"Forget all that — we've all looked in the mirror. Where's the secret?"
To protect Big Cat, Cheng Shi had to steel himself and change the subject once more. But the Jokers weren't so easily misled. Watching him redirect yet again, they'd already concluded: this Fate Weaver was most likely the insider.
Fortunately, Cheng Shi's performance today had earned enough respect. So no one dug further. Instead they followed his gaze toward Li Jingming.
Li Jingming gave Cheng Shi a aningful look, turned the mirror so its back faced the group, then traced the fra and spoke:
"Place your hand on the fra, hold for a mont, then recite [mory]'s prayer. You'll be able to enter the secret place with .
To prove there's no risk, I'll go ahead and wait for you."
Li Jingming whispered the prayer and vanished. The remaining Jokers stood speechless, exchanging bewildered glances.
'Hold on — you're a [mory] believer, so reciting [mory]'s prayer has so excuse. But have you considered who you're asking?'
'At a Joker gathering thed around [Deceit], every single liar has to recite a [mory] prayer?'
'Trying to make our blasphemy charges heavier, are we?'
'Though it probably wasn't worse than sitting on the gods' tombstones...'
In that instant, several of them finally grasped why Cheng Shi had designed this place as a cetery. One by one, faces twisted oddly, they touched the fra and followed the Dragon King.
Zhen Xin stayed behind, last to go. Seeing everyone else gone, she smiled at Cheng Shi:
"There isn't a second Doctor hidden here, is there?"
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, recognizing that Zhen Xin had sothing to say. To lighten the mood: "Maybe. Who knows how many slices the Doctor brought in? Exposing one doesn't an the others are exposed too, does it?"
Zhen Xin clearly didn't take the bait. She chuckled softly, leaned close to Cheng Shi's ear, and without preamble spoke a single na:
"Hong Lin?"
Cheng Shi's heart lurched, but his face betrayed nothing: "What about Hong Lin?"
Zhen Xin studied his reaction carefully. Finding no opening, she waved it off:
"Hong Lin hasn't seen you in a while. She asked
to say hello."
Cheng Shi rolled his eyes: "Think I'd believe that? You stayed behind just for this?"
Zhen Xin's feet paused. She turned with an "oh" and smiled again:
"You two t recently? So it really is her."
Without waiting for Cheng Shi's reply, she stepped into the mirror using the most blasphemous thod possible. Watching her leave so breezily, Cheng Shi's forehead throbbed.
'Couldn't hide it after all...'
But hiding or not, he still had to "hide" — because if he didn't cut off the Jokers' endless deductions, in maybe not even an hour — within minutes — these shrewd liars would have their sights trained on Big Cat.
So Big Cat had been exposed all along. His topic changes rely signaled the Jokers to rein it in.
It beca an unspoken secret among Jokers. Everyone knew Hong Lin was hiding sothing, but thanks to Cheng Shi's implicit "guarantee," they wouldn't pursue it further.
"Sigh. Who can really fool whom?"
Cheng Shi rubbed his temple and, mimicking the others, stepped into the mirror.
The instant he vanished, a figure on the cetery's periter slowly materialized. Eyes fixed on That Dream My Nightmare beneath the dim lamplight at the gathering's center, a flash of covetousness crossed them.
But the figure made no reckless move, lting into invisibility again.
Murmuring: "Did he actually detect , or is he bluffing?"
The dim light illuminated the half-face beneath the hood. Anyone present would have recognized it imdiately: another... Wang Weijin.
...
It was hard to say what form [mory]'s Collection Hall actually took. But to mortal eyes, a museum was the closest comparison.
When Cheng Shi opened his eyes again, he found himself in a space of pure white — reminiscent of the infinitely shifting [Existence] glimpsed within the [Existence] Gap, but more stable.
This space had no sky, no ground, no boundaries. Towering white walls intersected throughout, hung with "paintings" of every shape and style. One glance made it clear: these were His collected works.
"[mory]'s Collection Hall!?"
Everyone was stunned. They'd never imagined setting foot in a god's private domain — let alone [mory]'s Collection Hall. And they'd arrived as a "[Deceit] tour group"...
Cheng Shi was delighted. He looked at the Dragon King leading the way: "Dragon King, your devotion runs pretty extre too, huh? Can we view these mories?
Since they're displayed here, they're ant for visitors, right?"
While he was still asking, Zhen Xin had already moved. The [Deceit] Chosen went straight to the nearest painting and practically pressed her face against it, studying every detail.
But unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, all she could see was an ordinary painting. These images were like frozen snapshots of history — beyond a blurry first fra visible to mortals, the rest remained unseeable.
"No exploits to find. Our power is too feeble to activate these mories.
That said — would [mory]'s power be useful?"
Zhen Xin turned to ask, but seeing Li Jingming stride ahead without answering, she knew: the Dragon King had already tried. No dice.
Reluctantly, she followed the group. She and Cheng Shi, trailing at the rear, exchanged wistful sighs.
"What a sha. If we could take all these mories back, they'd probably cover a lifeti's worth of History School research."
Cheng Shi's eyes burned with longing too. What he lacked most was historical knowledge — and this was [mory]'s curated selection. The sheer richness was unimaginable.
But impenetrable was impenetrable. Beyond coveting them, there was nothing to be done.
After a mont, Zhen Xin suddenly said: "Do you think... if we destroyed this place, could we earn a title similar to Yu Xi's from the Fun God?"
"?"
Cheng Shi's smile froze solid. He eyed Zhen Xin suspiciously — only to see her sigh with a loss of interest.
"Relax. I'm not Zhen Yi. I was just thinking aloud.
You know, running the History School is exhausting. If there were shortcuts, who wouldn't want to take them?"
Cheng Shi pursed his lips, offering no comnt. Only when Zhen Xin wasn't looking did a die slip from his pant leg and roll away. Then he followed the tour group, outwardly unbothered, toward the place harboring the secret.
...
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