Bards were a truly marvelous profession. They could manifest beings from the river of ti's past and command them.
Combined with the bard class's weak-self characteristic, no wonder Cheng Shi had been stunned by ng Youfang's speed earlier.
And as it turned out, even a bard as agile as ng Youfang still relied on summoning as his primary combat thod. What he'd summoned now was none other than...
"?????"
'Zhen Yi!?'
When that familiar figure appeared with a playful "hee~" and blocked the charging pale-skinned man, Cheng Shi's head nearly exploded.
But the one who blew up faster was the pale man himself. The instant he saw Zhen Yi, his eyes turned scarlet. He shrieked, very nearly breaking down:
"ng Youfang, I'll KILL you!"
"Ha! Be my guest!
Only by shedding the mortal shell can one forge a god's body!
Co — show
if Their trial is fiercer this ti!"
The two clashed violently while Cheng Shi gaped and Hu Xuan watched thoughtfully. ng Youfang handled the two-on-one with ease, even finding ti to call out during the fierce exchange:
"Go handle your business, brother. Once I pass this trial, I'll co find you."
"..."
'Delusional versus psychotic!'
'This [Existence] civil war was too spectacular.'
If not for Galusha's forces closing in, Cheng Shi would have loved to watch the entire show. But prudence prevailed — he grabbed Hu Xuan and leaped out the window, plumting toward a less crowded area.
Spotting a few Toll Knights below who stood their ground, Hu Xuan casually waved her hand. The knights instinctively clutched each other, and she asked curiously:
"Looks like you already have a plan. What is it?"
Cheng Shi used the landing to roll and absorb the impact, then shook his head with a hearty laugh:
"Plan? There's no plan. The entire city is under [Chaos]'s grip — what's the point of planning?
My plan is to let the Toll Knights tear Tusnat apart, root out those Erudition Presidium old-tirs, and then ask them what their plan is."
"...?"
Hu Xuan was lost. She couldn't figure out how Cheng Shi planned to turn the Toll Knights to his purpose.
Cheng Shi wasn't worried about their situation. He just turned back to gaze up at the tower and asked casually:
"That Old Hunter — do you know him?"
Hu Xuan nodded:
"Anyone with [Deceit] friends would have a hard ti not knowing him.
Chen Yi, ID: 'This Love Awaits.' The new [mory] Chosen who rose after Li Jingming nominally switched to [Deceit]. Hates every last [Deceit] follower — so his hostility toward you is normal."
"Is he sick?" Cheng Shi knocked out a lucky Toll Knight and dragged the body into a crumbling alley beyond the Three Suns Towers.
Hu Xuan followed close behind, smiling:
"By normal standards? Absolutely. And it's terminal — on par with ng Youfang."
Cheng Shi's curiosity deepened:
"What kind of delusion, exactly?
It involves love, so don't tell ... he fell for Zhen Yi?
Hmm!? And got rejected?"
He felt he'd hit on the key. Maybe because he was the widely known "ex" of Zhen Yi, Chen Yi had targeted him?
'Hss—'
'Not impossible.'
But Hu Xuan's next words took his already-shattered expectations and ground them to dust.
"Not Zhen Yi. [mory]."
"?"
'What?'
"[mory]?
Who in [mory]? Li Jingming?
Then how does Zhen Yi factor in? Did she publicly claim the Dragon King?"
This chain of logic was so wild that even Hu Xuan couldn't help laughing.
"No, you misunderstand. I don't an soone under [mory]. I an [mory] the god.
The true god [mory]!"
"CRACK—"
Cheng Shi's foot crushed a roof tile. He froze mid-stride.
Blinking rapidly, he processed for a long mont before looking at Hu Xuan uncertainly:
"He — a [mory] believer — is in love with... [mory]?
The kind of 'in love' I'm thinking of?"
"I'd say no." Hu Xuan pointed at herself, then at Cheng Shi, and smiled. "More like this kind of coveting — but with even stronger emotions."
"..." The mont the topic veered toward [Birth], Cheng Shi went silent. He prudently put so distance between himself and the Life Sage, then couldn't resist asking: "Does [mory] know?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Who can read a true god's mind?
But Chen Yi's feelings are common knowledge. Not because his love burns too openly — but because..."
Seeing the peculiar smile on Hu Xuan's face, Cheng Shi already guessed the answer.
"That jinx blabbed?"
"Exactly. But she didn't just blab.
At first, people only heard from Zhen Yi that Chen Yi wanted to bear [mory]'s child. Later..."
"Wait! Hold on!"
Cheng Shi felt his brain was about to short-circuit. He looked at Hu Xuan strangely, as if recalling sothing "horrifying."
'Ma'am — are you sure the person talking about bearing a god's child is Chen Yi and not yourself?'
But that didn't add up either. Chen Yi was clearly a man — Cheng Shi trusted his own eyes. After a brief mont of thought, realization struck. He pointed at one of the two figures still battling atop the tower:
"He's originally from Dolgod?
Otherwise, based on my eyesight, I can confirm he's a man."
"Who says a man can't bear children?"
Hu Xuan broke into a devout smile. Then, under Cheng Shi's deeply frightened gaze, she continued:
"But he did undergo a gender change similar to the people of Dolgod — and Zhen Yi goaded him into it.
When Chen Yi first entered the peak circle, his excessive devotion spiraled into obsessive infatuation with his Benefactor. He attempted to bear a divine child — and that's how he ca to my attention in [Birth] circles.
Unfortunately, his [Birth] impulse was tainted with impure feelings. Not pure enough. Otherwise, recruiting him for [Birth] wouldn't have been bad."
"..."
'Fear factor: doubled...'
"Zhen Yi t him in a trial and tricked his feelings about [mory] out of him. Then she 'sympathetically' inford Chen Yi:
'This won't work — [mory] is female, too.'
That one line of 'consolation' drove Chen Yi to change his gender. But when he next encountered Zhen Xin...
This [Deceit] Chosen sister told Chen Yi that she'd heard [Deceit] refer to [Existence] using brotherly terms.
From that day forth, Chen Yi lost his mind. He viewed every [Deceit] follower as an obstacle to his love and tried to purge them all — believing this would salvage his relationship with his Benefactor.
So as I said, you being targeted is normal. All [Deceit] players are targeted.
It's just that your close relationship with Zhen Xin made his hostility toward you slightly larger."
"..."
'Slightly!?'
Cheng Shi's face went through an entire kaleidoscope of expressions as he listened to the full saga. Only one thought remained:
'That jinx is truly a jinx!'
'And truly not human!'
...
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