In the past, diving into soone else's mories always counted as an adventure. But today was different.
Compared to the players of the Faith Ga, Kandert's life was clean as a blank sheet of paper.
In his several decades of existence, the most spectacular mont was probably watching the idol bestow a divine gift upon Koshna on the day before his death.
In that instant, Kandert's jealousy ignited completely.
He had lost to Koshna in the Folly Prohibition Office's Executioner election, becoming only a deputy. Yet even so, he firmly believed his own conduct was far more devoted than Koshna's.
He was convinced he'd lost only because fake fools — those who disguised their idiocy — were hiding among the populace, making senseless, judgnt-free choices. That was exactly why he'd willingly stayed on at the Folly Prohibition Office: to root out these genuine fools.
So even with Koshna positioned above him, Kandert still believed he was the true wise man in the Benefactor's eyes — the one most aligned with [Folly]'s will.
But all of that shattered the mont the Fool Hunter's idol bestowed a divine gift upon Koshna. Kandert could not accept that the idol would bless a drunkard of an Executioner while ignoring him entirely.
At first, he didn't imdiately rush to seize Koshna's gift. Instead, he "gave" his Benefactor a "chance."
He knelt before the idol just as Koshna had, praying devoutly, hoping to receive a gift of his own.
He saw it as the Benefactor's validation. If he too could gain that affirmation — even if the public still ranked him below Koshna — he could accept it and be content.
But the idol gave no response.
Skart only had one pair of eyes. No matter how devout Kandert was, no matter how loudly he cried out, Skart couldn't produce a second pair to satisfy the man's delusion.
So Kandert broke. Rage boiled from his chest and malice surged from his gut. He imdiately sched, killed Koshna, and stole the divine gift from the dead man's hands.
But he also knew that while his original motive sprang from devotion, his actions had violated [Folly]'s will, committing the cri of Knowing Folly. So he resolved to go all in — take the gift and flee to a new city, begin a new life as a devout wise man among strangers.
As long as no one in the new city recognized him as a criminal, they would all be blind fools — and he would naturally be the one closest to the Benefactor.
To this end, Kandert crafted a ticulous plan. Fearing that hiding the gift on his person might trigger unpredictable changes that would alarm the guards, he sewed those eyes...
Into the bodies of the criminal fools he'd used to murder Koshna!
That way, he'd only need to push one of the prisoners carrying the gift off a cliff soday, then use his position's privileges to leave Redi Core. Afterward, he'd quietly retrieve the gift from the base of the cliff.
The plan was seamless — until the [Chaos] follower Max stumbled onto it midway through.
Max killed Kandert out of self-preservation, which ant none of Kandert's subsequent plans ever materialized. And Cheng Shi had been unable to extract useful leads from Max.
The mory ended there. However, because this corpse had first been "ravaged" by [Death]'s comprehension of [mory] power, certain details had "died" — so Li Jingming couldn't make out the face of the prisoner who'd been sewn with the Eye of Mockery.
He returned from his mory Traveler journey and reported everything faithfully to Cheng Shi, concluding:
"It seems we may need to relive the story you went through one more ti.
Now that we've confird its location, all that's left is trial and error."
But hearing this, Cheng Shi showed not the slightest agreent. He froze, then lowered his head with the strangest expression, saying absolutely nothing — while internally raging.
'Brother Mouth, get out here!
The Eye of Mockery was that close to us — don't tell
you didn't sense it!
You knew all along, didn't you?!
You knew exactly where the Eye of Mockery was and just didn't tell !'
The Fool's Lips gave no response. Cheng Shi grew less certain.
To Li Jingming and Zhang Jizu, his silence naturally looked like deep concentration — searching for clues related to the Eye of Mockery. But after waiting a while, they watched Cheng Shi whip a scalpel from his sleeve and, without a word, drive it straight toward his own eye sockets.
"!!!"
Li Jingming's expression shifted — then understanding dawned. Zhang Jizu's eyes narrowed knowingly. Under their stunned and astonished gazes, Cheng Shi gritted his teeth against the searing pain and forcefully gouged both eyes from their sockets.
Blood sprayed. Eyeballs hit the ground!
He wasn't certain he was the lucky chosen one picked by Kandert. He was simply reasoning from [Folly]'s contempt for foolish acts — guessing that perhaps the Trial had contained one more foolish act targeted at himself, called "looking for the donkey while riding it."
And indeed — the instant both eyes hit the ground, the left and the right each "ca alive," hopping away from each other in opposite directions with mutual disdain, speaking in perfect unison:
"Idiot."
At the exact sa mont, Brother Mouth ca back online, seizing control of Cheng Shi's mouth:
"·Clown."
"..."
To the other two, that "Clown" sounded like Cheng Shi's self-deprecation. But only Cheng Shi knew he'd been insulted again — and the insult was truly filthy!
He recalled what Brother Mouth had said during the Trial:
"·A clown really does make his living by acting stupid for the audience's amusent. In that regard, you've reached the pinnacle."
So it had given a hint all along. But who could have imagined that at the very start of the Trial, an NPC had sewn the Eye of Mockery into his body?!
The question was — why hadn't his body reacted? rging with oneself should have involved a painful adjustnt period. When Brother Mouth had rged, the mask nearly burned him alive. But this ti...
Wait!
There had been a reaction!
At the Trial's onset, his eyes had burned like they were on fire. And he'd used one Healing spell after another to smooth away all the pain...
'Oh no. I've beco an actual clown!'
Cheng Shi's face fell apart.
But at that very mont, those grueso, blood-streaming sockets suddenly rolled — and a brand-new pair of bright eyes erged. Cheng Shi, seeing light once more, watched the two Eyes of Mockery bounce further and further away — and broke into a grin of genuine relief.
"Well, at least I don't have to trouble the liars with running around anymore."
Li Jingming picked up one of the eyeballs with keen interest, examining it up close:
"So this is the Eye of Mockery?
The Tongue of Eating Lies devours lies. The Secret Peeping Ear steals secrets. So the Eye of Mockery... what does it do?"
The question stumped Cheng Shi completely. He shook his head, picked up the other eyeball, and redirected the question to Eye Bro.
"Eye Bro, what's your deal?"
The Eye of Mockery's answer was very [Deceit] — and very [Folly]. Both in perfect unison:
"In an idiot's hands — nothing."
"..."
Both n holding eyeballs froze. Awkward. Zhang Jizu, watching from the side, squinted happily.
Li Jingming's lip twitched. He set the eyeball back on the ground. Cheng Shi, however, wasn't about to let it have the last word. He took off his shoe, dropped the eyeball inside, and asked:
"How about in an idiot's shoe?"
"..."
The Eye of Mockery went silent. Whether the sll rendered words unnecessary, or it simply refused to argue with an idiot, was unclear.
Seeing one eyeball's "suffering," the other let out a disdainful laugh.
"Also useless.
You think you ca out ahead, but soon enough, the idiot in the shoe will be right back in your eye socket. So you didn't disgust it — you disgusted yourself.
Stupid indeed."
"..." Cheng Shi was losing it.
But the Eye of Mockery wasn't done. It continued its assault: "Just as stupid as that mouth."
"!?"
Hearing that, Cheng Shi perked right up.
Regardless of anything else — as long as you help
roast Brother Mouth, I will acknowledge you as the real big bro.
Eye Bro, please accept my bow!
"·..."
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