Reversing Falsehood and Preserving Truth: All Gods and Gods Are in My Hands

Lu Yu stroked the patterns on the ancient coin, trying to concentrate. Only a faint golden light emanated from his fingertips, vanishing in an instant. Recalling the flow of light from the myriad hubs, the ancient coin remained calm, as if last night's dream was merely a coincidence.

As he washed up, he stared at himself in the mirror, a trace of lingering fatigue still in his eyes. The aroma of his mother's fried eggs wafted from afar, and his father watched the morning news; the familiar, warm scent of home cooking enveloped him.

"Xiaoyu, do you want a soft-boiled egg or a hard-boiled one today?" came her mother's voice from the kitchen.

"It's soft-boiled, thank you, Mom," Lu Yu replied.

Lu Yu walked to the dining table, where fried eggs, milk, and whole-wheat bread were laid out. Sunlight fell on the porcelain plates, casting a warm glow. It was so warm that he temporarily forgot the shadows that were "thousands of times" stronger...

All morning, Lu Yu couldn't concentrate on reading; he was constantly trying to harness the power of the ancient coins.

He silently recited in his bedroom, concentrating his mind, and even tried to recall his grandmother's instructions before she disappeared, but the ancient coins only showed a weak response and could not even form the barrier he had previously encountered.

He grew increasingly impatient with each attempt, and finally simply threw the coin on the table, staring at it blankly.

The hub of all paths was within reach, yet he couldn't even touch a single one of them!

At noon, a knock on the door was accompanied by Zhao Lei's shout: "Lu Yu! Open the door! I ran here, I came specifically to freeload a meal!"

When Lu Yu opened the door, Zhao Lei was shirtless, wiping away sweat, his sports vest draped over his shoulders, steaming hot: "Preparing for the sports meet, I ran all the way from our neighborhood, at least 15 kilometers! Is your lunch ready yet? I can smell it!"

He entered the house without any ceremony, went straight to the dining table, and his eyes lit up when he saw the stewed ribs: "Your lunch smells amazing!" He reached out to grab some, but Lin Hui slapped his hand: "Go wash your hands! You're such a big young man now, you should pay attention to your image."

During dinner, Zhao Lei, his mouth full of ribs, mumbled, "Lu Yu, come with me to buy a pair of shoes tonight. It would be such a shame if our running shoes didn't fit and affected our class's performance. Hehe, mainly because I've got my eye on a pair of air-cushioned shoes; they're said to make you feel like you're flying when you run in them! My dad gave me the money."

Lu Yu was about to refuse when his father, Lu Jianming, spoke up: "Go ahead. Don't always stay cooped up at home during your senior year. Balance work and rest. You can eat dinner outside if you want."

"Great!" Zhao Lei slammed his hand on the table excitedly. "It's on me! McDonald's, all-you-can-eat Coke!"

In the afternoon, Lu Yu went to the old town.

The repair shop was sealed with fire hazard tape, the iron gate was covered in dust, and the old light bulb was broken. He felt a pang of sadness—Old Zhou had saved him, but hadn't even said thank you, and now he was nowhere to be found.

The phone rang, and Su Wan's voice was a little hoarse: "Feed? Lu Yu? I previously drew a picture of Zhang Hao after he became a phantom on a piece of paper... but now, the paper is blank."

Half an hour later, the two sat down on a park bench. The late summer sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell on Su Wan's easel, casting a soft glow.

"The ethereal beings influence the rules of the world and alter the memories and traces of the 'anomalies'."

Lu Yu slowly recounted the truth that Teacher Liu Jing had told him—the number of ethereal spirits is thousands of times that of humans. Ordinary ethereal spirits are responsible for filling the world, and when their instincts are triggered, they will devour humans. There are also the Guardian Bureau and the Great Dao.

Su Wan's face grew paler and paler as she listened, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the drawing board: "Thousands of times..." Her voice trembled slightly, "Then my dad... is he also a spirit? He travels long distances all year round, but every time he comes back he brings me local specialties..."

"I don't know," Lu Yu said softly. "Actually, I don't dare to ask my parents either. I'm afraid..." He didn't finish his sentence, but Su Wan understood.

The two remained silent for a long time. The evening breeze in the park rustled through the fallen leaves.

In the evening, Lu Yu and Su Wan arrived at the entrance of Huayi Shopping Mall.

Zhao Lei's eyes lit up: "Su Wan is here too? Perfect, she can give me some advice. I want to buy the one that will make all the girls in school scream!"

Zhao Lei went straight to a sports brand store and tried on clothes one by one in front of the shelves, muttering to himself, "This color scheme isn't eye-catching enough, this color isn't cool enough..."

"Hohohohohoho—"

A burst of exaggerated, ear-piercing laughter suddenly erupted.

A slicked-back man with shiny slicked-back hair strolled over, arm in arm with a woman in a sequined dress. The man's suit sleeves were rolled up crookedly, revealing a watch studded with rhinestones. He deliberately swung his belt buckle loudly as he walked, as if afraid no one would see it: "Honey, pick whatever you like! It's a deal, after we buy the shoes, we'll go for champagne!"

The woman in the sequined dress came to the shop behind Lu Yu and his two companions, swiping her hands, which were covered in glossy nail polish, across the shoe rack: "These are all too ordinary. Do you have any limited edition starry sky soles? My best friend showed off those last week."

The man in the suit immediately turned to the sales clerk and shouted, "Bring out the most expensive limited edition! The one with the starry sky background!"

The sales clerk was a young woman in her early twenties, with a neat low ponytail and her uniform perfectly ironed. She wore a standard smile, the corners of her mouth revealing two small canine teeth, and bent down to take a shoe box from the top shelf: "Madam, this is the latest model with the black diamond starry sky sole, and there's only one pair left in the entire store."

The woman with the sequined shoes weighed them in her hand, frowned, and tossed them back onto the shelf: "This color makes my feet look dark, I don't want them."

The man in the suit immediately changed his expression: "Then change to white ones, we don't need the previous ones."

Zhao Lei muttered to Lu Yu from behind, "What's with the show-off? Does he think he's some kind of idol drama male lead?"

Su Wan covered her mouth and laughed, her shoulders shaking slightly, and Lu Yu couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

The sales clerk still smiled gently, then turned around and took out a white limited edition, her posture as precise as if she had been trained a thousand times: "Look at this one, it's a white diamond starry sky base."

The man casually pulled out an ordinary bank card and slapped it on the counter: "Swipe this, PIN: six eights!"

The clerk took the card, and with a "beep," the POS machine screen displayed the words "Insufficient Balance" in red, which was quite glaring.

The man quickly glanced at the price tag, his pupils contracted, and he said awkwardly, "Let me try again, the signal might be bad."

The second time, it was still "insufficient balance".

The woman in the sequins instantly frowned, took out her phone and swiped: "My best friend asked me to go play cards, so I'll have to go now."

The man grew agitated, grabbed her wrist, and abruptly turned to yell at the shop assistant, spitting as he spoke onto the counter: "There's definitely something wrong with your store! These shoes are fake, aren't they? You're afraid to sell the real thing, so you're deliberately cheating! Otherwise, why won't my card be swiped?"

The sales clerk's face flushed slightly, but her professional smile remained unwavering. She bowed slightly, trying to speak calmly and patiently: "Sir, we are an official direct-sale store. Every pair of shoes has a globally unique code; we absolutely do not sell counterfeit goods. Perhaps your bank card doesn't have enough funds, or we need to contact the bank to confirm..."

"My card balance isn't enough? Say that again!" The man abruptly interrupted her, his finger jabbing at the counter, his voice suddenly rising. "You're still laughing? Look at your laugh, it's stiffer than the notification sound of my smart speaker! You can't even smile properly at people, how long have you been practicing? You can't even imitate a human properly, and you dare to be a salesperson? I don't think you're even human! You're just a pretentious fake! Just like this used shoe!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yu, who was standing at the entrance of the shop across the street, felt a tightness in his heart, and the ancient coins in his pocket suddenly felt hot... He subconsciously looked at the shop assistant, who was still bowing, her smile perfectly straight.

Zhao Lei couldn't stand it anymore, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to rush forward: "What's wrong with you? If you can't afford it, you can't afford it, but you're resorting to personal attacks on a girl!"

Su Wan quickly pulled him back: "Don't be impulsive..."

The female shop assistant still wore that standard smile, her face flushed red, but her voice was involuntarily filled with grievance: "Sir, please respect our service."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a bizarre scene unfolded—

Her lips were still forming the shape of a mouth, but her smile seemed frozen in time, unable to move any further. Then, a thick, colorless liquid spilled from the corner of her mouth, trickling down her chin and staining her uniform.

The next second, her uniform was ripped apart, and several tentacles suddenly burst out, twisting in the air.

Her eyes had long lost their sparkle, but the standard, stiff smile on her lips never disappeared.

"You..." Her voice became like rusty metal scraping, "saying I... am not good at imitating people?"