"I can tell you everything I know about Yu Xi. But first—you tell
why you're looking for Him."
Cheng Shi sat upright, asking with deadly seriousness.
At this point, there was no need for secrecy. The Prisoner laid out everything Qin Xin had told him, only substituting the God Creation Plan with "a prophecy about the path forward," saying Yu Xi was the answer for the Torchbearers.
"If you truly know Him, please help the Torchbearers once more."
"For the sake of..." The Prisoner glanced at Ji Yue lying on the bed, rubbed his head, and finished: "...the Descending Silent Puppet."
"..."
'You really do know how to read people.'
Cheng Shi naturally knew that this so-called "prophecy" was just the Fla of Hope's thod of spreading Yu Xi's divine na within the Torchbearers. He could also guess these two had likely co for the God Creation Plan.
Only, by happy coincidence, his own ideas aligned perfectly with the suggestion Sun Miao had given the Torchbearers. Decay's container had already been transferred through this Vice President's hands to the Torchbearers. So when Sun Miao brought the container back to the Fire Passing Hall, the na of Yu Xi would spread from there.
He had to admit: Fate did have sothing going for it. His casual actions from not long ago had inadvertently lent credibility to Yu Xi's cover story.
So he trotted out the sa tale that had fooled countless people—with a few updates and iterations on the original version.
"...He's different from every other god we know."
"He shows no respect for the sixteen gods sitting on their Divine Thrones. He may even be plotting sothing."
"I can't fathom a god's mind, but I can see His ambition is enormous—at least bigger than yours."
The Prisoner frowned at this. The Torchbearers' will was to protect what was beautiful and resist the gods. If Yu Xi's ambition exceeded even that, then this Yu Xi couldn't possibly be trying to...
"His target is the one above all gods?!" The Prisoner blurted, stunned.
"!!??"
'He knows about Origin?!'
Cheng Shi was floored. He raised an eyebrow at The Prisoner: "You certainly know a lot."
"There really IS one?!"
The Prisoner was equally shocked, pawing at his bald head in bewildernt.
Now Cheng Shi was thoroughly confused.
'Wait—dude, what?'
'Don't tell
you just guessed your way into knowing about Origin's existence?'
Cheng Shi's brain started buffering. The Prisoner scratched his head and explained:
"I wasn't sure..."
"When I had my audience with my Benefactor, I asked Him: 'Why do You look like a puppet? Is it because there's a higher being above You pulling the strings?'"
"He didn't respond. So I took that as confirmation."
"..."
'This man is beyond mortal!'
Once again, a single remark left Cheng Shi totally speechless.
He didn't even know how to respond. 'How is that any different from a wild guess?'
'Though, to be fair, the gods really are marionettes...'
The air grew awkward again. Of course, it was only awkward for Cheng Shi; The Prisoner didn't care and pressed on:
"So how can we find this Yu Xi?"
"He's rebelling, we're rebelling—logically, we're family."
"..."
'Like hell you're family.'
"A god isn't exactly easy to find," Cheng Shi deflected. He wasn't ready to have too much direct contact with the Torchbearers as Yu Xi. "If He doesn't want to see you, your only option is to wait for a summons."
"True enough..."
The Prisoner nodded, thought for a mont, then suddenly brightened: "You said He harbors rebellious intent. Does His Benefactor, Deceit, know about this?"
'?'
Cheng Shi's gaze imdiately turned strange. 'Should I tell him that the Fun God is actually the biggest rebel leader in the entire world?'
He feigned curiosity: "What does Deceit have to do with it?"
The Prisoner slapped his thigh:
"Everything!"
"Think about it—if Deceit doesn't know, then I just report Yu Xi to Him. That gives us a chance to et Yu Xi!"
"???"
"Hmm, though getting to Deceit is also a problem... Oh wait—brother-in-law, you ARE a Deceit follower!"
"See? I told you you're Cheng Jie and you didn't believe ! It all connects! You help us request an audience with Deceit, then we report Yu Xi, and we get to et Him!"
"And under Deceit's interrogation, as fellow rebels, we'd naturally get even closer to Yu Xi!"
"I an, it'd require you to take the heat as a snitch, but no worries—just bla your sister-in-law!"
"She's got so many lice already, one more won't itch!"
"This way, you help pass the torch, we find Yu Xi, Zhen Yi gets her kicks—three birds with one stone! The whole family wins, brother-in-law!"
"..."
Cheng Shi's scalp went numb.
In that mont, he was suddenly certain that if The Prisoner died, Birth's Life Marker Board would sprout a brand-new entry.
Because there was no way this creature was human!
'Seriously...'
'Is it physically possible for a carbon-based lifeform to co up with sothing this deranged?'
'Is this how Silence teaches you to exploit people's secrets?'
'Report myself to myself. Wonderful...'
His fists itched.
Cheng Shi's lip twitched. He let out two cold laughs and said nothing more.
Seeing Cheng Shi had zero intention of agreeing, The Prisoner sighed regretfully:
"Yeah, I suppose it would affect your relationship with my sister."
BOOM—
The roof went flying. A second moon rose over Redi Core's sky—just slightly smaller than the real one.
"Ku... cough cough... ku ku..."
A sound—half cough, half laugh—drifted from the bed. Cheng Shi darkened his face and snapped:
"Having fun pretending to sleep?"
"What's so funny?"
"Don't forget—this man is one of your Torchbearers. Still laughing?"
"..."
Dr. Cheng's dical skills were truly exceptional. One sentence instantly cald the patient.
The only side effect was that her eyelid wouldn't stop twitching.
Ji Yue took a deep breath and weakly opened her eyes. She turned her head toward Cheng Shi and said: "Thank you."
Cheng Shi grunted and ignored her.
Ji Yue forced a pained smile and added: "...I'll pay the house call fee."
"Anything else bothering you?"
Cheng Shi sat back at the bedside and flicked another healing spell her way.
"..."
Ji Yue had been feeling sowhat recovered, but now her vision seed to be malfunctioning—because the man with hair sitting at her bedside looked an awful lot like the bald Prisoner who'd just been launched through the roof.
She coughed twice more, then addressed Cheng Shi:
"I know my thods might not sit well with you, but—"
"Don't bother." Cheng Shi shook his head, cutting her off. "The world doesn't revolve around anyone. Everyone has their own agenda."
"When it cos down to it, no matter how many tis our paths cross, I'm just a passing stranger to you Torchbearers."
"You act according to your torch-passing goals. That's your prerogative—I don't care."
"After all, none of this affected . Your fee is paid, and this was just a transaction."
"But next ti..."
Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened, his voice dropping three degrees.
"Scholar, you'd better pray it doesn't affect . Otherwise, this business relationship might not survive."
Ji Yue wasn't the least bit surprised by his attitude. She smiled: "I look forward to our next transaction."
Cheng Shi rolled his eyes and asked offhandedly:
"How are you feeling? The Oblivion force is dissipating. You're out of danger."
"I feel good. And even if I didn't, I brought it on myself. I'm just curious—why do I sense traces of Order on my body?"
"Probably because Torchbearers are too orderly?"
"I expect The Prisoner will be back soon. Since you're awake, I should get going."
"I still haven't found the statue's secret, and I don't have ti to play attending physician."
"But I thought you were here on vacation?"
"..." Cheng Shi's expression darkened. "You're Torchbearers, not infection-bearers. One Prisoner and you've already been infected?"
Ji Yue stiffened, then laughed helplessly: "Sorry. Truth's logical frawork always drives
to dig deeper. I said too much."
"Good to know. Goodbye—no need to see
off."
Cheng Shi moved to leave. But Ji Yue's voice drifted after him:
"Um... Dr. Cheng? I'm curious—before today, have we ever t?"
"!!!"
Cheng Shi's footsteps froze. His answer was absolute: "No. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just had a strange dream."
"Bits and pieces of many people... and you were among them."
"Today's events were so bizarre that my thoughts must have gotten jumbled. I'm sure it'll pass once I've recovered."
"Mm."
Cheng Shi's expression was peculiar. He said nothing more and strode out of the house.
The mont he crossed the threshold, he broke into a full sprint. The moonlit alley returned to silence, with only a murmured question lingering from within the room.
"Have we really never t?"
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