The disappearance of two players was clearly a problem.
Mada Freud's vanishing proved they'd found their target. But after finding her, they hadn't returned—instead, they'd taken the key NPC and disappeared along with her. The implications were deeply thought-provoking.
Nobody would question Zhen Xin's intelligence. Nobody would assu Zhen Yi had surfaced to sabotage things by absconding with the target—not with the Grand Marshal standing right beside her. The absence of any large-scale battle traces inside the Imperial City confird that the Zhen player had taken Mada Freud under her elder sister's identity.
But why would they hide the NPC?
What secret was Mada Freud carrying?
Cheng Shi's brow furrowed deeply as he began to think.
Reviewing the entire story of Morning Joy versus the Sunset, it wasn't hard to see that Mada Freud could only have done one of two things: hidden Masford and used his fake death to scam the rival clown in an elaborate sche, or killed Masford and frad the opponent to win the final showdown.
But given the emotions Mada Freud had expressed toward Masford in her diary, Cheng Shi didn't believe this was a ringmaster who could place Morning Joy's victory above her feelings entirely. Even if she'd resorted to dirty tactics, she would never have killed Masford.
So the truth was obvious: Mada Freud must have used so ploy to hide Masford, deceiving Fate in the process.
But Masford wasn't a clown who'd cower from competition. He resonated with Lake on a soul level—both of them wanted to defeat the other fair and square on stage. Would such a clown agree to Mada Freud's plan to shelve himself and exploit Lake's "righteous heart" for victory?
Almost certainly not!
Which ant the sche had been launched without his consent. He'd had no voice in it—perhaps not even the right to refuse!
But that was stranger still. The clown was more than just a stage perforr—he was the ringmaster's heir, essentially the circus's vice-leader. How could soone of such stature have zero say in a plan that staked Morning Joy's entire reputation?
That defied logic—and it defied the relationship between Masford and Mada Freud. Unless...
He had permanently lost his voice!
He was actually dead!?
Cheng Shi shuddered from head to toe. The realization hit him like a thunderbolt!
The final furious stroke in Mada Freud's diary was clearly a reaction to so shocking news. But what could make a seasoned, storm-weathered ringmaster lose her composure so severely?
Could it have been... the clown's death?
So the clown very likely was dead—not at Ringmaster Fate's hands, but from so other currently unguessable "accident."
It could have been overzealous Sunset fans, or a thief taking advantage along the way, or even a Morning Joy fan driven by love-turned-hatred...
Regardless of the cause, Mada Freud could not accept this defeat without a fight. So she'd weaponized the clown's death, crafting an ingenious deception that forced the Sunset to shoulder the consequences of Masford's absence from the final showdown.
Once he'd untangled all of this, soone as sharp as Cheng Shi imdiately grasped why Zhen Xin had taken Mada Freud and left.
It wasn't hard to guess. From the mont Cheng Shi had heard that the clown was key to the final circus showdown, he'd been projecting himself into the role. And the rivalry between Morning Joy and the Sunset was eerily similar to the struggle between the Fear Faction and the Fixed Destiny of Fate...
That was precisely why Cheng Shi had been so guarded about this trial from the start.
Now he'd simply thought everything through, finally connecting the trial's narrative to his own experience.
If Morning Joy had never existed, did that an Deceit... had also never existed here?
He was an outsider!?
Cheng Shi's eyes flew wide. A flash of barely perceptible terror and shock crossed them. He finally realized that the so-called "Fear Faction" was very likely a con—designed solely to trick the Sunset's Lake into joining Morning Joy's camp!
But why?
Even if Deceit was that Outer God, with designs on him—what about the other gods?
Death, Ti, Silence... they couldn't all be Outer Gods!
If they weren't, why would they cooperate with an Outer God to push him out of this world?
Could it be that their wills truly ran counter to Fate's?
In this ga, Fate's choice was unquestionably himself. If these gods who'd been protecting him had all actually been aiding the Outer God Deceit, then every show of goodwill toward him had been misdirection!
Had they always believed Fate was wrong!?
Or had they learned the truth of the universe from the Outer God Deceit and concluded that Fate's offering was aningless—thus rejecting This Void sovereign's choice!?
What a ss!
If Fate's choice was aningless, what was the Outer God Deceit fighting for!?
Didn't He also want an answer capable of satisfying the Creator's question!?
And that answer... now there was no more denying it. It was him!
In the instant this thought crystallized, Cheng Shi's scalp went numb. Thunder exploded in his mind. Cold sweat poured from every pore.
Deceit was about to show His hand!
If He dared use a trial to lay everything bare at this point, He had undoubtedly seized control of the board and was fully confident in victory.
How laughable—he'd been obediently following Deceit's will all this ti. Looking back now, hadn't he essentially been helping a kidnapper sell himself!?
Then what about Fate?
Had He simply watched as Deceit succeeded!?
In this mont, Cheng Shi felt like a clown.
He'd blasphed against Fate at every turn, only to discover—when the mask of Deceit was finally torn away—that it seed only Fate could save him.
Of course, the "save" here ant that Fate, following His own will, would intercept Cheng Shi from Deceit's hands and keep the clown in this world.
But one mustn't forget: Fate had His own agenda. The sacrifice He'd selected was still Cheng Shi!
In other words, the two paths remaining before Cheng Shi were very likely both dead ends!
Either be taken by the Outer God Deceit and beco a sacrifice for another world, or stay in his own world and beco Fate's sacrifice.
No other choice existed!
"Ha—"
Cheng Shi, brow tightly knitted, suddenly burst out laughing. His exaggerated expression startled both people present.
"At last, I've confird one thing.
So that unlucky bastard... really was
all along.
Can't lie to myself anymore. And no more chance to, either."
Cheng Shi drew a deep breath and looked at the two stunned Joker mbers before him, speaking word by deliberate word:
"It's a matter of life and death now. I can't keep this from you any longer.
That's right—I really am Yu Xi. A clown who was tricked into godhood. A pathetic wretch who grew more afraid the closer he got to fear.
It's a long story. If you two want to hear it, you'll need to answer
one question first.
Can I... trust you?"
'You're Yu Xi!?'
'How can you possibly be Yu Xi!?'
Long Jing's mind short-circuited.
It wasn't as if he'd never suspected it. After all, in his understanding, Yu Xi had once impersonated Cheng Shi. But he'd already convinced himself that Yu Xi was soone else entirely—and now you're telling
you are Yu Xi!?
'Then what were my thoughts worth?'
'Proof I have a brain? No—this was proof I had no brain!'
The acrobat was furious. He couldn't tell if Cheng Shi was lying yet again. All he wanted to say was: even if you're going to deceive people, could you at least not target the sa person over and over?
But seeing Cheng Shi's gravely serious expression, Long Jing swallowed the complaints in his heart.
He rarely saw Cheng Shi this earnest. The last ti had been at the Joker Society, when he'd revealed the universe's truth to them.
So what secret would this true clown unveil for them this ti?
'Don't tell
that by the end, we'll all have an epiphany and realize I was the real clown all along!?'
'I'm supposed to be the dazzling acrobat who radiates charisma on stage—not the red-nosed buffoon who has the audience howling with laughter!!'
Long Jing's feelings were complicated. He said nothing.
Beside him, Zhang Jizu narrowed his already-narrow eyes and stared at Cheng Shi with an equally grave expression:
"How should we trust you? Lay everything bare?"
Cheng Shi nodded solemnly. Just as he was about to ring the Bone Bell once more, Old Zhang's heavy voice cut in:
"You can't.
Because I've been deceiving you.
The Bone Bell isn't a gift from that Lord. It's Deceit's lie.
He said He would save the world. And so I believed Him."
"!!??"
Cheng Shi was floored.
He stared at the one "hope" in his hand. The sky was falling.
'Deceit was already playing three roles at once, and now He's impersonating that Lord on top of it all!?'
'Old Zhang—how could you believe Him!?'
'Hah—save the world?'
'Sure, He's saving a world—but whose!?'
'The Outer God's world and ours—were those the sa thing!?'
Cheng Shi gripped the Bone Bell in his hand, then let his arm drop lifelessly to his side.
"I—" Zhang Jizu looked apologetic, as if wanting to say more.
Cheng Shi waved him off.
"It doesn't matter anymore.
Since He's laid everything out in the open, it ans every single one of us has fallen into a trap woven from His lies.
You're not the only one who was deceived. So was I. If His sche could be seen through, He wouldn't be called Deceit...
I was wrong—wrong to trust Him.
But if we course-correct now, perhaps there's still ti!"
...
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