While Lake was drowning in a mire of self-doubt, still wondering whether Mada Freud had deceived him, the deceivers on the scene were busy pondering where Mada Freud might have hidden Masford.
They weren't certain whether the clown was dead or alive. Him being alive was rely a conjecture—and the most troubleso one at that.
Clowns excelled at performance. If this truly was Morning Joy's sche, then any perforr in the circus—even a visitor—could potentially be Masford in disguise.
Finding him would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
But this was no challenge for players who'd been steeped in trials for as long as they had. If they couldn't find Masford, they'd find Mada Freud instead. Regardless of whether Masford's disappearance was a long-plotted sche, Mada Freud certainly knew everything.
And right now, Mada Freud was in the Imperial City of Kurd.
Cheng Shi glanced at Zhang Jizu. This mont in Canlival was just like that mont in Dolgod. In their unspoken understanding, he once again placed this trial-critical NPC—Lake—into the Gravekeeper's hands.
He trusted Old Zhang to keep the clown in check.
He himself would head to the Imperial City with his good big brother and Zhen Xin to find the other key figure in this trial—Mada Freud.
Ringmaster Fate was undoubtedly another crucial NPC in this chain of clues, so Cheng Shi intended to contact Long Jing—still lurking in disguise—and have him return to the western district to secure Fate.
But when he reached out, not only did he fail to summon Long Jing using their prearranged thod—he instead received a summons from Long Jing, asking Cheng Shi to co to him in person.
And he emphasized: alone.
Cheng Shi's brow furrowed slightly. 'What is that acrobat up to now?'
He knew Long Jing always wanted to one-up the other deceivers in so sche. Being called out alone like this at a ti like this—could it really be payback for the earlier "beatdown"?
'Had the acrobat spent all this ti setting a trap specifically for him?'
'That would be impressively petty.'
Then again, President Gong probably wasn't that petty—just a bit "dense." With so many dense people in the world, was it really his fault?
Besides, even if it were payback, the one who should be walking into the trap wasn't him but Zhen Xin!
After all, he'd only twisted the acrobat's nimble limbs—no lasting damage whatsoever. It was Zhen Xin's nets that had beaten the man bloody...
'Tsk—the magician is truly wicked.'
Thinking this, Cheng Shi casually stole a glance at Zhen Xin—only to find that Zhen Xin seed to have already sensed soone was talking behind her back. She was looking right at him, wearing an expression that wasn't quite a smile, clearly implying sothing.
Cheng Shi smoothly shifted his gaze away, pretending nothing had happened and preparing to ignore Long Jing's summons and proceed with the original plan. But Zhen Xin imdiately taunted:
"Maybe he's got even more important clues to share with you 'privately.'
Wouldn't it be a sha to miss out?
What if he found Masford?
Don't worry—the palace is covered. The Grand Marshal and I will bring Mada Freud back."
With that, Zhen Xin shot Hu Wei a look. Hu Wei understood, swept his gaze over the group, and left with Zhen Xin, laughing.
On the way, Hu Wei's expression turned peculiar. He held back for a while before finally asking:
"Rival?"
"?" Zhen Xin blinked, not following the Grand Marshal's aning.
Seeing that Zhen Xin's confusion appeared genuine, Hu Wei blinked too. Then his expression turned awkward: "Sorry—I thought you and your sister and Cheng Shi hadn't yet—"
Before he could finish, Zhen Xin's face darkened. She was clearly the victim in all of this, yet everyone kept treating her as the "perpetrator"...
And the incident had been ages ago, yet people still brought it up. Clearly, anything that embarrassed Zhen Yi was imnsely popular.
Zhen Xin was also "reaping what she'd sown," in a sense.
"Who's that teammate?" Hu Wei asked next.
Zhen Xin's eyes shifted. Following the trio's plan, she gave Su Yida's na and even ntioned that he was a friend of Jie Shu's.
Hu Wei hadn't heard of this particular Master of Trickery, but he knew Jie Shu. Thinking about the purity of Jie Shu's faith, he once again marveled in admiration.
"Those with iron will are rare. Those with pure faith are rarer still. Every Folly follower is like this—which goes to show that from the heights of Folly, one has already seen every vista and no longer needs the stepping stones of other faiths to climb higher."
Hu Wei's words overflowed with longing for faith fusion. Zhen Xin heard it but didn't engage.
Seeing that Zhen Xin wouldn't take the bait, Hu Wei was more direct.
"Zhen Xin—you don't want to fuse with another faith either?"
Zhen Xin gave the Grand Marshal a aningful look, the corner of her mouth curving:
"I already have."
"???"
Hu Wei's pupils contracted. He'd never heard this before. He stared at Zhen Xin in astonishnt, carefully probing for fluctuations of divine power—but detected nothing.
Just as he was about to investigate what she'd fused with, Zhen Xin posed a question that wiped the expression clean off his face.
"Grand Marshal—have you ever considered the possibility that soday the real Grand Marshal will see through you?"
"!!!"
Hu Wei's expression shifted. He stopped in his tracks.
Sensing the towering battle intent behind her, Zhen Xin turned around with a playful grin:
"Hmm?
What's this—Big Bro Flatbread wants to fight ?"
Hu Wei's eyelids twitched violently:
"You're not Zhen Yi. You really are Zhen Xin.
Now I see it clearly—your sister has been taking the fall for you all along.
But I am curious—when did you figure out my identity?"
Zhen Xin's eyes darted playfully. She dropped Zhen Yi's mannerisms, smiling gently: "Probably because..."
She didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she condensed a mass of turbid, yellow Chaos energy before her, spun it into bowstrings, and used a magic card balanced on her fingertips as a bow. She perford a brief, pointedly satirical lody right there for the Grand Marshal.
"!!!"
Hu Wei's pupils shrank to pinpoints: "You fused with Chaos!?"
Zhen Xin nodded, bowing as the music ended:
"Indeed. Under the performance of Lawless Magic, would you say you and I—right now—are alien-blood compatriots?"
"..."
...
After Zhen Xin and Hu Wei departed, Cheng Shi set off with Zhang Jizu to the eting point outside the park.
Long Jing had told him to co alone, but how could he possibly leave Old Zhang out of sothing that slled like a trap?
You don't get a at shield every round. Having one and not using him was the sa as not picking up free money.
So Cheng Shi buried Lake in the dirt for safekeeping, pushed Zhang Jizu out front as a shield, and headed off to spring the "trap."
Zhang Jizu, resigned, asked who this teammate was. Cheng Shi didn't hide it—he said it was an old friend nad Su Yida.
Except the words "old friend" were spoken through gritted teeth, which told Zhang Jizu all he needed to know: this wasn't an ally, but an enemy.
Cheng Shi didn't elaborate on Su Yida. Instead, he asked about the other missing teammate and whether Zhang Jizu had encountered them.
Zhang Jizu thought of Poison telling him "Cheng Shi is Yu Xi" and all the rest. After a mont's consideration, he narrowed his eyes and answered honestly:
"No."
Cheng Shi wasn't surprised. In a segnted trial like this, a lone wolf who didn't show themselves couldn't be identified by anyone.
The two walked in silence to the eting point. Rounding a hill, two figures ca into view in the distance.
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted. He never in his wildest dreams expected the battered person sitting beside "Su Yida" to be... Poison!?
And from the looks of it, this Corruption Chosen One had been beaten up?
...
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