Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 495 Eternal Witness: Searching for the Tomb by the Moonlit Water

The tomb has fourteen shadows.
The reflection is not a mirror, and the mirror is not reality.

Only lies,

In the cracks of time,

Steal back the lost life.

—From "Fragments of Water and Moon"

Xiao Jinyan recounted her previous experience in fits and starts, her voice trembling with excitement.

As he finished speaking, he suddenly stood up, and his long sword clattered against a rock on his back.

"What are you waiting for!"

"I'll open a portal and search the Shadow Tomb!"

His eyes gleamed, and his tone was urgent, as if he were about to burn all the power of the Star Calamity and tear open the tomb door in the next second.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he heard Si Ming let out a cold laugh.

"you sure……"

The eyes behind the white clown mask were cold and mocking.

"Will we be able to find the right grave?"

Xiao Jinyan was stunned.

His feet moved stiffly, and the words that were about to come out of his throat were stuck in his throat.

He gritted his teeth, wanting to argue, but ultimately didn't say anything.

Because he's not a fool.

He knew very well that if he rashly opened the door, he might fall into the trap again.

At that time, let alone saving others, he himself would probably die inside.

Reason was reminding him.

On the other hand, my heart was pounding violently, as if it were about to explode.

The image of my sister lingered in my mind—a scene covered by white, silken time-like worms, which I couldn't shake off for a long time.

Thinking of this, he became so anxious that his face turned bright red in an instant.

"But...but she's still inside!"

His voice was hoarse, revealing a near-out-of-control anxiety.

He pointed to the fourteen layers of tombs on the opposite shore of the lake, his eyes reddening.

"I can't wait any longer!"

The lake roared, white mist filled the air, and the seven tombs and fourteen shadows stood silently, as if observing indifferently.

The boy, like a cornered beast, was tense under the gaze of the fog and illusions, ready to pounce at any moment.

Si Ming stared silently at the lake, the white clown mask casting a bizarre, laughing shadow in the mist.

"Do you remember which tomb you entered back then?"

Xiao Jinyan was taken aback, his eyes scanning back and forth between the fourteen layers of tomb shadows.

His brows were furrowed tightly, and his lips were pressed into a straight line.

After a long pause, he finally managed to say, "They all look exactly the same, so I just picked one at random."

His voice trailed off, as if he were trying to defend himself, but in the end even he himself lacked confidence.

Si Ming let out a soft "heh," his eyes behind the mask filled with mockery.

"Exactly the same? Take another look."

He raised his hand and pointed to the first tomb on the far left of the lake shore.

“That one, the pattern on the stone pillar is a fish pattern.”

He then pointed to the second tomb entrance, which was right next to it.

"And that one is a bird and animal pattern."

The lake water churned, reflecting a ripple. Siming gestured with his hand, pointing to the reflection on the lake's surface:
"Look at the reflection of the first one on the left—it's like a dragon spitting pearls."

He paused, then moved his finger to the tomb door in the same position as Zhengjing.

"But its true form is the Phoenix."

The boy stared blankly.

Under the guidance of the God of Fate, he suddenly realized that those tombs that originally seemed to be exactly the same actually had subtle differences.

Stone texture, carving, patterns...

If you don't look closely, you won't notice it at all.

But once you see it clearly, you can never ignore it again.

—The fourteen tombs are all different from the others.

He gasped, frozen in place.

Si Ming crossed his arms, chuckled softly, and spoke in a slow, unhurried voice:

"A very simple game—spot the difference."

"And you didn't even notice the trouble, yet you dared to barge in."

Xiao Jinyan blushed, her throat bobbed, her mouth opened and closed, and finally she managed to squeeze out an awkward laugh.

"I...I was indeed too hasty."

He scratched his hair hard, the longsword clanging against his back.

The impulsive anger in my heart gradually cooled down, replaced by regret and shame.

"If it weren't for my recklessness, my sister wouldn't have gotten herself into this mess..."

His voice was so low it was almost drowned out by the roar of the lake.

Si Ming simply watched quietly and did not pursue them further.

He knew that the boy had already understood.

The boy lowered his head, his eyes fixed on the fourteen layers of tomb reflections on the lake.

After a long while, he raised his head, looking at Si Ming with pleading eyes, his voice filled with helplessness:

"So what? I don't even remember which one it was."

His tone carried a hint of despair and stubbornness.

Si Ming sighed and gently shook his head.

Beneath the white clown mask, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"Never mind," he said lazily, yet with an undeniable chill.
"You're lucky you met me."

He slowly walked to the lakeside, his back to the fourteen stone tombs.

The waterfall roared, the mist billowed, and their figures were reflected on the water.

The God of Fate chanted softly, his voice drifting through the mist, as if conversing with some non-existent being:
"Lies become truth—"

"Eternal witness, a thousand years in a glance."

boom--

The air trembled.

The Book of Lies slowly emerged, its pages turning automatically in the wind.

With each page turned, countless tiny specks of light fall.

The points of light fell to the ground, but instantly turned into sand-like dust, which floated gently up and surrounded Siming.

The scent of time permeated the air.

The lake water began to flow backward, and the mist swirled in the air, as if even the rhythm of breathing had slowed down. Xiao Jinyan was dumbfounded.

"This is?"

Si Ming stretched out his hand, and the book automatically stopped on a blank page, with the Sands of Time spinning along his fingertips.

"Eternal Witness".

"It can rewind to any point in time."

He paused, his voice tinged with self-mockery:
"Of course, my lies can only simulate a small part of it."

"At most, going back one year."

He spoke casually, as if he had just casually lifted the veil of the gods.

Ripples spread gently across the lake, and the Sands of Time continued to expand following Siming's movements, the surrounding aura causing people to gasp for breath.

It was as if, in the next second, they were about to step into a sealed-off time.

The boy finally reacted, his eyes regaining their light, staring intently at Si Ming, his voice trembling:
"Can you really...see the past?"

Si Ming smiled, the bizarre smile on his mask appearing even more mocking against the backdrop of the mist.

"of course."

"A lie becomes the truth the moment it is spoken."

Si Ming stretched out his hand, and the Sands of Time slid down his fingertips, like flowing light pouring from an hourglass.

The sand and gravel gently rose and slowly enveloped Xiao Jinyan.

The next instant, the surrounding noise vanished.

The world fell into an eerie stillness.

The lake water stopped lapping against the shore and began to flow backward, the white mist slowly dissipating like a scene played in reverse.

Even the distant roar of the waterfall instantly turned into a silent ribbon of light, as the water flowed back up the mountainside.

Time is going backwards.

The two were enveloped in sand and stood inside a transparent bubble.

The world outside the bubble shifts rapidly, colors and images changing repeatedly in the blink of an eye, as if someone is fast-forwarding through a movie.

"Is this... the power of rewind?"

Xiao Jinyan's eyes widened, her breathing quickened, and her gaze was filled with shock.

Si Ming did not answer, but simply raised his hand and gently squeezed it.

The torrent of time suddenly slowed down, as if someone had pressed a remote control.

The ripples on the lake surface slowly regained their clarity, and the stone patterns on the tomb door receded inch by inch until they returned to an earlier form.

The picture freezes.

That was the moment the nightmare recurred—

On the lakeshore, the young Xiao Jinyan was holding his sister Xiao Lianyin's hand tightly, the sword on his back trembling slightly.

Lianyin's forehead was sweating, and she was desperately pushing against the tomb door with her other hand, her face tense.

Then, time continued to flow backward, and the reflection in the water opposite the tomb door was emitting an ominous glow.

The Sands of Time pushed time back, freezing it at the moment when "Xiao Jinyan of the past" was about to open the dimensional gate and bring his sister into the Reflection Tomb.

"right here!"

Xiao Jinyan, inside the bubble, suddenly shouted, her voice sounding particularly abrupt in the stillness of time.

His face flushed red, his gaze fixed on the reflected tomb door, and pain and regret flashed in his eyes.

Si Ming squinted and observed intently.

The stone carvings on the tomb door are clearly visible.

A picture depicting a dramatic change in the fish and dragon.

The patterns on the stone pillars surge like waves, with dragons winding their bodies and fish scattering in fright, as if they are about to leap out of the stone carvings at any moment.

He nodded, his tone calm yet resolute.

"That's right, it's this one."

Xiao Jinyan's breathing suddenly quickened, her eyes fixed on the tomb door.

"I remember! I...I did catch a glimpse of that pattern back then!"

Si Ming simply smiled and waved his hand.

The sand and gravel crumbled, the bubbles disappeared, and the torrent of time receded like the tide.

The waterfall roared again, the lake rippled once more, and everything returned to the "now" when they stood by the lake.

The sands of time have completely dispersed, as if they had never existed.

The roar of the waterfall echoed once more, white mist filled the air, and ripples spread across the lake's surface.

Everything has returned to the familiar present.

Si Ming lifted his foot and slowly walked along the lake shore.

Xiao Jinyan followed closely behind, his long sword clattering softly on his back, his breathing rapid and heavy.

The two stopped in front of the fourth tomb door on the left side of the main view.

The heavy stone gate stood silently, its pillars weathered and ancient, the stone carvings on them crystal clear.

A picture depicting a dramatic change in the fish and dragon.

The dragon's body meandered, startling the fish into scattering. The patterns on its scales appeared and disappeared in the mist, as if it were about to come to life at any moment.

……

"right here."

Xiao Jinyan murmured softly, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.

He and Si Ming looked at each other and nodded.

Confirmed.

Si Ming suddenly laughed; the bizarre smile on his mask looked particularly cunning in the mist.

"All right."

"Let's be tomb raiders for once."

He reached out and patted the boy's stiff shoulder, his tone relaxed, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"Let's steal that female fox spirit from the hands of time."

Xiao Jinyan paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth, and the longsword made a crisp sound on his back.

The waterfall roared, and white mist swirled.

The two stood side by side in front of the tomb entrance.

A person wearing a white clown mask, a smile playing on their lips;
A man stood with a sword on his back, his eyes resolute.

Before them stood an ancient tomb door adorned with fish and dragon patterns;
Above them, a roaring waterfall and an endless sea of ​​mist.

The stage has been set.

When the sand covers my face,

The truth flows backwards from the lies.

Once the tomb door is opened,

The fire-stealer stood before the ages.

—The Water and Moon Witness Monument

(End of this chapter)