[23 years since the Donghuang Bell rang]

"Wow--!!"

Heavy rain poured down from the sky. Next to a smelly trash can, an abandoned baby wrapped in a tattered towel was crying loudly.

But no matter how miserably the abandoned baby cried, it was still drowned out by the heavy rain and thunder. In addition, this place was extremely remote and no one noticed the existence of this abandoned baby. As time passed, the baby's crying became quieter and quieter.

The cold rain slammed against his skin, and an unnatural blush appeared on his face. His hoarse crying finally stopped, and he lay motionless in the garbage dump, as if he had fainted.

Just then, a figure slowly walked up to him.

He was a monk in a muddy robe. He stretched out his hands and picked up the abandoned baby who had fainted from a high fever. His autumn-water eyes did not show any emotion, but he still held the abandoned baby under his body to protect it from the wind and rain.

He carried the abandoned baby through the deserted streets and finally stopped in front of an iron gate.

He looked up and saw five big characters:

——Hanshan Orphanage.

The fateful monk placed the abandoned baby in his arms in front of the iron gate, bit his fingertips, and gently wrote three words on the worn towel wrapped around the baby.

After doing all this, he turned and left, his figure submerged in the heavy rain.

“Woof—Woof—!”

The sound of dogs barking came from the orphanage. A black dog rushed to the iron gate and barked at the abandoned baby at the door. An old man hurried out of the house holding a stick.

"What are you yelling for? If you yell again, I'll beat you up!"

The old man threatened the black dog a few times and was about to go back to the house, but suddenly he caught a glimpse of the iron gate and froze in place.

He quickly opened the iron gate, picked up the abandoned baby wrapped in a towel, looked around the door, and didn't find any figure... His brows immediately frowned.

"It's raining so hard... Aren't those heartless bastards afraid that the children will freeze to death?"

The old man cursed and quickly touched the child's forehead. Sure enough, it was extremely hot!

He turned around and was about to take the abandoned baby back to the house. At this moment, the worn towel fell to the ground. The old man looked down and saw three bloody characters being washed away by the heavy rain. The characters gradually became blurred and finally disappeared into the night along with the flowing rain.

"Shen Qingzhu?"

The old man remembered those three words and muttered them softly.

At the same time, a causal paradox is connected in the void, quietly disappearing without a trace...

…

[During the time until the Donghuang Bell rings: 58 minutes]

Olympus.

Inside the temple at the top of the mountain, a hunched, thin figure was leaning on the bed, coughing weakly.

Zeus, once the king of gods, now looks like an old man on his twilight years. The blood hole on his back has become shriveled and blackened, with only a little bit of life barely burning in his body.

"Biya..." he began hoarsely.

"Your Majesty the God King." The sub-god that Si Xiaonan transformed into stepped forward respectfully.

"How's it going outside?"

Si Xiaonan opened his mouth, seeming to be very conflicted.

"Tell me!" Zeus glared at her, "What's going on outside?!"

"Reporting to the God King... I have been gathering information among several divine peaks these days, and it seems... several of your descendants seem to be ready to make a move." Si Xiaonan said helplessly.

Zeus' old eyes narrowed, a surge of anger surged in his heart, and he snorted coldly, and before he could say anything, he began to cough violently.

“Ahem… these ungrateful bastards… seeing that I am not as good as I used to be, they all want to sit on that golden throne… I’m afraid that now, they are teaming up to find a way to kill this old bone of mine.”

Seeing this, Si Xiaonan hurriedly walked to Zeus and thoughtfully brought him some spring water.

"Lord God King, please don't be angry. Your health is more important... After you came back, you have been recuperating in this palace and have never seen outsiders. In the past few days, I have followed your instructions and spread the news that you will soon recover among the God Peaks. They dare not take any action in the short term."

Hearing this, Zeus' expression eased a little.

He glanced at Si Xiaonan and said slowly: "You are very smart... It is indeed the right choice to let you assist me."

"It is my honor to serve the Lord God King."

"I can't let those guys outside see me in this state... There are some things that only you can do for me." Zeus paused for a moment, "They may not believe the news you spread. I'm afraid they will try to enter this forbidden area to test me. You have to stop them for me."

"yes."

Si Xiaonan bowed respectfully to Zeus and slowly left the forbidden hall.

When the palace door closed, the respect on Si Xiaonan's face suddenly disappeared. She glanced at this magnificent palace and her eyes narrowed slightly.

She still couldn't tell whether Zeus, the old fox, was as fragile as he appeared to be. Even though she had become the closest person to Zeus, she couldn't act rashly. Even if she was a withered, dying tiger, she was still a tiger...

After a moment, she turned and walked down the mountain.

She picked a relatively flat boulder and lay down on it leisurely, closing her eyes and pretending to be asleep. However, her two ears mysteriously fell off her head and disappeared into the mountain.

With her ability, except for the forbidden palace where Zeus was, the entire Olympus was within her monitoring range. While listening to all the secrets of this kingdom of God, she slowly fell into a deep sleep...

In a trance, she had a dream.

It was an old house. A young man dressed in Han Dynasty Confucian clothing was leaning against the wall, holding a chess basket full of white pieces in his hand, and looking at her with a smile.

"The God of Trickery, Si Xiaonan." His voice rang out.

Si Xiaonan was in a trance for a moment, and suddenly regained consciousness in the dream. She looked at the strange man in front of her warily, frowned and said:

"Invaded my dreams? Who are you?"

"My name is Yan Zhong." The scholar took out a jade token from his waist. "I used to be a member of the Evil Suppression Division. Now... I am just a ghost."

"Zhenxie Si? Are you from Daxia?"

"I guess so. It's not easy to find you in the dreams of hundreds of millions of creatures in the world... I can only stay here for a while, let's make it short." Yan Zhong took out a white piece from the chess basket in his hand and handed it to Si Xiaonan.

"What is this?" Si Xiaonan asked puzzledly.

"Lin Qiye asked me to pass it on to you."

"Lin Qiye?"

"In order to avoid any causal connection with his past self, he has been sleeping for more than fifty years... I can only use my ability as a medium to transfer these chess pieces to you." Yan Zhong said calmly.

"The Donghuang Bell rings, the [Holy Covenant] comes into effect, cause and effect are reversed, and life is reborn from the dead... You will naturally know the role of this chess piece when the time comes."

(