Yuanyuan said.

Listening to Yuanyuan's narration, it was a very beautiful story.

"I see... what you saw was one possibility of my life." Su Ming'an said, holding his head: "In this lifetime, a person has billions of paths, each fork leads in a different direction. If my father's car accident hadn't happened, my life would have taken a completely different course."

"But what you saw was Li Mingyue's life, not mine," Yuanyuan said.

"It probably relates to our identities. I am the 'Order Angel,' so I saw the life of Li Mingyue the Order Angel. You are a Saint, without any special identity, so you saw our own lives." Su Ming'an pondered: "Mirror, am I right?"

The red text appeared on the mirror: [Yes. The first life you saw was related to your identities. And the lives you see afterward depend on your performance in the first life—now, please look at what is in your hand.]

Su Ming'an looked down.

In his hand appeared a chart, somewhat like a mind map, branches extending from the initial dot, each big branch spreading into many small branches. Now, Su Ming'an had illuminated a big branch named "Li Mingyue," inside it had small branches such as "Did not escape into Nine Serenities," "Escaped into Nine Serenities," "Prevented Xia Jiawen from abandoning Nine Serenities," "Did not prevent Xia Jiawen from abandoning Nine Serenities," and various other possibilities. Su Ming'an only illuminated the possibilities of "Escaped into Nine Serenities" and "Did not prevent Xia Jiawen from abandoning Nine Serenities."

He looked at the chart in Yuanyuan's hand, which was very similar to his own. The big branches included "Did not prevent the car accident," "Prevented the car accident," "Did not run away from home," "Ran away from home," and again, countless small branches like "Choosing Psychology as a major," "Choosing Finance as a major," "Choosing to pursue graduate studies," "Choosing to enter the workforce," and so on, like a maze of life.

...Possibilities.

Turns out this daytime maze they were walking through was a maze composed of each person's life path. Each branch leads to completely different possibilities. This also precisely manifests the concept of causal lines—the beginning and the end, cause leading to effect.

Su Ming'an understood why the mirror initially emphasized the concept of "millions of paths."

…

[Then, let's begin the daytime section.]

["In a person's life, there are tens of millions of paths. If life were to be turned into a game, each key decision point would determine what ending a person's life would lead to, whether the ending is a happy ending (HE) or a bad ending (BE)."]

["For the life you've lived so far, are you satisfied? If given a chance to choose again, if given a chance to save and load like a game—would you be willing to play this game called 'life' again?"]

…

But Su Ming'an didn't significantly affect Li Mingyue's actions, meaning he witnessed true history. Historically, Li Mingyue chose the life paths of "Escaped into Nine Serenities" and "Did not prevent Xia Jiawen from abandoning Nine Serenities." If Su Ming'an had interfered with Li Mingyue's actions, made drastically different decisions at critical points, Li Mingyue's life would chart another course, diverging from the historical record. Similarly, if Yuanyuan hadn't prevented the car accident, she would see a life identical to Su Ming'an's present, with no possibility of happiness.

"…It's like the Authority of 'Observation'," Su Ming'an said. "Or 'calculation' is more fitting. Choose which cause, and it yields which effect. If nothing is interfered with, history is preserved. If interfered with, new life possibilities are revealed."

Yuanyuan suddenly realized. She saw dozens of unilluminated endings on the far right of her chart, all gray and dim, representing potentialities of Su Ming'an's life, yet she had only illuminated one:

…

[HE·The Path of the Game (Choose "Prevent Car Accident", "Psychology Major", "Don't Pursue Further Studies", "Freelancer", "Focus on Horror Games", "Never Marry" to unlock this ending): After graduating from university, Su Ming'an amassed 800,000 followers thanks to his excellent gaming skills. A horror game video became viral, prompting him to release a series of similar videos, attracting a large number of fans. His father supported his choice of a free occupation, so he needn't worry about living expenses. Later, Su Ming'an was noticed by a foreign power and eventually became a major gaming broadcaster with millions of followers. People often said he always had a rookie friend by his side, who consistently brought about a lot of entertaining effects. This rookie friend accompanied him for a long, long time, until one day they just disappeared for good...]

...

Su Ming'an coughed: "Looks a bit funny."

... It really doesn't seem like a life he could live; a life with millions of fans is too far-fetched for him. These life paths deliberately ignore the existence of the World Game, only representing his possibilities as an ordinary person.

Yuanyuan, however, said, "Not funny. If it were you, there would be such possibilities. Moreover, you would have countless possibilities... I even think that this possibility doesn't match up with you; you deserve a better life."

Her gaze was very firm.

... But now even this kind of possibility doesn't exist anymore.

Su Ming'an looked down at the ending he had gotten:

...

[TE·Blue Full Moon (Choose "Escape into the Nine Serenities", "Agree to Participate in the Peace Festival", "Failed to Detect the Researchers' Ulterior Motives", "Did Not Stop Xia Jiawen from Abandoning Nine Serenities", "Trek for Fifty Years to Find The Republic Establishment Site", "Successful Rebirth" to unlock this ending): Li Mingyue's reincarnation has been seeking a suitable place to establish The Republic, traversing the world, having been a State Preceptor, a Pope, a Principal, a Teacher... Later he finally chose an appropriate location—the imperial capital of Louyue Nation. This place is far from the stars, with low-lying terrain, and it houses the person in the world who most resembles the Old God—the Eldest Prince, Su Shaoqing. Here he established The Republic, isolating it from the probing of the Dieying.

As the era changed and years passed, several dynasties expired and perished, the feudal system was overthrown, and the Electrical Age dawned. Louyue's imperial capital became the site of Dao Ya City in the Ubang Nation, giving birth to an emerging small town. Li Mingyue built schools and churches here, becoming a Godfather, taking care of a little boy named Su Wensheng until the boy ever more resembled...

In those years approaching the millennium, the sixteenth-generation Li Mingyue finally awaited the long-missing old friend. A male teacher named Xia Jiawen, carrying a backpack, walked confusedly into Dao Ya City in the afternoon sun. Although Mr. Xia remembered nothing, deep in his soul was engraved... the promise they had made once. Regardless of how many years passed, regardless of how many times they reincarnated, The Republic would always await his return home.

In 829, at East Lake, Dao Ya City, a boy drowned, the Old God awoke. The Old God stepped into the Louyue era and attempted to travel to Penglai Fairy Island. In 622, Li Mingyue using methods of separating soul from flesh, prevented it from prematurely awakening the Exotic Species King, proving that under inadequate conditions, the Exotic Species King indeed could not be awakened.

The Old God and the present Li Mingyue first met, Li Mingyue asked its will, the Old God replied:

"Godfather. The definition of happiness does not mean deceiving oneself. I don't wish for the tragedy of this city to happen endlessly. Even if a happier ending exists, I'd rather face reality. A dream of void is meaningless."—Even if there's a HAPPY END, I prefer a TRUE END.

On the day of the test, Li Mingyue watched the Old God leave the small town, sighing deeply.

The exam car sped away, leaving the protective range of The Republic, the Eye of the Old Days in the Old God's bag resonated, Dieying cast its gaze, a deity eyed this place—this was the beginning of everything.]

...

The beginning and end connect.

Su Ming'an once thought that the most cryptic person was Li Mingyue, but now that the beginning and end form a circle, he found Li Mingyue's every mindset at this moment extremely clear. Li Mingyue never deliberately concealed information; every moment of hesitation, every unfinished sentence, every trace of sorrow was traceable.

"This feeling of getting the ending is a bit like the Orange Light games I used to play." Yuanyuan gestured: "Choose one option, leading to one branch. Choose the next option, leading to another branch."

"Is it?" Su Ming'an wasn't very knowledgeable.

He looked at Yuanyuan's ending. Yuanyuan got an HE, he got a TE. It turned out the difference between them was here—HE was a result of human intervention, deliberately avoiding disasters, an idealized ending. TE was without human intervention, a real historical ending.

He recalled the occasional feeling he would get—standing before a choice at a critical juncture, feeling as if standing at a crossroads. In the Eighth World, when he agreed with Lu to establish the Peak Alliance, and when the Peak Alliance recruited newcomers, he had such feelings. It's just like at this present moment—the [Life Path Junction].

"Yuanyuan. If the second stage of life you see is still my life. Try not to change anything, I want to see my true ending." Su Ming'an said.

Yuanyuan focused and stared at him for a while, then slowly nodded.

The mirror motioned for the two to continue forward, when they reached the next junction, it would be the next life node. "Life" seemed to become a materialized road, left or right, road after road interlinked, forming this labyrinth.

But before they reached the next node, the nighttime segment began.

...

[Last night, players 7, 8, and 10 died.]

...

The third night, resulting in three deaths. The peaceful nights of the first two seemed just ephemeral.

The tower only announced the deceased each night, without revealing the cause of death. This made their exit become intriguing.

The table only had 9 people left. Most people's faces didn't look well as they had seen very long lives today.

"I know why the three deaths occurred. Agnes is the Witch, she stabbed number 10 Alger. Then in the passage, she tried to kill number 7 Eli but was fatally counter-killed by Eli. I saw this scene from a short distance, but Eli not appearing here indicates he was likely eliminated during the daytime segment. Causing a three-deaths scenario." Number 6 Xue Qixia spoke up first.

"You can get eliminated in the daytime segment?" Number 12 Lu Meng asked in surprise.

"If you die accidentally in the middle, before a life node arrives, then of course you're eliminated, because you've neither finished watching the history nor the new life path." Number 4 Noel explained.

Number 5 Mizushima Kawa Sora folded both hands, raising his head high:

"——Then you should have all finished watching someone's life, right? Today is the third night's segment, which means every two days you can see a complete life. Convenient to share whose life you saw? I'll start, I saw Chao Yan's life."

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