Up to this point, Cheng Shi knew of four mbers in Jie Shu's team. Excluding the organizer Jie Shu himself, the remaining three were:
Mo Shu, Zhao Xishi, and Su Yida.
The Scavenger was already resolved to die. The historian and the Master of Trickery had long since been put in the ground. Failing to exploit an opportunity this gift-wrapped would be an insult to the destiny that had practically spoon-fed it to him.
So today—without Jie Shu's knowledge—the team had undergone a personnel change. Other than the organizer Jie Shu remaining the sa, the three new mbers were:
Cheng Shi, Zhen Xin, and Long Jing.
Yes—Cheng Shi intended to borrow their identities and pay a visit to the Fool Hunter who was so eager to "get rid of him." This wasn't about revenge; it was about a plan that was gradually taking shape in his mind.
The plan didn't have a na yet, but Cheng Shi knew that when the ti ca, others would give it one.
He couldn't be sure whether Jie Shu's plan had changed over all this ti, or what state Mo Shu was in. But it was safe to say that no matter how this round played out, three top-tier deceivers wouldn't find it particularly difficult.
When you thought about it, it was actually amusing. When an organization's "moles" vastly outnumbered its actual mbers, who did the organization really belong to?
Was it possible that Jie Shu was the outsider here?
'We Joker mbers are having a eting—how did a Folly believer sneak in?'
The thought brought a knowing smile to Cheng Shi's face.
But even though the potential for fun was enormous, he still didn't feel fully confident about this plan.
Regardless, all of that could wait until after the trial. The pressing matter was the Deceit trial right in front of him.
Cheng Shi was curious about how Long Jing had impersonated the Master of Trickery. Long Jing didn't hide it—he said it was a mory artifact he'd obtained from the Dragon King, one that could temporarily borrow the abilities of an enemy he'd previously fought.
Cheng Shi's eyes lit up. He asked to see it.
Long Jing spread his hands and claid it was used up.
Cheng Shi didn't believe a single word. If it were truly used up, how was he supposed to keep up the act for the next four days?
But he also knew it wasn't easy to pick through soone else's pockets. So he could only take the roundabout approach: "How did you con it out of him?"
Long Jing's expression froze. He didn't want to admit it.
The truth was, he had indeed conned it. He'd painted Li Jingming a grand picture.
After killing Su Yida, he'd gone to the Dragon King and told him he was about to infiltrate Jie Shu's organization from the inside. He just needed a bit of support. In return, he'd give the Dragon King an exclusive share of any mories he gathered.
Li Jingming had deed the trade worthwhile and agreed.
But now, Long Jing's plan had been wrecked by his "own people," and the wrecker even wanted him to join their plan instead... If he still shared those mories with the Dragon King, wouldn't he beco "everyone's favorite" clown all over again?
'No—absolutely not!'
'For the sake of President Gong's reputation, this debt has to be welched!'
Long Jing clamped his mouth shut, standing firm like a righteous man sworn to protect the Dragon King's interests.
Unfortunately, he was facing two master deceivers. They didn't even need him to speak. Just from his posture, they could guess exactly what kind of promise the acrobat had made.
Cheng Shi and Zhen Xin exchanged a smile and decided to leave President Gong so face.
"President Gong, you've been here much longer than us. What have you discovered?"
This was another thing Long Jing didn't want to share. This stage was supposed to have been his alone. Now soone had barged in and hijacked the show; his perfect curtain-call plan was already bankrupt.
But he couldn't keep everything to himself forever. Who knew what tricks these two jinxes might resort to?
He wasn't afraid of a fight, but he was afraid of looking like a fool—and in front of these two, looking foolish was all too easy...
So Long Jing resigned himself to his fate and said wearily:
"Lake left under cover of darkness. I used a mory artifact to witness the mont he departed.
He was utterly resolute. Before he left, he lingered at the circus entrance for a long ti. It was clear he didn't intend to co back. That's why I decided to take his place and reverse the Sunset's ending.
I couldn't find any clues related to why he left, and I couldn't fathom why a clown with such deep feelings for the circus would make this choice.
The night he left, he was extrely tense—even trembling as he walked. For soone who'd spent years performing in front of audiences, who'd seen every kind of scenario and was an expert at commanding a crowd, this was completely illogical.
Of course, it's possible he was simply afraid of being seen, but given the bewildernt in his eyes, I'm more inclined to think his behavior reflected anxiety about an unpredictable future!
Due to the artifact's limited range, I wasn't able to find where he ended up. But the direction he went was into the city. It looked like he had an appointnt with soone.
I suspect he was threatened, because I also saw traces of fear in his eyes."
As he spoke, Long Jing straightened up. He was clearly interested in Lake's disappearance too.
Cheng Shi frowned, thinking carefully. To make a clown decisively abandon the career he loved most, leave behind his closest friends and colleagues, walk away from the "ho" he'd fought for his entire life—how much power would soone need to wield to accomplish that?
He pondered briefly and quickly arrived at an answer. At the sa ti, Zhen Xin beside him offered her own theory:
"Whoever it was threatened to destroy the Sunset!
To protect the circus, the clown had no choice but to compromise."
Cheng Shi nodded. He'd been thinking the sa thing. He sorted through every possibility, talking himself through the logic:
"Whoever arranged the eting with Lake either commands imnse power—enough to easily determine the Sunset's fate—or holds leverage that could destroy the circus's reputation.
If it's the forr, there's no real reason to single out a clown unless it's for so incomprehensible perverse amusent.
The only people who could have both that kind of perversity and that kind of power would be the royal family.
Could there be a mber of the royal court who favors Morning Joy and is using this to antagonize the Sunset?
But judging from the royal court's reaction to the Sunset explosion, and from my observations of the royal investigator I knocked out, they seem to favor the Sunset. After all, the Sunset is a legacy of the founding king—much more aligned with the traditionalists.
But if not the royals, does Canlival even have any other major powers?
Wait... even if there are, the sa logic applies. If they wanted to bring the Sunset down, there'd be no need to target just the clown.
So it actually seems more like the second scenario.
Soone has leverage on the Sunset and used it to force Lake's hand.
But why Lake specifically?
Oh?
I think I know. It's very likely because..."
"Because the leverage involves the clown himself." Zhen Xin arched an eyebrow and pinpointed the crux. "Lake must have committed so transgression detrintal to the Sunset, and soone with an agenda witnessed it. That's how they got their hooks into him.
Otherwise, given his love for the circus, he would probably have defended the Sunset to the death.
We shouldn't confine our investigation to inside the circus. We need to find out what Lake was doing before he disappeared.
Only by uncovering the chain of cause and effect can we determine whether the Sunset's ending should be tragedy or triumph.
Heh—co to think of it, there's sothing rather poetic about it: a stage that provides emotion to the audience can't decide its own ending of sorrow or joy...
Surely the Fun God isn't hinting at sothing with this?"
Zhen Xin's eyes darted about playfully, clearly struck by so deeper thought.
"..."
"..."
Her sudden leap to a higher plane of aning plunged the room into silence.
Cheng Shi pursed his lips, unsure how to respond. Long Jing, anwhile, hadn't overthought it. Following the thread of their reasoning, he combined it with his own observations and produced a very logical hypothesis.
"There's no such thing as a threat without motive.
Whoever forced Lake to leave must stand to gain from it. If we set aside the minor details and ask only who benefits most from Lake's departure, the answer is obvious—there's only one:"
The three of them locked eyes and spoke in unison:
"Morning Joy."
Cheng Shi smiled. This was the kind of peak-level round he'd always dread of—one where everyone could carry.
Of course, it would be even better if no one was lying to each other.
"Looks like we need to pay Morning Joy a visit." Cheng Shi blinked. "And while we're at it, let's see how Old Zhang is holding up."
...
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