The aftershocks of the explosion chaos still lingered.
Especially after soone discovered the royal investigator—knocked unconscious, stripped of his clothes—tossed in the woods. The entire circus erupted.
Then who was the person who had stayed in the office with the ringmaster?
Panic set in, and they rushed to check. When they threw open the office door and found it empty, the perforrs' world collapsed.
Where had the ringmaster gone?
Fortunately, Ringmaster Fate was soon found unconscious inside a supply tent. He had obviously been knocked out as well. Though deeply shaken, the troupe breathed a sigh of relief—at least the Sunset was a victim too, so they wouldn't face royal repercussions.
What they couldn't fathom was: if there really were impostors running around in other people's skins, stirring up chaos—why had they donned the investigator's and the ringmaster's disguises just to et inside the Sunset's office?
As accomplices, couldn't they just et anywhere without all that?
No one could give the Sunset's perforrs an answer.
Visitors dwindled. Soldiers multiplied. Everyone was as silent as winter cicadas, terrified of being dragged into this conspiracy-laden catastrophe.
anwhile, the three deceivers who had left this ss in their wake had long since departed the western district and set foot on Morning Joy's "territory."
The Morning Joy Circus's style was markedly different from the Sunset's. The visitors here were younger, and the performances more... open. Yes, open in the literal sense.
The mont Cheng Shi arrived, he caught a familiar scent.
"Corruption?"
Zhen Xin was slightly taken aback as well. She too had detected that faint but undeniable Corruption aura.
Long Jing wasn't at their side—he had assud Su Yida's appearance and was skulking in the shadows. As he'd explained, to fool Jie Shu, he couldn't abandon Su Yida's identity; he needed to "leave traces" in this trial.
Though most of the players in this trial were familiar faces, there were still Hu Wei—who wasn't a Joker mber—and another teammate whose identity remained unknown. A little caution never hurt.
The pair walked deeper into the circus grounds. Cheng Shi's gaze swept over the visitors and perforrs around them as he asked quietly:
"The History School has no records of Morning Joy—but has anyone docunted what influence Corruption had on Canlival?"
Zhen Xin shook her head:
"There's no specific docuntation, but desire perates wherever people exist.
Where there are people, Corruption is never far. Besides, no one can say for certain this Corruption aura cos from the historical setting. It could be sothing we brought with us.
Don't forget—we still have one teammate who hasn't shown up."
Cheng Shi nodded, accepting the point.
He wasn't worried, though. With their current lineup, no Corruption follower could cause real waves—not even if Poison herself showed up.
If ti weren't tight, Cheng Shi would have liked to stroll around and gather clues personally. But knowing that the chaos at the Sunset would soon bring the royal investigator to Morning Joy's doorstep, he realized they were once again in a race against the clock. They needed to personally interrogate this rising-star ringmaster before the authorities got to Mada Freud—and ask what role she played in Lake's disappearance.
"Old Zhang should have sothing by now. Let's find him." Even as the words left his lips, Cheng Shi's feet ca to a halt.
The sudden stop put Zhen Xin ahead of him. She looked back in confusion, only to see Cheng Shi blinking at her:
"You lead."
"?"
Zhen Xin arched an eyebrow, teasing: "Given how well you two understand each other, shouldn't you be the one leading?"
Cheng Shi pursed his lips:
"I don't have as many gadgets as you. I can't locate where he is. Co on—if you've got props, why save them?
The wealthy should do more of the heavy lifting. How else are us poor folk supposed to get ahead?"
"...You're not even remotely related to 'poor folk.'"
Zhen Xin shot him a disdainful look but still produced an artifact. It was a small branch with a leaf still attached. The single leaf trembled lightly in her palm.
"Actually, this little trinket was traded from Hong Lin.
A Co-Prosperity Leaf. Just feed it a snippet of faith essence, and it will guide you to wherever that faith 'flourishes' most strongly nearby.
Reportedly, it's a cutting from the ancestral tree in the rainforest tribe. The Prosperity singer's talent, Universal Harmony—which gathers and shares everyone's Prosperity essence—originates from the sa source.
As it happens, the last faith essence I loaded in was Death...
And I doubt there's anyone on this land whose Death faith burns brighter than a Gravekeeper's."
As she spoke, the branch in Zhen Xin's hand slowly rotated, eventually vibrating intensely in Cheng Shi's direction.
She raised an eyebrow, pushed Cheng Shi aside, and started walking that way. Cheng Shi followed closely, his eyes drifting more than once to the small branch. He found it extrely appealing.
But he couldn't just shalessly ask for it outright. He had to say sothing to redirect his attention and suppress the greedy impulse.
"Who did you use it to find last ti?
Any other notable players in Death's camp?"
"Not a player—Him!"
Cheng Shi blinked, startled: "You had an audience with that Lord?"
Zhen Xin nodded, her expression calm:
"That's right. You said the Bone Bell was that Lord's greatest support for us, so naturally I needed to et the 'boss' who was sheltering us.
You had just left, and the Mockery and Jeering had vanished. So I asked Old Zhang to make an introduction, and I went to the Fishbone Hall for an audience.
The audience... didn't go well.
That Lord neither answered my questions nor offered any guidance. He simply locked eyes with
for a mont, then sent
back.
I figured I couldn't keep troubling the Gravekeeper every ti, so I secretly captured a wisp of His essence in the Fishbone Hall—thinking I'd find another chance to visit Him through the Void.
So today counts as using a sledgehamr to crack a nut. Your lucky day."
"?" Cheng Shi objected. "How is it my lucky day? We're all searching for clues. At most I'm just riding your coattails—no, riding that Lord's coattails.
Praise be to Death."
That comnt reminded Zhen Xin of how the deceivers had behaved during their audiences. She looked at Cheng Shi with a suddenly very strange expression: "Have you always been this much of a bootlicker?"
"You don't understand. This is devotion."
"Heh. So the simp never died—he just switched from simping over love to simping over faith."
"???"
'What do you an, "switched"?'
'Xie Yang's simping is perfectly traditional!'
Cheng Shi seized Zhen Xin by the shoulders and corrected her with utmost gravity:
"It's bone-licking. That Lord likes skulls."
"..."
Zhen Xin couldn't hold it together. Her eyelids twitched wildly, and she desperately wanted to ask Cheng Shi if he was serious.
But just then, the leaf on the branch in her palm began to change—shaking more and more slowly, then slowly rotating to point behind them.
Zhen Xin's steps halted. Brow furrowing, she glanced back:
"That's odd. Old Zhang is nearby?"
She turned to scan the crowd, carefully examining every face among the visitors and perforrs.
Cheng Shi stopped too, following her line of sight. After a mont, he shook his head: "Impossible. If he's dealing with the Grand Marshal, he'd never change his appearance. He's not here—I'm sure of it."
"Then why did the leaf change direction? I clearly—
Hm?"
While Zhen Xin was still puzzling over the leaf's direction, the leaf in her hand subtly shifted its angle—and pointed straight at Cheng Shi.
An ordinary person might not have noticed such a tiny detail and would have assud the target was simply moving. But this was Zhen Xin—she was far too perceptive. Recalling that the initial direction had also been where Cheng Shi stood, she imdiately realized the leaf was pointing at Cheng Shi all along.
Her eyes widened, flickering: "How is that possible—you've rged with Death?"
Cheng Shi was stunned again.
'I definitely haven't rged with it, but even without rging, I'm as good as rged. My devotion to the Death boss is witnessed by heaven and earth.'
"This thing of yours... it's not a faith devotion compass, is it?
Tsk. By that logic, Old Zhang's devotion to that Lord is rather diocre—not even as strong as mine."
"...No, this artifact may be small, but I've used it for ages and it's never been wrong before.
You really haven't rged with Death?"
Cheng Shi was floored.
'Am I really that untrustworthy?'
He explained helplessly:
"Truly, I haven't. I'm devoted to that Lord, yes, but I've never walked His path.
If anything, I've probably co close to death itself more often than I've co close to Him..."
Before he could finish, his expression shifted, and he said with wary uncertainty: "Zhen Xin, this thing of yours isn't so kind of prophecy artifact, is it?"
"..."
Zhen Xin put the artifact away in irritation. "Maybe Their essence simply can't be tagged. Forget it—I don't need gadgets to find Old Zhang.
Earlier on our way in, I heard that Morning Joy has a theatrical performance about 'death.' I'm guessing he'd find that interesting.
Let's check there."
Cheng Shi pursed his lips: "Old Zhang doesn't seem like the type to watch plays for fun."
Zhen Xin smiled mysteriously: "That depends on what the play's about. This one tells the story of a strong-willed boy who learns of his parents' deaths and becos fully independent.
I'm guessing he'd find that very interesting."
"?" Cheng Shi's gaze turned suspicious. "Do you know sothing? Does the History School investigate player backstories too?"
"The History School doesn't know.
But I... know quite a lot."
Zhen Xin narrowed her eyes, smiling like a fox.
...
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