389: Who is the manipulator behind the scenes?

After thinking for a moment, Tang Ku suddenly asked Yang Jian, "True Lord, a dream world this large, capable of mimicking almost everything in the real world... Do you think this is possible without someone manipulating it from the shadows?"

Erlang Shen was taken aback. He replayed what he knew in his mind, then shook his head and said, "Impossible. Even a Saint, if they wanted to recreate the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, would need to secretly maintain the operation of the entire world. It is absolutely impossible to just let it be. Especially for a newborn world, it requires constant correction to keep it on the right track! Any deviation could lead to the entire new world developing... developing loopholes, and might even cause a real catastrophe!"

"Indeed. Then... don't you find it strange that the various disasters in this world connect so perfectly, and are so unimaginably diverse?" Tang Ku said in a deep voice.

"It is very strange, but what does that prove... Oh... I understand!" Erlang Shen instantly guessed something and exclaimed, "You mean..."

"Shh, don't say it out loud..." Tang Ku made a 'hush' gesture and then said, "Let's go back. Perhaps we will know the truth very soon!"

Clearly, Yang Jian understood what was happening, but he was still confused about exactly what Tang Ku was thinking. However, he was now clearly full of admiration for Tang Ku's wisdom, so he didn't need to worry; just following in Tang Sanzang's footsteps was the right thing to do!

The two soon returned to the Du Xin Domain, where all the Disciples wore expressions of surprise.

"You've handled it?" Pig Wuneng asked in shock.

"Heh, handled it... Hmm, I really didn't expect that you all failed to discover such a simple layout... Sigh, you guys, you still need more training!"

Tang Ku said, "However, Bajie, you led the Junior Brothers to protect this city, which was truly hard work. You have both merit and toil. When we get out, I will report it to the throne and request a reward for you! By then, Your Majesty will surely bestow many rewards!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Zhen wouldn't have it. She pouted and said, "Master is biased. Second Senior Brother worked hard, but we also contributed quite a bit. If there are merits and rewards to be requested, we all want them!"

Tang Ku curled his lips and said, "Why are you throwing a tantrum at a time like this? You should learn from your Second Senior Brother, being calm in the face of favor or humiliation..."

As he spoke, Tang Ku suddenly winked at Wu Zhen.

Wu Zhen was stunned. She had never seen Master act so frivolous; she even thought he was possessed by a ghost. However, being naturally intelligent, she quickly realized Tang Ku's purpose in doing so, so she snorted softly and said nothing more.

Pigsy was stunned, then said very generously, "Master, what are you saying? The Junior Brothers have suffered quite a bit following me; their merit is even higher than mine. If we are to request rewards, we should do it together!"

Whoosh! Sha Wujing, Ao Lie, Wu Zhen, and Yang Jian all stepped back in unison, looking at Pig Wuneng with expressions of disbelief mixed with wariness. Only Tang Ku looked at him with an 'as I expected' expression and a cold sneer.

Pigsy was finally unnerved by everyone's stare. He coughed lightly and said, "You... why do you all have expressions like you've seen a ghost? Why are you looking at me with such eyes?"

"Heh, of course they think they've seen a ghost!" Tang Ku pointed at his head and suddenly laughed, "Ask yourself... are you Pigsy?"

Pigsy waved his hand: "Master is joking. Am I not your Disciple Pig Wuneng? How could this be fake?"

Tang Ku laughed, "Who says it can't be fake? Aren't you the fake one?"

He was smiling, and "Pigsy" was also smiling; both had expressions that didn't reach their eyes.

Everyone had now faintly surrounded "Pigsy" in the center. "Pigsy's" fake smile gradually faded, and he narrowed his eyes, saying, "I really don't understand. I thought I had disguised myself very well. Why did you discover my existence?"

"Heh, that's simply too easy!" Tang Ku laughed, squinting his eyes. "I thought about it carefully. Although this dream world exists relying on people's dreams, it has fundamental differences from a real dream. To put it plainly, this is a physical dream formed by the consciousness of thousands of people, which is the same principle as a Saint 'opening another world and recreating the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind.' In other words... this world is too vast and too real, to the point where it can simulate any kind of disaster from the real world... So, here comes the question: since it is a world, it must have its own rules. Are the rules here that various disasters can occur at any time? Heh, I don't think so, because the disaster mechanism itself has certain loopholes, which is that strange time limit..."

"Pigsy" said with interest, "Heh, please continue!"

"The length of the idle time between each disaster is actually determined by the number of disasters you solve. Don't you find that very awkward? In my opinion, this is more like a game controlled by someone, and this world mechanism is the game mechanism!" Tang Ku said in a deep voice, "If the game succeeds, there is a reward; if the game fails, there is a punishment... Hmm, of course, there would be a referee in this, a person who controls the entire game. That person... should be you, right?"

"I still don't understand, why do you conclude it's me based solely on this ambiguous inference?" The fake Pigsy's voice changed, becoming somewhat rough.

"Of course it's not because of this!" Tang Ku shook his head and said, "Remember the culprit behind the moss we found earlier? It was very easy for us to discover him; we just followed the clues and found him, and he didn't have any disguise at all... With your abilities, in fact, you should have been able to find and solve it very easily. But somehow, you didn't find him. Isn't that strange? Actually, it's not that you couldn't find him, but that your senses were blocked by someone. Someone didn't want you to find him, so you couldn't! And who exactly is this mastermind?"

Pigsy spread his hands and said, "Yeah, who is it?"

"Only someone who is inside this dream world has the opportunity to use their Divine Ability here and control everything!" Tang Ku said in a deep voice. "In other words, anyone in this world could be the manipulator!"

"So you suspected me? Isn't that a bit too far-fetched?" "Pigsy" narrowed his eyes and smiled, "That's not right, I don't accept that!"

"I didn't suspect you because of this point, but because..." Tang Ku suddenly smiled too, and said confidently, "But because, my second Disciple, Pig Wuneng, would never talk like you!"