Back in the trial, Cheng Shi didn't dare launch his plan rashly.
He couldn't read the attitudes of Decay and mory, and figured the prudent move was to consult his own Benefactor first.
After all, sothing this significant warranted a discussion with the Fun God. If he failed to secure Deceit's two votes at the Assembly of Gods Convention, the title of "clown" would echo across the entire universe.
So Cheng Shi recited a prayer and called upon his Benefactor — but received no response whatsoever.
After waiting for a long ti with no summons from the Fun God, a sinking feeling settled in Cheng Shi's gut. He switched to calling upon his other Benefactor, Ti.
Unsurprisingly, Ti still had no ti for him.
Refusing to give up, Cheng Shi mustered his courage and called upon Fate — but bizarrely, Fate was also "not ho" today!
Just like those two "understood" replies, all three of his Benefactors had tacitly chosen to ignore his calls today.
Cheng Shi's face crumbled.
'What did I say? Having more Benefactors is useless when none of them are reliable!'
But Cheng Shi was not a man who gave up easily. After being denied an audience, he quickly shifted gears, borrowing a page from the Prisoner's playbook by convincing himself that their silence was tacit approval — no eting necessary.
With this mindset, Cheng Shi nervously set his plan into motion.
He knew Mo Shu and Zhao Xishi were hunting him, so he deliberately left traces throughout the small town to lure them into finding him. Through Mo Shu's thods, he could then gain an audience with the key figure in his plan — Oblivion's Envoy, Herobos.
What he hadn't anticipated, however, was that Ji Yue recovered faster than expected, and the Torchbearers were even more aggressive in their search than Mo Shu.
By the ti Mo Shu and Zhao Xishi discovered Cheng Shi's trail and were still deliberating whether it was a trap, the Prisoner was already racing toward Cheng Shi with Ji Yue in tow.
The Torchbearers were worried too. They feared Mo Shu would find the isolated Cheng Shi first, putting their friend in danger.
But from Cheng Shi's perspective, their charge was disrupting his plan. Mo Shu and Zhao Xishi would never attack while all three of them were together.
At this point, he still didn't know that Ji Yue had already beco a nail Zhao Xishi had "planted." Left with no choice, he could only avoid the Torchbearers while continuing to leave traces along his circuitous route.
This back-and-forth was exactly what tipped off the hunters.
Zhao Xishi stood on the roof of a civilian house, sensing the nearly imperceptible power of Fate lingering on the eaves. She glanced in the direction the figure had vanished and smirked:
"Just as I thought.
You can tell from the Fate Weaver's movent pattern that he's avoiding the Purgatory Bishop. He's definitely hiding sothing.
I just don't see what's so special about this Purgatory Bishop that even the Prisoner has taken a liking to her.
But no matter. Soon enough, they'll all be able to 'lay their cards on the table.'
Grudges will be settled, grievances repaid. I'm curious to see how spectacular a mory this will make.
Why don't we... give them a little push?"
Mo Shu was sharp. He caught the subtext of Zhao Xishi's words imdiately.
"You want
to draw the Prisoner away?
Are you sure you can handle the other two alone?
Don't forget — the Fate Weaver still has that trump card that lets him control shadows. You'd better not die to his shadow again.
If you die this ti, history won't save you."
"No, no, no — you've got it wrong." Zhao Xishi winced at the mory of her substitute's death, but quickly shook her head with a light laugh. "It won't be
against two. It'll be
and the Purgatory Bishop, two against one.
Relax. Nobody falls for the sa trick twice. This ti, I'll be the fisherman, letting them fight it out first.
Don't worry about . Just do your part.
Lure that jinx as far away as possible. Even if you can't take him down, as long as we can eliminate the Fate Weaver, we'll find out whether what Jie Shu said was true."
Mo Shu pondered for a mont. This was indeed the optimal play given the circumstances. Without the Prisoner in the equation, the hunt would be simple. The problem was that annoying pest was exceptionally difficult to deal with — there was no way to annihilate the Fate Weaver without getting past him first.
He nodded, left a parting "Watch yourself," and slipped away toward the Prisoner's direction.
The Prisoner was no fool. A simple ambush would never be enough to lure the tiger from the mountain. So Mo Shu went to elaborate lengths with his preparations.
He fabricated signs of combat with the Fate Weaver at two locations in completely opposite directions, exploiting the Prisoner and Ji Yue's urgency to find Cheng Shi. He successfully split them apart and, along the Prisoner's inevitable path, tore open a rift in the void, dragging the Ascetic Monk directly into a space far removed from reality.
The Prisoner didn't resist. He stepped through without hesitation, his face etched with determination.
In that mont, anyone watching might have mistaken the Ascetic Monk for a man marching to his death in a final stand.
But in truth, his encounter with Mo Shu was also part of the Torchbearers' plan!
As the top-ranked follower of Silence, the Prisoner was extraordinarily sensitive to "environntal speech." He had long noticed a third party in this "chase ga" — the two hunters had also arrived.
He relayed this information to Ji Yue. After careful deliberation, the mont she spotted signs of battle in two opposite directions, her eyes lit up with understanding:
"A divide-and-conquer strategy.
It seems they know you're not easy to deal with.
That being the case, Zhao Xishi also wants to pick us off one by one — which suits
perfectly.
Of the two of them, the biggest threat is the Scavenger. Zhao Xishi is arrogant and overconfident — she's actually the easier one to break through.
Without the Scavenger interfering, I don't think taking down Zhao Xishi will be difficult.
Even if her ranking is far above mine, a singer is still a singer — on a straight battlefield, she's no match for a mage.
Prisoner, if you trust ..."
"I trust you," the Prisoner said, rubbing his bald head firmly. "Worst case, if you die, we'll just get your brother-in-law to revive you."
"..."
'What kind of trust is that?'
Ji Yue choked, then wordlessly pointed toward the direction where Oblivion's power was denser:
"Then go stall the Scavenger. The longer you hold him, the better our odds.
Don't worry about . I still have a trick up my sleeve."
Of course the Prisoner believed Ji Yue could defeat Zhao Xishi in a head-on confrontation. But he also knew soone like Zhao Xishi would never fight a mage head-on. Still, out of trust in his fellow Torchbearer, he nodded and walked straight into the trap Mo Shu had laid for him.
Watching the Prisoner leave, Ji Yue's gaze hardened. She hefted her spear and charged in the opposite direction.
But she never expected that waiting for her there wasn't Zhao Xishi — it was the very Fate Weaver she'd been searching for!
The mont she laid eyes on Cheng Shi, Ji Yue froze, her heart lurching.
She knew that if Cheng Shi had wanted to avoid the Torchbearers, he would never have co to et her voluntarily. The fact that they'd run into each other ant either he was in danger and forced to seek help, or everything around them was Zhao Xishi's trap.
Either scenario ant they were in extre danger right now.
Ji Yue made a snap decision. She swung her spear and conjured fire, first scorching the area into a purgatory to give herself a combat advantage, then backed toward Cheng Shi, scanning every direction for a surprise attack.
Cheng Shi was equally startled to see Ji Yue appear. He was certain he hadn't detected any Torchbearer traces in this direction. He'd sensed Oblivion's power entangled with another force and assud the Torchbearers had drawn Mo Shu away, planning to seize the chance to take out Zhao Xishi.
Instead of Zhao Xishi, he found Ji Yue — who may or may not have recovered her mories.
And the instant he saw Ji Yue backing toward him with her guard up, a flash of understanding lit Cheng Shi's eyes, and everything clicked into place!
The mories that had surfaced in Ji Yue's mind when she was on the brink of death couldn't have been a real dream. They were most likely the work of Zhao Xishi's cerulean threads. As for why the Historian had manipulated this Torchbearer's mories...
'She wouldn't be trying to use Ji Yue's hand to deal with , would she?'
Cheng Shi's brow twitched, and his heart hamred. He still vividly rembered the scene from an earlier trial when Ji Yue had personally eliminated the only priest in her own team.
The scholar's temper was truly explosive. Once she found out he'd deceived her...
But she was a mature Torchbearer now. She should be able to keep her temper in check...
Right?
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