Reality. An unnad barren mountain in an unknown province.
The mountain was already a shadow of its forr self. The once-sparse woodland had rotted entirely to deadwood, and everywhere you looked, decay stretched as far as the eye could see.
Yet amid the sea of yellowed ruin, a pair of legs — so pale they practically glowed — were propped up on an enormous tree stump, swinging back and forth in an easy rhythm.
Wispy, blue-tipped ends of cropped hair fluttered in the breeze. A dagger flickered between nimble fingers, spinning with a soft tallic hum.
The scene would have been the very picture of serene leisure — were it not for the "stump" standing nearby, fuming in silence.
Unfortunately, the one who had ruined the aesthetic saw no guilt in it. After all, the "stump" belonged here — while that splash of color was clearly the interloper!
'Outsiders truly are the worst!'
But if the outsider happened to be carrying an oral decree from the lord... well, waiting a little was acceptable.
Indeed, the figure absentmindedly flipping the dagger was none other than Poison. This Chosen of Corruption, stripped of all desire, was currently squatting on soone else's territory with nothing to do.
And the one standing silently beside her was Qu Yan.
True to his na — enduring without a word.
After the Special Trial ended, Poison had co here. This was not her first visit. Ever since both she and Bianse Long had found a second faith under Lord Yu Xi, they had "naturally and instinctively" ford a subtle alliance.
Poison thought of it as weak players huddling together for warmth. Qu Yan considered it subordinates banding together — the only way to serve Lord Yu Xi better and please the gods.
So when Poison said she had once again encountered Lord Yu Xi and brought back an oral decree, Qu Yan fell silent.
This was not a sign of resistance — he simply followed Silence, after all.
One look at those burning eyes made it clear his heart was anything but calm. He was dying to know what Lord Yu Xi had said. But Poison refused to speak, content to sit on this mountainside and let her mind drift empty.
Only when the sun sank below the horizon and the mountain wind turned cold did she finally put the dagger away and smile at Qu Yan:
"I told the lord a big secret, and as a reward, he handed you — his little chaleon — over to
as a subordinate."
Before the words had settled, Poison launched herself into the air. The dagger between her fingers flashed silver, deflecting a withered vine-thorn arrow, before she backflipped and landed firmly on the carpet of rotting leaves, her voice dripping with amusent:
"What's the matter, chaleon? Staging a mutiny?"
Qu Yan's expression darkened. He stopped paying attention to her.
He knew Lord Yu Xi would never make such a decision. He might not understand Yu Xi, but he understood himself.
A "nobody" player like him would probably never be ntioned by the lord unless they happened to run into each other — which explained why no new assignnts had co his way in so long.
He knew Poison was lying. But he could not help feeling hopeful — after all, who could resist following a god in this ga?
Sadly, the mont Poison uttered those words, his hope crumbled. He put away his bow and arrows, sat cross-legged on the ground, and closed his eyes.
Seeing her entertainnt dry up, Poison sighed, her expression complicated. She dropped down beside Qu Yan, shaking her head:
"The lust for power... what does it even taste like?
I wasn't lying about one thing — I really did see the lord. And I did tell him a secret.
Drasilco is dead. He took my desires with him before he went. Right now I'm like you — a 'silent' follower with no idea how to 'express' herself."
Qu Yan showed no reaction. It appeared he had never heard of Drasilco.
Finding no common ground, Poison sighed again and gazed into the distance, murmuring:
"Sotis I envy people like you. You know nothing, and yet a single goal — getting stronger — is enough to keep you going.
But what's the point of trying harder? In the end, don't we all just die in so muddled era finale?
If I told you this world lost its hope long ago, that everything you see is nothing but a wedding dress woven for soone else, that the gods are fighting over nothing more than a grand farce — would you still think your life, your ga, has any aning?"
"..."
Qu Yan offered no response.
Poison hadn't expected one. She did not know what she was doing, nor what she was supposed to do. She was simply following her instincts, trying to keep playing the role of her forr self.
Seeing that dusk had fallen, she stood, brushed off the dust, and left without a word.
After Poison's figure disappeared, Qu Yan raised an eyebrow and pulled a pair of earplugs from his ears.
That's right — he had not heard a word of her later speech. The mont Poison had tricked him the first ti, he stopped wanting to hear another lie from that "venomous woman."
'As expected — the prettier the woman, the less trustworthy.'
'Good thing I didn't listen.'
...
The Void. A gap in the rules. Beyond the world.
When a flaming great sword shattered the tranquility of this place, the flickering light and shadow illuminated a face shrouded in ambiguity.
"Grand Marshal" Hu Wei.
This was his first ti returning here since discovering this location!
And the reason was simple — he had noticed that the Wooden Bell linking him to Wei Mu had vanished.
As a player whose greatest asset was his vast network of connections, Hu Wei placed enormous value on every line of communication with his "friends" — especially the Chosen Ones. So when he discovered the Wooden Bell was gone, he instinctively sensed that sothing had happened.
Yet when he reviewed the entire trial, he found nothing abnormal. No teammate had approached him.
Though the whole trial had been orchestrated by Deceit's pawns, he was certain he had stayed lucid throughout and had never once used the Wooden Bell. So how had it disappeared?
Could Wei Mu have rigged the bell when he first gave it to him — setting it to vanish automatically over ti?
Did Wei Mu not want any connection to him?
No, that didn't make sense.
If this place was truly, as Wei Mu had described, a rule loophole independent of the world, then its significance was enormous. No matter how brilliant Wei Mu was, he could not afford to pass up a collaborator — and Hu Wei was the ideal choice. Wei Mu would understand that.
So how had the bell gone missing?
Unable to find an answer, Hu Wei risked returning here after the trial. He wanted to search for secrets he might have missed, or mories he might have lost.
But before he could even begin exploring, a familiar figure appeared beneath the distant starry sky.
Wei Mu!
The puppet had arrived at almost the sa mont he did!
The instant he saw Wei Mu, Hu Wei felt disoriented. He couldn't help wondering — had he forgotten ringing the bell himself?
But when he saw the sa confusion reflected in the puppet's eyes, his pupils contracted. He knew for certain that sothing significant had happened!
The puppet drifted slowly to the Grand Marshal's side. His very first words cut straight to the reason for Hu Wei's presence.
"Lost the bell?"
Hu Wei's expression shifted, then he sighed, unsurprised: "Yes. I take it you've already guessed what happened?"
Wei Mu, for once, shook his head:
"Strange. I have this overwhelming feeling that I experienced a once-in-a-lifeti foolish act, and yet I have no mory of it whatsoever.
I suspected mory's ddling. But when I found that the Wooden Bell for summoning Folly had also vanished, I ruled that out.
mory might be able to tamper with mortals, but He cannot touch Folly.
Folly may be powerless in many ways, but He would never be bound by Existence.
However, not all of Existence belongs to this starry sky. So I followed my instinctive unease and ca here, hoping to check whether the ti in this place had shifted — whether the synchronization between inside and outside was no longer aligned.
But now none of that matters. Seeing you here tells
that sothing we don't know about has indeed changed in this world.
So talk, Grand Marshal. What have you been through recently? The timing is too precise — I suspect the Special Trial is the key."
Hu Wei listened intently, struggling to keep up with Wei Mu's leaping logic. In the end, he gave up trying to think and simply focused on answering the question.
"An unremarkable yet not entirely ordinary Trial of Deceit. The ending was unexpected, but sohow inevitable..."
"A Trial of Deceit?" The puppet blinked, then gave a slight nod. "It seems He's gone and told another heaven-deceiving lie — fooling the world once again..."
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