"I'd even picked out a serial number for you. But later, a senior reminded , 'Those who tamper with fate, who play with ti, never et a good end. Everything should return to its original, rightful state.'"
Wen Yan watched Little Mustache, who didn't rush to rewind ti further. The man's eyes were beginning to show a hint of lucid madness. That was what a standard player should be like, Wen Yan mused. Unafraid of death, and even in death, determined to drag you down with them.
Little Mustache could rewind successfully, but it only affected his own body. This told Wen Yan that Little Mustache had been right: he was now Little Mustache's only anchor.
Then, Wen Yan swapped Wave Calming for Chaotic Deity. According to its description, Chaotic Deity was ant to be used when the opponent had lost their anchor. He had previously guessed that under such circumstances, if Little Mustache dared to rewind, he would enter a dead save state. But from the mont Little Mustache saw him and spoke his first words, Wen Yan must have already t the conditions to be an anchor.
Now, Wen Yan thought, since Temporary Abilities are based on my existing abilities and my own thoughts and desires, their applications shouldn't be limited to a single specific use.
So, as Little Mustache prepared to rewind ti again, Wen Yan equipped Chaotic Deity. Then, he cast Chaotic Deity on himself. Adding chaos to disorder, drawing turmoil from pandemonium. The instant he cast Chaotic Deity upon himself, he felt as if his entire being plunged into chaos.
And in that instant, Little Mustache rewound ti once more. This ti, without Wave Calming, Wen Yan didn't stay put. However, his anchor—Wen Yan—had beco chaotic and disorderly. It was as if, in an instant, the anchor pervaded everywhere.
The receding wave lost its direction—or rather, it gained countless directions. Instantly, swept up in this disorder and chaos, it split into tens of thousands of fragnts. These tens of thousands of water droplets seed to instantly generate tens of thousands of small rivers. In each small river, there was a Little Mustache, and also a Wen Yan.
In so small rivers was the Little Mustache from over three years ago, back when he hadn't yet grown a mustache. In others was the Little Mustache from half a month ago, sitting in a coffee shop drinking coffee.
Ti began to blur. He split into tens of thousands of versions of himself, and then, in so of the small rivers, these Little Mustaches started to die: swatted to death by a Mountain Lord, slain by Heretic Rites in a cave, done in by his own rash ambition, crushed into a at patty in a car accident, struck down by lightning erupting from an album...
As his past deaths began to resurface, he was no longer whole. He started to lose himself in the annals of ti, shattering into fragnts.
Wen Yan's trajectory, however, continued as before: studying for exams, eventually getting into the Virtue City Funeral House. Then, the day before he was due to start work, a turning point occurred. He appeared in that stone forest, saw a damaged Physician Stone Tablet, and didn't choose it.
In the second small river, the second Wen Yan instinctively ignored the Physician Stone Tablet and moved on to the next. He examined it carefully for a long ti but still didn't choose. The third Wen Yan did the sa.
Because his cultivation had always involved trial and error on the brink of life and death, when faced with such a choice, he would instinctively know it was wrong. He didn't choose the Stele before him.
The fourth... the fifth... In the end, after examining all the Steles, none of the Wen Yans made a choice.
Finally, the last Wen Yan found the last unchosen Stele: Natural Enemy. He chose this one.
Just like that ti, he thought, recalling the feeling. I'd co to this stone forest so many tis, never finding a choice I was happy with. Finally choosing Natural Enemy, though, felt incredibly satisfying.
Of course, the fact that mbers of other professions generally t violent ends truly dissatisfied ; the only one I could find where everyone died of natural causes was the Natural Enemy Profession. The catch was, this 'everyone' might have only ever been a single person.
So Wen Yans started working at the Virtue City Funeral House. Others, who hadn't made a choice and thus didn't encounter the Soul Devouring Beast, failed their interviews the next day and began ordinary lives: so opened restaurants, so noodle shops, others started various businesses, began making videos, or even tried their hand at writing novels.
One Wen Yan opened an authentic Guanzhong Snack Shop. He encountered a custor with a little mustache who picked a fight, insisting that authentic Guanzhong at sandwiches shouldn't include green peppers. Wen Yan argued with him at length, trying to make him understand that Guanzhong County was actually quite large.
A Wen Yan who drove the Spiritual Vehicle for the Virtue City Funeral House passed by a street corner. A Little Mustache, sipping coffee there, frowned slightly as the vehicle went by.
A Wen Yan who tended the cremation furnace at the Virtue City Funeral House sent a client, Little Mustache, into the Luxury Furnace.
A Wen Yan who had returned to Guanzhong County to film short dramas encountered an artistically dressed Little Mustache. Wen Yan tried to coax him into making a guest appearance, but it led to so unpleasantness.
One by one, the Wen Yans began to encounter the Little Mustaches—so rely brushed past each other, while others clashed unpleasantly...
After each Wen Yan had a single contact with a Little Mustache, they would begin to drift further and further apart.
As ti flowed on, and the various Wen Yans finished their day's work—whether clocking off from a job or closing up a shop—they started to head ho. At that point, the small rivers, which had been drifting, began to descend, plumting downwards. One by one, the Wen Yans started to go ho. They followed these small rivers as they fell, re-entering the main river, flowing downstream, and guided by an inner sense, found their way back.
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