Who died?
Surely not Corruption!?
That was Cheng Shi's first reaction. A chill detonated from his scalp and a subtle tremor coursed through every limb. His pupils contracted sharply as he locked onto Poison's eyes, his falcon-keen gaze searching for answers in her irises.
Corruption's whereabouts were unknown even to the gods. He never attended the Assembly of Gods Convention. Would He truly manifest His true body before one of His own followers—and then destroy Himself before her eyes?
Cheng Shi couldn't bear to imagine it.
Nor could he comprehend why Corruption—who represented the universe's very desire—would perish.
Everything in this world, whether human or divine, had desire. Though this was the era of Void, it was also Corruption's golden age. His will perated the universe; He didn't even need to spread it deliberately. He should have been the one god who could sit back and profit in every era. So what reason would He have to end Himself?
It wasn't without cause that Cheng Shi was fixating on Corruption as the self-destroyed deity. Did he rember his discovery in the Real Universe?
In that Corpse Field of Gods, divine corpses rained down like a storm—yet among them, Corruption and Fate were conspicuously absent!
Perhaps Fate lingered in each slice universe because of His obsession with predetermination. But why wasn't a single Corruption found dead in the Real Universe?
Could it be that the information Poison possessed was the very answer he'd been searching for?
That every version of Him had died within their own worlds?
Cheng Shi's heart clenched. He asked again: "What exactly happened?"
Poison lifted her head to gaze at that face. Her expression shifted through several changes before she asked, pallid: "Your guidance to ... was it all just so that one day, you could extract information about Him from my lips?"
"?"
'So it really is about Corruption!?'
But what did Poison's words an? Was she guarding against him?
No—if she truly distrusted him, she wouldn't have used Long Jing to summon him here. It looked like she wanted to trust him but harbored doubts. And those doubts seed connected to the identity of Yu Xi!
Cheng Shi sensed a crisis of trust from her. The servant god identity had carved a chasm between them, one that kept Poison from daring to approach.
Why?
Without hearing the assassin's story first, he couldn't determine his own stance. But regaining soone's trust was no challenge for a deceiver.
So Cheng Shi thought briefly, produced a mask, and placed it face-down on the ground with gravity:
"I won't deny I'm Yu Xi. But I've always been Cheng Shi too.
I'm different from the gods you imagine—at least in this ga, I've always stood on the opposite side of the gods.
As for whether I stand with you, that depends on your position, not mine.
Opposing the gods is a matter of enormous consequence. I can't explain it in a sentence or two, and without understanding your stance, I cannot reveal the truth to you.
But I can tell you plainly: I'm working on a way to keep this world 'alive.'
If the identity of Yu Xi frightens you, then today, let's set Yu Xi aside. Here, there's only Poison and Cheng Shi—a heart-heavy assassin and a deceiver who has shed his mask.
Miss Assassin, can you trust
now?"
Perhaps the familiar phrasing reignited Poison's trust. She pressed her lips together, lowered her head, and spoke softly:
"I... went to the Sea of Desire again.
While you all went to the Mockery and Jeering looking for sothing, I took a detour back to the shores of the Sea of Desire."
"!!!"
The mont he heard "Sea of Desire," Cheng Shi knew this was no small matter.
And the word "again" only deepened his frown.
That wretched place—any sane person who visited once would never want to return. Yet this villainess, banking on her status as a Corruption follower, had gone a second ti. What had she been doing there, both tis?
Poison spoke slowly, softly:
"I went there to confirm sothing.
Whether His self-destruction... was real or fake.
The trial ca too quickly, and I didn't have ti to see everything clearly. But now I'm certain—He is dead. He died at the shores of the Sea of Desire, and before dying, He took sothing from ..."
"..."
'Girl—now's really not the ti for riddles. I'm dying of curiosity here.'
Cheng Shi suppressed his burning curiosity. He didn't dare rush her. He just listened patiently.
"Do you know that my Lord has three 'children'?" Poison looked up.
"Naturally. Sin of Desirelessness—Drasilco. The rcy Lord—Tria. And the Gate of Joyous Lust—Aph Ros."
Tria was long dead, grass already sprouting on her grave. Aph Ros was doing hard ti. That left only Drasilco—who had fallen into the Fun God's hands.
Corruption's "children" had truly been star-crossed.
Cheng Shi was by now half an expert on Corruption. Aside from never eting Corruption personally, he knew every sordid detail of the envoys' affairs inside and out.
So when Poison brought up those three, the sharp-minded Cheng Shi instantly realized sothing. His eyes went wide with shock.
'I was wrong!'
The one who had perished wasn't Corruption. It was... Drasilco!?
"Sin of Desirelessness is dead?"
Poison's expression turned extraordinarily complex. She stared blankly at the ground and nodded.
"Yes.
I had never had an audience with my god, so I risked a trip to the Sea of Desire. It was my first ti approaching its shores.
I hadn't expected anything, but there I unexpectedly encountered Drasilco, who had just returned from an audience with God within the Sea of Desire.
He saw , stopped , and said:
'He is not worth an audience. There is no Corruption in this world.
I thought I was myself—but I was never ...'
Then He drew a dagger and drove it straight through His own heart, collapsing to His knees before .
I was petrified. I stood there, frozen, unable to move. He coughed blood, smiled, and beckoned to .
I knew He wasn't calling . He... summoned away my desire.
As He extinguished that spark of desire with His own hands, He smiled and said: 'Why should the wicked be wicked? This is the first good deed I've ever done. Go, child. Leave this place.'
He died. And my desire vanished with Him.
Drasilco stripped away my desire.
Little priest... I have no desire left. None.
Right now, I'm nothing but an empty shell. I'm only 'playing' myself. The real ... 'died' at the shores of the Sea of Desire."
"!!!!!"
Cheng Shi was stunned. He said, barely believing it:
"Are you saying that Sin of Desirelessness—right before death—personally created a person without desire!?"
Poison gave a bleak smile. "Yes. . Funny, isn't it?
That's why I'm asking you—what even is faith?
And why do gods exist?
If the gods brought this ga to spread faith, then why, at the very shores of the Sea closest to my Lord, did He strip
of all my desire?
Why did He do it? What right did He have? And what was He trying to accomplish?
Lord Yu Xi, can you give
an answer?"
"..."
Cheng Shi had no answer to give.
He couldn't imagine what an enormous blasphemy Drasilco's final act was against Corruption, let alone what Drasilco might have discovered within the Sea of Desire to make such a choice.
He still rembered Drasilco's words at the end of the Assembly of Gods Convention: "May we et again." But now, eting again was impossible. He'd learned of the death through Poison's lips.
And what did Drasilco's parting words an—"He is not worth an audience. There is no Corruption in this world"?
The statent itself was paradoxical. There couldn't be no Corruption in this world—He was a true god ordained by Origin. Whether He existed or not wasn't His own call to make.
Furthermore, even if there truly were no Corruption, why would the first half of Drasilco's sentence use "He" is not worth an audience?
If He didn't exist, where did "He" co from?
Cheng Shi was lost too. All of this far exceeded his expectations and made the already-opaque truth even more bewildering.
His experience in the Real Universe had convinced Cheng Shi that Corruption held a key clue to deciphering the universe's truth. But the question remained: who could tell him where Corruption was?
Or rather... did He even exist?
No one knew the answer.
Just like the deathly stillness of this mont—even the wind had gone quiet.
...
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