Wei Zhi had escaped.
Although the Death Knell Knights had spotted his figure appearing sowhere in the western district, expecting ordinary NPCs to keep up with a player controlled by a Grand Scholar was simply asking too much.
After all, Tusnat was the Erudition Presidium's ho turf. No matter how many people the Afterglow Church had, their knowledge of the local terrain couldn't compare to the Grand Scholars who'd operated here for ages.
When Cheng Shi received the news, he showed no surprise. Of course the Grand Scholars would put up a fight. If they'd just sat there waiting for doom, that would've been far more worrying — it would an these [Truth]-worshipping old fossils were digging yet another trap.
The situation had evolved from a direct physical confrontation to a chess match played across the void. Both sides knew the deciding factor wasn't either of them — it was the fleeing Wei Zhi. Blindly attacking the Grand Scholars was pointless now; what mattered most was finding the final puzzle piece needed to restore the Truth Limit.
The other players gradually returned to Cheng Shi's side. He explained the full picture once more to the newly arriving teammates, who were starting to grasp the situation. Under their varied expressions, he assembled the four Grand Scholar corpses — all except the two Wei Zhi had consud.
At the start of the Trial, Fang Yuan, ng Youfang, and Hu Xuan had each taken one corpse. They returned them all now — though the Sage had a visibly larger belly when she handed hers back, making Cheng Shi suspect this [Birth] follower had done sothing to the Grand Scholar corpse in her possession.
Seeing Cheng Shi's odd stare, Hu Xuan remained unfazed. She offered no explanation, instead reminding him:
"Relax — the gestation process is fast. If you'd like one too, there's plenty of ti."
"???"
'Relax about what?'
'Want one of what?'
'Whose ti is plenty!?'
'Lady, could you [Birth] followers please get a grip... Your childbirth tiline might be fine, but our Trial clock is absolutely not!'
Cheng Shi was speechless. He didn't bother investigating why she'd chosen such a critical mont to beco pregnant. He simply organized everyone to fan out and search for Wei Zhi, reminding them that once they found him, they should not engage rashly — signal imdiately and wait for the team to converge before making a move.
His teammates set off. Even Chen Yi, who'd never had a kind word for [Deceit] followers, had to temporarily follow Cheng Shi's lead. After all, the Grand Scholars' actions were actively obstructing her relationship with her Benefactor — and compared to Cheng Shi, who hadn't actually done anything "wrong" yet, the Erudition Presidium was clearly the greater enemy.
After sending off his teammates, Cheng Shi sank into deep thought once more. They were in the western district now, the underground lab Galusha had blown open lying just ahead. Cheng Shi and the Grand Scholars stared at each other from afar — a triple contest of intellect, psychology, and logic.
Galusha watched Cheng Shi stand motionless and, after a mont's thought, smiled:
"Whatever tricks you still have, use them now. You said yourself we need to accelerate — don't waste ti."
Cheng Shi tilted his head up slightly and chuckled: "How do you know I still have tricks?"
"Your companions have been gone for quite a while. If you didn't have a contingency, you'd have been frantically searching for Wei Zhi yourself — not standing here trying to look profound."
"..."
'I'm not trying to look anything — I'm genuinely thinking!'
Cheng Shi pursed his lips: "Can't I simply be standing here to draw the Grand Scholars' attention and buy my teammates the ti and space they need?"
Galusha shot him a sidelong glance and snorted:
"Would you believe that yourself?
I complinted your intelligence — that doesn't an you should treat everyone else as idiots.
What — think you're a [Folly] follower now?
Even if you wanted to stand here as bait to draw Volent's attention, I'm still right here. If ti were truly that pressing, you wouldn't pass up the chance to put
to work. But you haven't assigned
anything — which ans your next move is where I'm supposed to co in.
Stop hiding it. Just tell
— what do you need
to do?
As long as [Truth] ends up beneath my feet, I'll do anything."
Cheng Shi nodded without speaking and sank back into thought.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Galusha, nor was he truly stalling to create search room for his teammates. He was weighing whether this contingency was genuinely a contingency — or just another trap.
Cheng Shi did have a contingency. Only — he hadn't set it up himself. It had been prepared by...
Wei Zhi!
The president of the Reason Association appeared to have left himself a failsafe from the very start — and that failsafe was...
Brains!
The brains of those two Grand Scholar corpses.
Wei Zhi's excuse for approaching Cheng Shi hadn't been suspicious at the ti — he'd used Zangier as a pretext and handed over what he called "the best parts" of the corpses. And Cheng Shi had indeed accepted them.
Under those circumstances, Cheng Shi had assud the combat expert was just making polite gestures while fishing for intel and looking for soone to clear the path ahead.
Once the cooperation with the Erudition Presidium ca to light, Wei Zhi's behavior was stamped with the brand of betrayal. Revealing the western timber warehouse location was obviously bait ant to lure Cheng Shi in — a misdirection to obscure the Truth Limit's existence.
But things were never set in stone. Looking back at Wei Zhi's actions now, Cheng Shi couldn't help but wonder: had the Reason Association president anticipated from the start that his cooperation with the Erudition Presidium might fail, and therefore prepared a backup?
After all, peak players weren't just unhinged — they were exceptionally sharp.
The more he thought about it, the more the theory held up. So he led Galusha to a secluded corner of the ruins, well out of the Grand Scholars' line of sight, and pulled out the two brain specins Wei Zhi had left him.
"If I told you these are the only remaining parts of the two consud corpses...
Galusha — could we use them to restore the Truth Limit?"
Galusha's gaze sharpened. Looking at the two pale, glistening brains before her, she unconsciously licked the corner of her mouth.
That tiny gesture scared Cheng Shi half to death. He instantly snatched the brains back and took an instinctive step backward.
Galusha gave him a flat look:
"You pulled them away so fast I didn't even get a good look. How am I supposed to judge whether they're usable?"
Cheng Shi's expression brightened: "So there is a way to use them?"
"Of course. The brain is the vessel of wisdom. On Tusnat's tainted soil, there are countless thods to restore an original life form from such a consciousness carrier.
Whether the restored body still retains Truth Limit properties would need further verification, but I won't deny this is a viable approach.
Interesting — judging by your expression, these weren't sothing you prepared. Who gave them to you?
Let
guess — the traitor Drifter?
Heh. You really are all quite clever.
But... since he was able to leave you these — have you considered the possibility that one of these brains might be his own?"
"???"
Cheng Shi's mind went blank.
'What kind of ghost story is this?'
'One of these could be Wei Zhi's brain?'
'He scooped his own brain out? Wouldn't his body be an empty shell?'
Galusha snorted and elaborated:
"It seems you vastly underestimate [Truth]'s madness. A life form's existence is never limited to 'original equipnt' and 'matching sets.' As long as it's relatively intact, in the scholars' eyes it's premium experint material.
Of course, this is only my conjecture. I'm thinking: since the traitorous Drifter had already foreseen his own fate, then rather than having you restore Ernie and Galadry — why not just restore him directly?
So I suspect that one of these brains is very likely his own.
Care to show , Mr. Prisoner?"
Watching the amused smile playing at the corners of Galusha's mouth, Cheng Shi's eyelid twitched violently. "Please tell
this isn't just because you want to eat brains."
"I'm nowhere near as terrifying as your traitorous friend."
"?"
'You're not terrifying?'
'Girl — who gave you the confidence to say that?'
'Was it the version of yourself who, in history, strung Grand Scholar skulls together and roasted them?'
Cheng Shi was numb. But to break the experint, he had no choice — he took the brains back out and let Galusha examine them.
After frowning over them for a while, Galusha suddenly split into a peculiar grin:
"I was right. It is him.
Co with
— I'll take you to get your traitor back!"
Galusha grabbed the brain and sprinted off in a particular direction. With a thump of unease in his chest, Cheng Shi bolted after her, shouting as he ran:
"Where are you going?"
"I'm no expert in this field. Soone else understands restoration far better than I do. I'm taking you to her."
Cheng Shi started at that, and a na escaped his lips before he could even think:
"Pe Laya?"
Galusha's expression softened. She nodded: "Yes. Her."
...
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