A Master of Trickery didn't possess that kind of physical strength, nor could one use their hands and feet as if nothing were wrong after having all four limbs snapped.
But just because a Master of Trickery couldn't do it didn't an others couldn't.
For an acrobat, at the very least, those movents were child's play.
That's right—the person lying flat on the ground wasn't Su Yida. It was Long Jing!
Sotis Long Jing felt the world bore an unreasonable grudge against him, especially when Cheng Shi and Zhen Xin were involved.
At first, he hadn't known who he'd run into in this trial. He'd only noticed it was the Fun God's trial, and since the objective involved a "curtain call performance," he felt his mont had arrived.
He would blaze a trail in this trial—find every clue before any of his teammates, solve every puzzle, and then, amid their collective shock, ascend to the final stage and deliver a spectacular curtain call performance!
The most brilliant part was that after this curtain call, no one would rember him—and yet he would have simultaneously completed his debut on another stage outside this trial.
Because the role he was playing in this trial was a fellow professional—the Master of Trickery who walked alongside Jie Shu!
To explain all of this properly, one had to start with the mission Cheng Shi had assigned to the Joker.
When the Joker mbers learned that the Nose of Verification was in the Mockery and Jeering, every one of them was bursting with competitive energy, eager to be the first to find it.
Well—that was what Long Jing thought. As for whether the others actually felt the sa... he was convinced they did.
But who could have predicted that the mont Cheng Shi left, the Mockery and Jeering would simply vanish?
With nowhere to go, the Joker mbers went back to their own affairs, and Long Jing refocused his attention on Jie Shu.
He had assud the little performance he'd put on for the Dragon King was quite convincing, and that Jie Shu would co looking for him sooner or later. But he waited and waited, and Jie Shu never ca. Instead, he heard about another deceiver at Jie Shu's side.
A Master of Trickery surnad Su.
?
'Other than a certain Master of Trickery surnad Zhen, what kind of trickster dares to dump on my territory?'
'Why does Jie Shu seek him out but not ?'
'What's wrong with being an acrobat?'
'So what if an acrobat is more of a clown? Doesn't it depend on the occasion?'
'When everyone in the Joker is a clown, what difference does it make?'
In that mont, Long Jing's competitive spirit ignited. Initially, he'd only been interested in the fact that Jie Shu's group was targeting Cheng Shi. But from that day forward, he decided to teach this organization a lesson—to show them that a Master of Trickery was useless, and that he was the better choice.
He just hadn't expected the Master of Trickery to be that useless.
Long Jing had prayed his way into a trial where he'd encounter the Su-surnad Master of Trickery, and sure enough, he got his wish. During that Fate trial, he rely tailed Su Yida for two days of observation before successfully stealing the man's identity on the third. He maneuvered the other teammates into "exposing" Su Yida's "disguise" and condemning him for impersonating a teammate with ill intent.
Having his identity stolen and being slandered on top of it, Su Yida had his emotional defenses completely shattered. That night, he set up a kill trap and moved against Long Jing under cover of darkness.
And then he quietly died in the night.
Long Jing swore that when he killed him, he had taken into account that any Master of Trickery chosen by Jie Shu couldn't be simple and would surely have backup plans. So he intended to take one of the man's lives as a show of force.
Who could have known that Su Yida was as fragile as paper? He'd rely snapped the man's neck, and the guy had actually died.
After Su Yida's death, Long Jing—still unable to believe it—had even tried snapping his own neck. He didn't die... which only proved the Master of Trickery truly had been made of paper.
But Su Yida's death had genuinely given Long Jing a fright.
Of course, it wasn't solely a fright—there was a pleasant surprise in it too.
It seed Long Jing no longer needed to insist on joining Jie Shu's team under his own na. He had unexpectedly acquired a brand-new identity.
'The one who died was soone impersonating Su Yida. What does that have to do with the real Su Yida—?'
And so, a new "Su Yida" was born.
Long Jing felt he was just one opportunity away from presenting himself to Jie Shu in his new guise. Afraid Jie Shu might grow suspicious, he wanted to cause a big enough stir as Su Yida to divert Jie Shu's attention, so that when they next t, the man would focus on current events rather than past details.
That would be much easier to handle.
And before long, the special trial arrived.
But just as he finally had his chance to accomplish a "great feat" in Su Yida's skin... he ran into Cheng Shi and Zhen Xin in this very trial.
'Damn destiny.'
'Who could have known that the Zhang Jizu and An Mingyu he'd blown up were actually these two jinxes?'
Honestly, to have a Master of Trickery's techniques fool two Chosen Ones—that would have been sothing worth bragging about regardless of the circumstances.
But now...
'What dignity? All that's left is a clown nose!'
'Forget the Nose of Verification—just rip my actual nose off and use that instead.'
Thinking this, Long Jing's gaze toward the ceiling grew ever more vacant.
anwhile, when Zhen Xin heard that the Su Yida at her feet was actually Long Jing, she paused briefly before bursting into laughter.
"President Gong, is this the surprise performance you prepared for everyone after disappearing for so long?
Hmm, I have to say—it does have a certain novelty.
I think being an acrobat is a waste of your talents. Why not follow the example of the gentleman in front of you and beco a clown instead? After all, the world is short on laughter, and you can never have too many clowns."
"..."
"..."
One remark that skewered two people at once. 'Who could tell whether that was Xin or Yi speaking?'
Cheng Shi had said it before—the older sister was every bit as much of a jinx as the younger, and there was a strong possibility that so of the misfortune the world attributed to the younger was actually the older sister's handiwork, dumped on her sibling.
Zhen Yi really was too pitiable.
But she deserved it.
'The Zhen family—two sisters, double the jinx. A true honor to the family na!'
Cheng Shi darkened his face and ignored the laughing Zhen Xin. He nudged the unfocused Long Jing with the tip of his foot:
"Is playing dead also a required course for acrobats?
Esteed President Gong, would you care to explain what exactly you're doing?
Why were you impersonating the Archmage?
Where is the real Archmage?"
Long Jing partially snapped back to reality but didn't bother getting up. He just lay there spread-eagle on the ground and said flatly: "Dead."
"!!!"
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted. His tone turned serious: "Dead? You killed him?"
Long Jing didn't want to take the bla, but he couldn't deny the facts. He could only nod: "Yeah. But I didn't an to kill him. He was way too easy to kill."
"..."
There was sothing inherently sarcastic about that statent, but Cheng Shi wasn't laughing at all. Not only was he not laughing—he'd broken out in a cold sweat.
Because he had just recalled the scene from after that Oblivion trial where Su Yida had appeared—when he'd had his audience with the Fun God.
He had asked the Fun God whether Su Yida had succeeded, and the Fun God's answer was: he's dead. Both of him are dead.
At the ti, Cheng Shi had assud the "both" referred to the future Su Yida who had co to the present and the present Su Yida who had gone to the future. But thinking about it now—if that "future" was actually another slice universe, how would the Fun God, who existed in the current world, know whether the Su Yida who'd gone to another slice universe had died or not?
So was it possible that one of the "two" the Fun God referred to was the Su Yida right here, right now?
The Su Yida Long Jing had killed!?
'But You're Deceit—where did this Fate-like scent co from?'
Seeing Cheng Shi's expression change dramatically, Zhen Xin dropped her smile and asked curiously: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing—just rembering so things from before."
Cheng Shi shook his head, clearing away the stray thoughts, and turned his attention back to Long Jing.
By now Long Jing had also sowhat recovered thanks to Cheng Shi's shift in deanor. He slowly sat up, only to hear Cheng Shi ask in a strange tone:
"You wanted to impersonate Su Yida and infiltrate Jie Shu's team?
President Gong, don't tell
you were trying to sabotage Jie Shu's plans so I'd owe you a favor.
Or had you already been sick of
for a while and planned to hitch a ride with Jie Shu to give
a beating?"
"!!!"
Whether the forr or the latter, Long Jing couldn't admit to either. He deliberately zoned out again, refusing to respond. Before long, he heard Cheng Shi continue:
"Still, this actually aligns perfectly with sothing I had in mind.
Co to think of it, I've got an identity that could be useful too—no, possibly more than one."
He turned to Zhen Xin, the corner of his mouth curving upward:
"Since we've already co this far, Miss Magician—interested in joining a new plan?
I've tailored a script just for you. All you have to do is play your role."
Zhen Xin raised an eyebrow with interest: "Play whom?"
Cheng Shi's grin was dazzling:
"Your old friend—the historian, Zhao Xishi."
...
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