Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 500 The Illusory Chessboard: Searching for the Corner of the True Tomb

Truth and falsehood are but a single move in a game of chess.

Life and death are nothing but an illusion.

Only the one who holds the child,
Only then can the illusion be fully deduced.

Chessboard Secrets

The dimensional gate closed in the void, and after a flash of white light, the three figures landed steadily on the solid stone platform on the lake shore.

The ground beneath my feet was cold rock, and the familiar sound of water filled my ears.

Looking up, it's still that same lake.

The lake surface is as clear as a mirror, with surging water mist enveloping the surroundings. Seven mountains are arranged in a row, their reflections overlapping with the real scenery, and fourteen layers of tomb shadows stand solemnly.

Seven mountains and fourteen tombs.

It remained eerie and oppressive, as if waiting for them to step into the abyss once again.

After a long silence, Si Ming spoke lazily, his voice carrying a hint of mockery beneath the white clown mask.

"What's next?"

He stretched, as if he had never experienced the madness and near-death experience in the tomb.

"Should we just leave, or simply clear this dungeon?"

Xiao Lianyin did not hesitate.

Her gaze was cold, and her voice was hoarse yet firm.

"What can you gain by going out?"

She surveyed the lake, her gaze sweeping across the shadows of the tombs like a sharp blade.

"We suffered a huge setback here."

"If we don't conquer it all, even if we manage to escape back by chance, we'll have nothing left."

"Penniless, I can only return to the bottom of the tower to eke out a living."

As she finished speaking, her eyes became even sharper, as if she wanted to evaporate the lake water.

Xiao Jinyan lowered his head, his long sword trembling slightly behind him.

He pursed his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he didn't utter a single word.

That reckless memory still lingers in my mind.

If I hadn't rashly entered the tomb, my sister wouldn't have been trapped in the blood cocoon.

He is the one who dragged things out to this point.

Silence speaks louder than any words in revealing his guilt.

The lake fog churned, and the air grew increasingly heavy.

The three people's shadows stretched long across the lake.

At that moment, they all understood:
There is no way back.

The mist churned on the lake, and the seven mountains and fourteen tombs reflected in it seemed to be watching coldly from the sidelines.

The three of them silently sorted out their thoughts and went through the remaining clues again.

The dungeon quests were given to them when they first entered the dungeon:

—Search for the true tomb, and take the Horn of Sazeroth.

“That sounds easy enough.”

Si Ming crossed his arms, his voice cold yet tinged with amusement.

"But the problem is—how do we find it?"

He turned to stare at Xiao Jinyan, the smile on his white clown mask eerie and glaring.

"Or should we do it like before? Go into each cemetery one by one and try them out? Step on a few more traps until all three of us are buried in the same grave?"

"I--"

Xiao Jinyan suddenly looked up, his lips moved, but he couldn't say anything.

In my memory, the images of Blood Cocoon, Fox Lord, and my sister being swallowed by the Time Worm overlapped.

He felt a tightness in his chest, and his hand gripped the sword hilt tightly, his knuckles turning white.

But in the end, he couldn't refute it and could only lower his head and grit his teeth.

"Stop teasing him."

A lighthearted voice suddenly broke the solemn atmosphere.

Xiao Lianyin leaned against the sword sheath, a faint smile on her face, but her gaze remained sharp.

She looked at Si Ming, her eyes filled with no doubt, but rather with certainty.

"Didn't you already have a plan, Si Ming?"

The air stagnated.

Xiao Jinyan looked up in surprise, her gaze shifting back and forth between her sister and Si Ming.

The sound of the wind in the lake mist seemed to quiet down at this moment.

Si Ming lowered his eyes, his fingertips gently caressing the Star Calamity Card, and a meaningful smile slowly curved his lips.

The atmosphere suddenly changed.

The initial repression gradually turned into anticipation of the unknown.

Si Ming shrugged lightly, his tone as lazy as ever, as if he were just chatting casually.

"The solution... is simple in some ways, but not in others."

"It's not difficult... in fact."

He raised his hands and gently snapped his index fingers together.

The air suddenly trembled, as if an invisible curtain had been drawn back.

—A mysterious, enigmatic language flowed softly.

"Chess moves on the board—a mix of truth and deception!"

boom!
The stone shore of the lake suddenly split open, and a giant chessboard appeared in the void.

Black and white intertwine, countless squares stretch from beneath your feet all the way to the distant void.

Each cell radiates a faint glow, like a symbol of fate, forcibly brought into reality.

Si Ming slowly stepped forward and stood on the king's throne in the very center of the chessboard.

The bizarre smile of the white clown mask perfectly complements the cold solemnity of the chessboard.

“Click, click—”

The chess pieces on the board began to tremble.

Knights, bishops, chariots, queens, soldiers... one by one they peeled away from the forms of wood and stone, transforming into blurry human figures.

Their faces gradually became clear in the light.

—But they were all laughing.

The smile was stiff and cold, the corners of his mouth curving so wide they almost split open, like a marionette forcibly mimicking a human expression.

His smile carried a chilling sarcasm.

The God of Fate chanted softly, his voice clear and cold:
"Schrödinger's Shadow"

"A false body."

"A mixture of truth and deception."

"A mix of truth and falsehood."

As soon as the words were spoken, the humanoid chess pieces began to twist.

Their silhouettes kept changing; some bodies shrank, transforming into agile youths.

Some women, with graceful figures, can transform into aloof and cold-hearted women in an instant;

Some stood with swords on their backs, their brows and eyes filled with a rebellious, childish spirit;
Some wore white clown masks, with a smirk playing on their lips.

Xiao Jinyan's eyes widened suddenly.

On the chessboard, those illusions—

One by one, they all became themselves!
It could be Si Ming, Xiao Lianyin, or him himself.

Dozens of "them" stood in twos and threes on the chessboard, turning their heads to look at each other, revealing the same stiff and cold smiles.

"Ha—" A chill ran down Xiao Jinyan's spine, and he couldn't help but shiver.

He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing, his voice strained.

"This... is too bizarre..."

The chessboard was filled with shifting light and shadow, and the illusions made the air feel heavy.

Siming stood in the center, his hands outstretched as if holding a chess piece, coldly surveying the entire situation.

His voice was deep, with a hint of sarcasm:
"All right."

"Now, let's have them step on it for us."

"move!"

With a low shout, the chessboard suddenly trembled.

The chess pieces, which had transformed into human shapes, scattered in twos and threes and suddenly rushed toward the fourteen tomb gates above and below the lake.

Their figures moved through the mist, their steps firm and cold, like real living beings.

On the shore, Si Ming waved his hands, and the light screen suddenly unfolded.

The screen is divided into fourteen views, each corresponding to a different cemetery.

The perspectives of the clones are projected synchronously, as if they were actually there.

The first split screen—

The illusion stepped into the tomb, and the tomb passage collapsed instantly, with sand surging down like a tsunami.

The illusion struggled desperately, but was instantly swallowed up and suffocated to death.

The screen went black.

The second split screen—

The illusion had just entered the tomb passage when countless sharp blades suddenly emerged from the stone walls on both sides.

"Puff puff--"

His body was instantly pierced, pinned to the wall, and his smile froze.

The screen went black.

The third split screen—

The chirping of insects was deafening, and countless insects of time poured out from the depths of the tomb passage.

The illusionary figure was instantly submerged, the silver carapace biting and chewing incessantly, turning into bones in a moment before completely disintegrating.

The screen went black.

The fourth split screen—

A massive shadow surged from the far end of the tomb, revealing a hideous face.

It was a humanoid monster with abnormally long limbs and menacing fangs.

It ripped the illusion apart, spraying blood mist onto the screen.

The screen went black.

On the lakeside, the light screens went out one after another.

In just a short while, seven or eight split screens had all gone black.

But at almost the same time, the pieces on the board were rearranged one by one.

Their bodies coalesced again from the checkerboard-like light and shadow, and they stepped into the tomb again, repeating the same process.

Death, collapse, rebuilding, and fighting again.

An endless loop.

"Really..."

Xiao Jinyan stared in disbelief as he watched the illusions that looked exactly like him being torn apart, devoured, suffocated, and pierced, yet each standing up with the same stiff, cold smile.

He couldn't help but click his tongue, a chill running down his spine:
"It really is... a convenient ability."

Si Ming merely smiled lightly, the smile on his white clown mask reflecting the cold light of the screen.

"As long as I maintain the chessboard, they will not truly die."

His voice was calm, as if this were not a bizarre death experiment, but an ordinary game.

Xiao Lianyin squinted, her gaze sweeping back and forth across the light screen.

She didn't speak, but only murmured softly:

"The true tomb... will eventually surface."

The split screens kept turning off, and the images on the screen became fewer and fewer.

The tension and anticipation in the air gradually solidified.

The screen dimmed piece by piece.

The collapsing tomb passage, the walls gleaming with sharp blades, the gnawing sound of the Time Worms, the roars of monsters...

Every scene ends with a horrific death.

The illusions fall and recombine again and again, fearlessly repeating the same fate.

In the end, only one part of the screen remained, still flickering.

In the scene, the clone is still moving steadily forward in the tomb passage.

There was no quicksand, no sharp blades, no swarms of insects or monsters.

Everything was silent, yet it carried a solemnity that was unsettling.

The air became quiet.

On the lakeside, the three of them looked up at the same time.

Their gazes converged on the screen, then gradually shifted to each other.

No words needed.

—They already understood.

The only genuine tomb.

Xiao Jinyan suddenly drew his sword.

"Qiang!"

The sound of a sword suddenly exploded on the lakeside. He slashed down with his longsword, the sword intent tearing through the air and forcefully ripping open a dimensional gate.

Ripples surged, and doors appeared.

The lake water suddenly churned, and the mist surged wildly, as if to mark the moment.

Si Ming raised his hand and murmured softly.

"Falsehoods and lies—"

Light and shadow intertwine, and the power of illusion surrounds the dimensional gate, solidifying it into a passage to the One Graveyard.

The three of them looked at each other.

Xiao Lianyin nodded slightly and gripped the sword hilt tightly.

Xiao Jinyan took a deep breath, his eyes resolute.

Si Ming stood in front of the door, his smile, clad in a white clown mask, appearing even more grotesque through the mist.

"Walk."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three of them stepped inside.

The lake water surged violently, and the underwater reflection of the tomb door and the real tomb above the water opened simultaneously with a loud crash.

The swirling darkness swallowed their figures.

All that remains are the churning lake surface and the somber shadows of the fourteen tombs.

Silence returns.

All the fake tombs have been destroyed.

Only the true image remains.

Die a million times in two separate bodies
All for the sake of taking that one and only step.

—The Illusory Chess Manual

(End of this chapter)