Cheng Shi got away.
When the two figures converged again and sensed no third presence nearby, the cheerful one was no longer cheerful, and the cold one turned even colder.
They'd been fooled!
Who could have imagined that a trickster, at the supposed brink of life and death, would forgo all the flashy plays and instead employ the most direct, most crude thod to slip right out from under their noses?
By the ti they had lunged in the wrong direction and tried to turn back, a figure ca bursting from the far end of the smoke tunnel — battered head to toe, an unconscious companion slung over his shoulder — disappearing into the distance without so much as a backward glance.
The expressions on both their faces were a sight to behold.
This round, Cheng Shi had been playing on the third level.
Of course, you could also argue Cheng Shi was only on the first level. But neither hunter would accept that — they refused to believe a trickster with only one layer of logic had fooled them both.
They watched Cheng Shi retreat along the marked [Prosperity] seed route but made no move to chase. Instead, their exchange was animated:
The no-longer-cheerful figure stroked his chin, pensive: "Did he actually go up there? Those injuries didn't look fake, and that big cat wasn't faking unconsciousness either."
The even-colder figure snorted: "Would you trust what a liar shows you?"
The no-longer-cheerful figure blinked and pointed at the ground beneath their feet:
"Well — I didn't trust him. And that's exactly why I got tricked.
So should I trust him this ti?"
"..."
The even-colder figure fell silent. That Cheng Shi would gamble his escape with such a thod genuinely didn't look like acting. The panicked, desperate flight served as its own proof.
But the real question remained: what had he found on the corpse that was worth such an enormous risk?
The two figures exchanged a glance, curiosity surging in tandem.
"Follow them?"
"Are you sure we'll actually find him when we get there? Don't forget, he still has the dice. He can swap back here. If we show up and he's gone, and we've lost his trail on top of it... the humiliation would be catastrophic."
"...It's not like anyone would know. Let's just eat the embarrassnt.
If I don't find out what he saw up there today, I won't be able to sleep. I'll have nothing but nightmares."
"You don't dream in the first place."
"..." The cheerful figure shot his counterpart a sidelong glance, his mouth twitching: "Never mind
— are you sure you didn't misplace those [Prosperity] seeds?"
"Don't worry. They won't find their way back.
Co on. Let's wait for them at the 'starting point' we prepared."
The cheerful figure blinked, a nagging feeling that things might not go as smoothly as planned.
This liar had provided far too many surprises already.
Would they actually corner him this ti?
...
They didn't.
The now-withdrawn-to-the-point-of-shutdown figure and the now-emotionally-broken cold figure stood at the "starting point" they had prepared for Cheng Shi — and didn't catch so much as a hair.
Without question, Cheng Shi had doubled back halfway along the [Prosperity] seed trail. Using his [Ti] talent, he returned to the base of the colossal Leaking World Silent Puppet's corpse — at least for this mont, completely shaking off the two liars' surveillance.
In truth, Cheng Shi hadn't actually seen through the trap of the rerouted [Prosperity] seeds. He had simply followed his original plan: extract confirmation that the corpse wasn't a death trap, then ditch the hunters behind him.
He couldn't be sure when they would co looking, nor how large a window of ti he had. He only knew that right now was his one and only chance to approach [Silence]'s corpse. If he missed it, finding another opportunity in the hostile unknown of the Real Universe would be next to impossible.
So he imdiately woke Big Cat and had her carry him toward the puppet's head at full speed.
His plan was a "beach landing" on the Silent Puppet's skull.
Hong Lin only regained full awareness after running for a while, accepting the reality that Cheng Shi had single-handedly shaken two pursuers all by himself.
It wasn't that she doubted Cheng Shi's abilities — she was simply in awe that even in the Real Universe, this Fate Weaver could keep performing miracles.
She even caught herself thinking: if only Cheng Shi could just keep pulling miracles forever. She'd just need to nap, and when she woke, every problem would be solved. She'd cooperate with anything, no complaints.
After all, who can't sleep?
But Hong Lin knew that was fantasy. Right now, her heart was still racing. Since she had to face the unknown dangers head-on, she could only grit her teeth and stand in front of the Fate Weaver, using her combat prowess to scout the way for his mind.
Ti crawled by. Only when Cheng Shi was certain the two liars could no longer keep up did he and Hong Lin finally reach the vicinity of the Silent Puppet's head.
Looking at the skull that dwarfed a celestial body, even Cheng Shi felt his scalp tingle.
The corpse was impossibly vast. Even if they "landed" on it, how long would it take to find what they were looking for?
Was there even anything up there worth finding?
If after all this risk and all this effort, they ca up empty-handed, then...
'Stop thinking like that!'
'The die is cast. Even with fear roiling inside, I have to try.'
Cheng Shi's gaze hardened with resolve. He patted Big Cat's back and said gravely:
"Let's stop here. Wait for my signal."
That nearly gave Big Cat a heart attack. She bucked Cheng Shi off her back and spun around, snapping:
"Who told you to go up? Stay right here — and wait for my signal!"
With that, the leopard prepared to charge upward. Thankfully, Cheng Shi was fast enough to grab her tail, caught between laughter and tears:
"Hong Lin, hold on, don't be rash.
Relax — neither of us has to take the risk. Our exploration plan is perfectly safe. Soone has already gone up."
"!!?"
Big Cat was stunned: "You brought another ally? Who? Who could be more... well-suited than ?"
Cheng Shi was fairly certain she had wanted to say "better at fighting." His expression turned a shade peculiar:
"Nobody else. It's my shadow.
He's perfect for this kind of work. Don't worry. Let us...
Hmm?!
Sothing's wrong — it doesn't look good up there!"
...
On the other side.
Two black-faced figures were deliberating a new strategy.
In the Real Universe, they too were rely passing travelers — not omniscient "masters." They had found Cheng Shi through their understanding of the Real Universe's spaceti and their sensitivity to its fluctuations.
Even knowing where Cheng Shi was, doubling back to chase him would leave them trailing by a wide margin. In that window, they had no power to stop whatever he chose to do.
So their opinions diverged.
The no-longer-cheerful one — now so withdrawn he had shut down entirely — refused to go near the trickster again. He wanted a new target.
The cold one — whose emotional defenses had been shattered — absolutely refused to admit defeat and insisted on getting even with Cheng Shi.
Thus, a deadlock.
Neither could convince the other, until the cheerful figure proposed a new plan:
"They're a team. What does it matter who we fool?
As long as we hook one of them, we'll have new leverage. Instead of trying to save face inside his ga, we set up a new ga and wait for him to step in. Once he shows a crack, are you really worried the two of us can't outwit one man?"
The cold figure's expression cycled through several shades before he finally agreed.
They exchanged a look and silently shot off in a certain direction.
And at that very mont, at the infinite end of that sa direction, a man in heavy armor wandered lost, swinging a longbow in his hand to vent his frustration.
"Ten days.
Who knows how many more tens of days lie ahead.
[War]'s Authority is nowhere to be found. The way ho has vanished.
Is [War]'s fla truly going to be extinguished here in the Real Universe?
No — a spark may die, but the passed fla never goes out.
The fire in my heart will never be extinguished!"
...
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