"She's a Torchbearer too?!"
"Then we're colleagues!"
The mont The Prisoner said that, Cheng Shi knew he'd never shake this deadweight.
After leaving Ji Yue without a word, he hadn't gone looking for The Prisoner. Instead, he'd quietly chosen another direction and, after asking a few passersby, headed straight for Kandert's residence.
But he hadn't made it two blocks before The Prisoner materialized at his side again, completely unfazed by Cheng Shi's attempt to ditch him, chattering away as always:
"Do you think I should tell her I'm also a Torchbearer?"
"Qin Xin is so inconsiderate—he never even ntioned my na to the Fire Seekers."
"What if I mistake another Torchbearer for an enemy and pick a fight?"
"I left a pretty decent impression on her just now, right? Surely I fit her image of a covert special operative?"
"..."
'If you fit even a little, why do you think she approached
instead of you?'
Cheng Shi couldn't be bothered to burst that bubble and pressed on alone.
Seeing Cheng Shi ignore him, The Prisoner pondered for a mont, then announced: "I think I should co clean, so she knows she can call
for backup if things get dangerous!"
He stopped and turned to leave, but his eyes stayed glued to Cheng Shi—clearly gauging his reaction.
Cheng Shi didn't spare him a glance. He'd already slipped into Kandert's house and begun carefully searching the place.
Kandert was currently out leading the Folly Prohibition Guards in hunting down the escapees, leaving the ho empty. Cheng Shi went straight to the study and began rifling through docunts, hoping to find so lead on the Eye of Mockery.
He hadn't been at it long before The Prisoner ca in too. He stood off to the side with an odd expression, quietly protesting: "How co you didn't stop ?"
Cheng Shi continued working, answering offhandedly: "Why would I stop you?"
"If I went to talk to the Scholar out of the blue, anyone watching would get curious. And curiosity leads to digging, which increases the Torchbearers' risk of exposure!"
"You're smart enough to see that, and you've helped the Torchbearers before—you're a friend. So if you thought of this, why didn't you stop ?"
"..."
'Seriously, have you Torchbearers caught so kind of disease before you've even managed to pass the torch?'
'You're just like Ji Yue—I did absolutely nothing, and sohow I'm stuck carrying the bla.'
'Do I look like a field cook to you?'
"I didn't think of it."
Cheng Shi had figured it out: to beat The Prisoner at his own unlucky ga, your logic had to either be straighter or more bizarre than his.
He couldn't out-bizarre the man, so blunt honesty was all that was left.
'Never thought I'd see the day when a follower of Deceit was forced into playing the honest man.'
But the answer clearly didn't satisfy The Prisoner, who proceeded to pace around Cheng Shi, droning on endlessly.
"I thought she made a great case. Why won't you agree?"
"If you agree, we'll be colleagues! Isn't that great?"
"Sure, we're already family, but joining the Torchbearers would make us doubly connected, brother-in-law!"
"Why won't you look at ? You feel guilty!"
"Not looking ans you're dodging, and dodging ans you actually want to join. Am I right?!"
"..."
Cheng Shi had truly reached his limit. He couldn't make heads or tails of the docunts on the desk to begin with, and with a fly buzzing nonstop beside him, his frazzled nerves snapped. He snatched a file from the center of the desk and shoved it into The Prisoner's arms:
"If your mouth absolutely cannot stay idle—if you must say sothing—then read
what's in this file."
The Prisoner blinked, looked down at the docunt, and began reading aloud without thinking:
"Investigation Report on the Fool-Hunting Statue Ravings Incident... huh, sounds like a local urban legend."
"???"
Cheng Shi was stunned.
Not because of the content—but because The Prisoner could actually read the writing here!
This was a Civilization Lonely Tower from the Chaos Epoch. The script had evolved beyond recognition from the Civilization Era's baseline. He'd never expected The Prisoner to know this text.
He'd been pestering Brother Mouth to no avail, resigned to missing this information. Now that The Prisoner was literate, Cheng Shi's brow lit up with delight:
"Keep reading! What else does it say?"
The Prisoner gave him a strange look, closed the file, and studied him skeptically:
"You're overdoing the act."
"You obviously already read it. Why do you need
to read it out loud? You're just deflecting, which only proves the Scholar was right."
"The more you resist, the closer your heart is."
"..."
Every trace of delight froze on Cheng Shi's face. He slapped his own cheeks and decided to try a different approach.
His eyes turned, and he nodded:
"Yes. I admit I'm resisting. I also admit I'm drawn to it. As long as you stop talking and read this entire file to , I'll consider joining the Torchbearers."
The Prisoner wasn't stupid. He rubbed his bald head and gave Cheng Shi a disdainful look: "You're lying. Don't take
for an idiot."
Cheng Shi smirked: "How do you know I'm lying if you don't try?"
"..."
That single line shut The Prisoner up.
An open sche. An utterly naked open sche!
The Prisoner couldn't refuse—because he genuinely wanted Cheng Shi to join the Torchbearers. After his expression cycled through several phases, he obediently read the report aloud.
But through it all, he never once believed that either of the two people present was illiterate. He was convinced this was just Cheng Shi using the docunt to plug his mouth.
"Over the past several months, residents have intermittently reported hearing ravings emanating from within the Fool-Hunting Statue as they passed by. The following cases were docunted:"
"Lophis—heard the ravings while passing the statue after drinking. Anludes—heard the ravings while praying before the statue after drinking. Makabaka—after drinking..."
"Funny, they were all drunk. I told you it was an urban legend..."
"The content of the ravings could not be transcribed into text. According to the witnesses, it felt more like a call from the blood."
"The Folly Prohibition Office assigned personnel to investigate. Guards were ordered to drink and then perform worship before the statue—no anomalies detected... Sound-capturing equipnt was deployed—no anomalies detected... Witnesses accompanied investigators to the site—no anomalies detected..."
"Gotta hand it to Folly's followers—their investigation thods are more rigorous than Truth's. Though for sothing this minor, it's a bit much."
"...(Various investigation thods omitted)..."
"Lord Koshna personally conducted a night vigil... hm? Where's the rest?"
"Oh, page turn..."
"The statue was deed free of any raving anomalies. Investigation closed by order."
When he finished, The Prisoner raised an eyebrow, amused:
"This report is a real bootlicking piece. After pages and pages of rigorous testing that could've already reached a conclusion—why shoehorn in the Executioner's personal decision at the end?"
"Seems like no matter where you go, you can't escape workplace sycophancy."
Hearing this, a sharp gleam flashed in Cheng Shi's eyes.
True, the report did have a problem—but it wasn't about bootlicking. The tone shifted dramatically between the first section and the last.
Even if they wanted to flatter the Executioner, why wouldn't the Folly Prohibition Office at least make the costic effort look convincing? They could've easily written up Koshna's contributions in greater detail.
Coupling that with Kandert's lie, Cheng Shi suspected the investigation report had been tampered with—and the altered section was precisely the part about Koshna's personal investigation!
Cheng Shi took the report back from The Prisoner, spread it across the desk, and carefully compared the paper's traces. Before long, he pointed to so barely noticeable paper fragnts in the binding and grinned.
The Prisoner's eyes followed Cheng Shi's finger. He gaped: "Pages were torn out of the report?"
Cheng Shi drumd his fingers on the desk, his smile mocking.
"Exactly. Soone concealed part of this report's conclusions."
"I just don't know whether soone was trying to deceive Kandert, or whether Kandert read it and then destroyed the key pages himself."
"But regardless—the fact that even the locals have doubts about the statue confirms my growing suspicion. Redi Core's secret is hidden inside that statue."
The Prisoner nodded earnestly, his expression dead serious:
"I agree completely. But let's shelve that for now."
"I finished reading the file, so we're officially colleagues now, right, brother-in-law?"
"...?"
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