The Game of All Beings

Chapter Seven: Climbing Up

When Thousand Eyes descended, all the colours of the world changed.

Not like a dark period—all colours simply faded, as if washed with water. Shen Yue stood at the cave entrance, looking up at that enormous thing in the sky, and for the first time truly understood the meaning of the name "Thousand Eyes."

It wasn't a bird.

It was countless eyes clustered together, forming some kind of shape. Every eye moved, watched, gazed at different corners of this world. Some looked at the past, some at the present, some at the future. They overlapped, crowded together, dense as grapes on a vine, like some giant creature entirely covered in eyes.

Looking at it, Shen Yue's stomach churned.

Lin Xiaohé stood beside him, also looking. In that light, her translucent form grew fainter, nearly vanishing.

"It's really ugly," she said.

Shen Yue paused, then laughed.

At a time like this, she could say that.

"Pretty ugly," he agreed.

Lao He came from behind, stood beside them.

"It's choosing," he said. "Every time it descends, it chooses someone. The chosen one is edited into a most dramatic path, step by step towards death. In this process, immense uncertainty is generated—that's what the gods want."

"How do we climb?" Chen Mo asked.

Lao He pointed at the eyes.

"See those gazes?"

They looked. The eyes watched, each with a gaze. Those gazes were invisible, but could be felt. Like countless fine threads, descending from the sky, piercing into every corner of this world.

"The chosen one is pinned by one gaze," Lao He said. "What you must do, the moment it chooses someone, is seize that gaze and climb."

"After climbing?" Shen Yue asked.

Lao He shook his head.

"Don't know. Lao Gui climbed, and never returned."

They watched those eyes in the sky in silence.

Suddenly, one eye moved.

Not turned—focused. It had been looking into the distance, now slowly turned, looking towards them.

Shen Yue felt a chill.

"It's looking at us," he said.

Lao He stepped back.

"No," he said. "It's looking at you."

Shen Yue glanced back at Chen Mo and Lin Xiaohé. Chen Mo's face was pale. Lin Xiaohé remained the same, translucent, expressionless.

That eye stared at them, unblinking.

Then a second eye turned.

A third. A fourth.

More and more eyes turned, looking towards them. Those gazes like countless needles, piercing them. Shen Yue felt his legs tremble—not from fear, but from the weight of that pressure.

"It's chosen you," Lao He's voice came from behind. "No—it can't see through you. It's trying to see through you."

More and more eyes turned, until almost all of them were looking at the three.

Lin Xiaohé suddenly stepped forward.

"What are you doing?" Shen Yue grabbed her.

"It can't see me," Lin Xiaohé said. "I'll let it see."

Her hand was cool, cool as mist. Holding it, Shen Yue felt it tremble slightly—she wasn't unafraid, just pretending.

"Don't go," he said.

Lin Xiaohé looked back at him.

"Don't you want to climb?" she asked. "If it doesn't see you, how can you?"

Shen Yue said nothing.

She withdrew her hand, walked forward.

Three steps, then stopped.

All those eyes fixed on her. Countless gazes, pressing down from the sky, landing on her translucent form.

Her form flickered, growing fainter.

"Lin Xiaohé!" Shen Yue rushed forward.

The moment he grabbed her hand, he felt something snap.

Not literally—a sensation. Like a string pulled taut, then released. He looked up. The eyes were still there, but their gazes no longer pressed down. They just watched, as if waiting for something.

"It's letting us up," Lin Xiaohé said.

"How do you know?"

She pointed at the sky. Among the eyes, there was a c***k. Not an eye—a c***k, black, thin, like a wound.

"There," she said.

Shen Yue looked at that c***k, his heart pounding.

Lao He's voice came from behind: "That's the path. The path Lao Gui spoke of. Before he climbed, he saw that c***k too."

Chen Mo came forward, stood beside them.

"Let's go," he said.

Shen Yue looked at that c***k, then at Lin Xiaohé. Her translucent form, under those eyes' gaze, was nearly one with the air.

"Your hand," he said.

Lin Xiaohé looked down at it. It was so faint it was nearly invisible, only an outline, no colour.

"It's okay," she said. "It's like this anyway."

Shen Yue said nothing, just gripped that nearly-vanished hand tightly.

"How do we climb?" Chen Mo asked.

No one answered.

Those eyes still watched. That c***k remained there, black, thin, waiting in the sky.

Lin Xiaohé suddenly laughed.

"Jump up," she said.

Then she pulled Shen Yue, and jumped.

——

They didn't fall.

Those gazes held them. Not held—drew. Like countless invisible threads, wrapping around their bodies, pulling them upward.

Shen Yue looked down. The ground receded. That cave, that massive boulder, that standing Lao He—smaller and smaller, finally a dot, vanishing into the grey background.

They flew upward.

No, not flew. Were pulled. Those gazes like ropes, binding them, dragging them into the sky. Wind roared past, biting cold. Shen Yue couldn't open his eyes, squinted, saw Lin Xiaohé beside him, her translucent form wavering in the wind.

Her hand still in his.

Cool, but not letting go.

Time passed.

The wind stopped.

Shen Yue opened his eyes. He stood in a strange place.

Not sky, not ground—something between. All around, grey mist, nothing visible. Underfoot, something soft, like walking on clouds.

Chen Mo stood nearby, pale, but alive.

Lin Xiaohé stood apart, still translucent, but slightly clearer than before.

"Where is this?" Chen Mo asked.

No one knew.

In the mist, an eye opened.

Not one—many. Those eyes emerged from the mist, surrounding them, watching them. But without malice, just watching, like observing something strange.

"They're looking at us," Lin Xiaohé said.

Shen Yue felt it too. Those gazes weren't as heavy as before, light, like feathers alighting.

From the mist, a voice came.

Not a speaking voice—pure sound, like metal grinding, like electrical hum, like ten thousand birds singing at once. But strangely, they could understand.

"Who are you?"

Shen Yue opened his mouth, didn't know how to answer.

Who was he? Someone reincarnated three hundred times? Someone who'd made a free choice in a blind spot? Someone who'd brought a blank slate out of the editing room?

None of those.

Just Shen Yue.

"My name is Shen Yue," he said.

The voice was silent for a moment.

"Shen Yue. That name is in no timeline."

"No."

"Why?"

Shen Yue thought.

"Because I made a choice. A choice not within your gaze."

The voice was silent again.

The eyes in the mist blinked, as if thinking.

"That choice," the voice said, "what was it?"

Shen Yue remembered that old man. That dying old man, lying in the woods. At the time, he hadn't thought much—just that Lin Xiaohé had already knelt to help, and he couldn't stand by watching.

"Helping someone," he said.

The voice was silent even longer.

Then it said:

"I see it now."

Shen Yue froze.

"I thought you couldn't see?"

"Now I can," the voice said. "You've come in. Entered my domain. Here, I can see."

Shen Yue's heart tightened.

Come in.

They were in Thousand Eyes' domain now.

——

The mist slowly cleared.

They saw an immense space. Not a cave, not sky—something between. All around, endless grey, but within the grey, many things floated—images, sounds, faces, tree shadows, house outlines. Those things drifted past, flashing, like countless strips of cut film.

"This is......" Chen Mo began.

"The editing room," the voice said. "But not the one you visited. That was discarded timelines. This is——where editing happens."

They saw light in the distance. Not from eyes—another light. Soft, white light, emanating from somewhere.

The voice said:

"What you seek is over there."

"You know what we seek?" Shen Yue asked.

The voice was silent for a moment.

"I know," it said. "You want to awaken that Forgotten One. Want to wake from this dream."

"You know that Forgotten One?"

"I know," the voice said. "I was created by it."

Shen Yue froze.

"You were created by it?"

"All gods were," the voice said. "The gods are concepts aggregated from its memories. I am the eternal** of its final glance. The name 'Thousand Eyes' you gave me is just your name for me. My true name was forgotten long ago."

It paused.

"After it fell asleep, we awoke. We began operating this world, using uncertainty to sustain the divine realm. We thought we were masters, but later discovered——we too are prisoners."

Those eyes looked at them.

"We cannot leave. Neither can you. This world is a closed dream, with no exit. You want to awaken it, but after awakening——the dream ends, you will vanish, we will vanish, everything will vanish."

"Better than being trapped here forever," Chen Mo said.

The voice was silent for a moment.

"Perhaps," it said. "Perhaps."

The light in the distance grew brighter.

"Go there," the voice said. "That is the path to the divine realm. That Forgotten One sleeps in the deepest part of the divine realm. But be careful——"

It didn't finish.

Those eyes began flickering. One by one, closing, then opening. Closing, opening. Like some signal.

"It's summoning me," the voice said. "It has discovered you. Go quickly."

"Who has discovered us?" Shen Yue asked.

"The gods," the voice said. "Not us—them. We are tools, they are masters. They will not permit anyone to go there."

The eyes closed faster and faster. The grey around them began spinning, the floating images distorting.

"Go!" the voice shouted.

Shen Yue grabbed Lin Xiaohé and ran towards that light. Chen Mo followed.

Behind them, a tremendous roar. All the eyes closed at once. The grey space began collapsing, chunks falling away like broken plaster.

They ran.

The light drew nearer.

Nearer.

Then——

They plunged through.

——

When the light faded, they stood in a strange place.

Not grey—white. Pure white, blindingly white. White underfoot, white overhead, white all around. No boundaries, no direction, no distance.

Lin Xiaohé stood beside him, her hand still in his.

Chen Mo stood apart, looking around.

"Is this the divine realm?" he asked.

No one knew.

In the whiteness, something appeared.

Not a person, not an eye—a shape. Like a mass of light, but not light; like a mass of mist, but not mist. It slowly emerged in the whiteness, slowly took form, until it became a——

Person.

An old man.

In dusty clothes, face deeply wrinkled, eyes clouded. Exactly like the old man who had died in the woods.

Shen Yue was stunned.

"You......"

The old man looked at him and smiled.

That smile was familiar.

"We meet again," he said.

Shen Yue opened his mouth, couldn't speak.

That old man——the one he'd helped, who'd died in Lin Xiaohé's yard——stood before him, looking at him.

"You are......"

"I am Lao Gui," the old man said. "The one who climbed up thirty years ago."

He paused, looked at Shen Yue, then at Lin Xiaohé.

"Also the dying man you helped. Also the Wall Breaker who died in that blank slate's yard."

He looked at Shen Yue.

"Do you know why I died there?"

Shen Yue shook his head.

Lao Gui smiled.

"Because I was waiting for you."

——

The whiteness slowly dissipated.

They saw other things.

In the distance, a massive structure. Not a building—something more complex, like countless geometric shapes stacked together, constantly changing, constantly rotating. Every surface reflected light, those lights interweaving into an enormous web.

"That is the centre of the divine realm," Lao Gui said. "Where the gods live."

"What do the gods look like?" Chen Mo asked.

Lao Gui shook his head.

"Don't know. I cannot see them. Only sense them. They are not shapes, but concepts. Order and chaos, creation and destruction, time and space——each concept is a god. They live in there, sustained by the uncertainty generated by our world."

He looked at that structure.

"I waited outside for thirty years, couldn't enter. They wouldn't let me in."

"And you've been here all this time?" Shen Yue asked.

Lao Gui nodded.

"All this time. Can't enter, can't return. Stuck here, watching that structure, watching it turn, watching it shine, watching those concepts live inside."

His voice was calm, betraying neither pain nor despair.

"The first few years, I desperately wanted to return. Later, I stopped wanting to. Return to what? Continue reincarnating? Continue pretending? Continue waiting to die in that ever-shrinking world?"

He looked at Shen Yue.

"When you helped me, I recognized you. Not who you were, but that you'd made a free choice. That body of mine was dying, but my eyes could still see. I saw you approach, saw you crouch, saw you lift me. In that moment, I knew——you were here to replace me."

"Replace you?"

Lao Gui pointed at that structure.

"I couldn't enter, but you can. Because you're not alone."

He looked at Shen Yue and Lin Xiaohé's joined hands.

"You brought her out of the editing room. She's not in any timeline. When you two are together, you generate something strange——not uncertainty, something else. Something the gods have never seen. They don't know what it is, so they don't know how to deal with you."

Shen Yue looked down at Lin Xiaohé's hand. Still cool, but after holding it so long, it seemed to have a trace of warmth.

"What is it?" he asked.

Lao Gui smiled.

"I don't know," he said. "You'll have to find the answer yourselves."

He stepped back.

"I have to go."

"Where?"

Lao Gui looked at that structure.

"In," he said. "While they're distracted, slip in. Thirty years, I want to see what's inside."

He took a step forward, then looked back.

"Go that way." He pointed in another direction. "There's an opening there. A very small opening, but big enough for you to squeeze through. That Forgotten One sleeps beyond that opening."

He looked at Shen Yue.

"She's important," he said. "Whatever you do, keep her with you."

Then he turned, walked towards that massive structure.

His figure grew smaller, finally vanishing into those swirling lights.

——

They walked in the other direction.

For a long time. The white slowly faded to grey, then to black. Not the black of dark periods—another black, soft, like deep night sky.

Then they saw that opening.

Not a door, not a c***k—an opening. Like a wall broken by something, leaving an irregular hole. Beyond the hole, light shone through. Not white light—warm, amber, like sunset glow.

Shen Yue looked at that opening, his heart pounding.

Lin Xiaohé stood beside him, holding his hand.

"Are you afraid?" she asked.

Shen Yue thought.

"Yes," he said. "But there's something more than fear."

"What?"

He didn't know how to describe it.

Three hundred reincarnations, three hundred years of memories, three hundred years of pretending. He'd thought himself numb, incapable of feeling anything deeply anymore. But now, standing before this opening, holding a cool hand, he felt something strange.

Not fear. Not excitement. It was——

Wanting to look at her.

Wanting her to keep smiling. Wanting her to weave another basket. Wanting her to ask again "do fish get cold in the water."

"Let's go," he said.

They walked towards that opening.

The light grew brighter.

Warmer.

Then——

They passed through.

——

They stood in an immense space.

Not white, not grey, not black. Countless colours mingled, flowing, changing, like a river. Those colours streamed from all directions towards a single point in the centre, then vanished.

In the centre was something.

Something enormous.

Like a person, but not a person. Like a mountain, but not a mountain. It slept there, eyes closed, chest gently rising and falling. With each rise and fall, countless colours flowed from its body, streaming in all directions.

Shen Yue looked at it, and suddenly understood.

That was the Forgotten One.

The one who had been erased, who had created this world.

It was here. Sleeping.

Lin Xiaohé stood beside him, also looking. Her translucent form glowed faintly in those colours.

"It's so big," she said.

"Yes."

"Can we wake it?"

Shen Yue didn't know.

He only knew they'd come this far, done this much, for this moment.

He took a step forward.

Those colours suddenly flowed faster. They surged from the Forgotten One's body, surged towards them, as if to block their advance.

Lin Xiaohé stepped in front of him.

When those colours touched her, they stopped.

They flowed around her, past her, as if afraid.

Shen Yue looked at her back. Translucent, nearly invisible, but standing before him, unmoving.

"You're protecting me," he said.

Lin Xiaohé looked back at him.

"You protected me," she said. "Now it's my turn."

She held out her hand.

Shen Yue took it.

Cool, but with a trace of warmth now.

Together, they walked forward.

Towards that sleeping Forgotten One.