Chapter Seven
The heavens trembled.
The sealed orb pulsed like a heart about to burst.
Shangdi's voice echoed across existence:
"Scene Three…"
"…The Final Trial…"
But before the world could breathe again—
Zheng Wen Te broke.
His knees hit the floor.
Not in worship.
Not in fear.
In exhaustion.
His voice came out cracked, raw, almost childlike.
"Please…"
The entire planet heard him.
A broken man speaking to God.
"No more."
He lifted his face, tears cutting through ash and smoke.
"I don't want another cycle."
"I don't want another war."
"I don't want to be a prophet…"
His lips trembled.
"Can you just…"
"…give me one eternal sleep?"
For the first time—
Shangdi did not answer immediately.
Even the giants stood still.
Even the Protector's fury paused.
The silence was heavier than thunder.
Then Shangdi spoke.
Not cruel.
Not merciful.
Simply… absolute.
"No."
Zheng Wen Te flinched.
Shangdi continued, voice older than stars:
"There is one last karma attached to your soul."
Zheng Wen Te swallowed.
His throat was dry as dust.
"Karma…?"
Shangdi's tone sharpened slightly.
"A chain."
"A debt."
"A matter unfinished."
Zheng Wen Te's hands curled into fists.
"…I've already lost everything."
"My wife."
"My children."
"My life."
"What else could possibly remain?"
Shangdi answered:
"That is not the beginning."
"That is the consequence."
Zheng Wen Te froze.
Shangdi's voice entered every mind on Earth:
"One eon ago…"
"You left a matter of the heart unresolved…"
"In another world."
The words struck like lightning.
Zheng Wen Te whispered:
"…Another world?"
Shangdi replied:
"Yes."
"That is why, in this life…"
"Your wife left you."
"That is why your children could not stay."
"That is why love collapsed around you like ash."
Zheng Wen Te's breathing became uneven.
He wanted to deny it.
He wanted to scream.
But deep inside—
something stirred.
A faint ache older than this lifetime.
A wound he could not name.
His voice came out hoarse.
"…So even my suffering…"
"…was repayment?"
Shangdi did not deny it.
"It was echo."
"It was return."
"It was karma."
Zheng Wen Te closed his eyes.
For a long moment—
he looked like a man already dead.
Then…
he whispered.
"…Okay."
The world held its breath.
Zheng Wen Te spoke again, quieter.
"…What must I do?"
Shangdi's voice became vast.
"Resolve it."
"Only then…"
"Will you earn eternal rest."
The giants lowered their heads.
The Protector's eyes narrowed.
Then—
Shangdi raised his hand.
Reality split.
Not like a tear of war—
but like a river opening.
A luminous current poured across the sky.
Time itself.
The River of Time.
Humanity screamed as they saw it—
countless worlds flowing inside it.
Countless lives.
Countless destinies.
Shangdi spoke:
"Go."
Zheng Wen Te looked up, trembling.
"To where…?"
Shangdi answered, final and divine:
"To the world where your heart was left unfinished."
"Go there."
"Solve it."
"And only then…"
"…may you sleep."
The river widened.
The light became unbearable.
Zheng Wen Te's body began to lift—
not as a chosen hero…
but as a condemned soul seeking closure.
And Earth watched.
From hell…
to heaven…
to something far more terrifying:
A second chance.
The last one.