Zhen Xin steadied herself and recounted the trial from beginning to end.
The first half matched Cheng Shi's mory perfectly. The altered portion began after Zhen Xin and Hu Wei traveled together to the Kurd Imperial City.
Inside the imperial city, they found the Morning Joy Circus's Ringmaster, Mada Freud — and the body of the clown Masford. They confird that Masford's death was undeniably connected to Mada Freud!
"Masford was smothered to death by Freud!"
"What?!"
Cheng Shi was stunned. This was a twist he could never have imagined.
Zhen Xin's expression was grim as she continued:
"After parting ways with Lake at the tavern, Masford returned to the circus and happened to run into Freud, who had co looking for him.
The clown, emboldened by drink, poured out his admiration for Lake. He said a rival like that deserved his respect — even if he lost, he would have no regrets.
But Freud didn't see it that way. She didn't know what had happened — she only told Masford that no matter what, Morning Joy could not lose.
Yet Masford insisted: in a fair competition, anything was possible. If Lake truly devised the perfect clown act, then Morning Joy deserved to lose.
Perhaps the alcohol had magnified his emotions. Despite Freud's repeated reassurances that he would win, that rebellious streak — so like Freud's own — drove him to contradict her at every turn.
A fierce argunt erupted between them. Masford declared that art was what mattered most. Morning Joy's victory should never rest on a single person!
That line was what shattered Freud's last hope. In that mont, she thought back on everything they had shared and decided that their entire past was worth less than a single evening of drunken honesty with a rival circus's clown.
And in that sa mont, the desires buried deep within Mada Freud twisted beyond repair and exploded.
Don't forget — she was a mber of the Extre Desire Brotherhood.
Corruption influenced her at the peak of her emotional turmoil. Without a word, she helped the drunken Masford back to his tent, waited for him to fall asleep — and smothered the clown with her own hands!
Through tears, she said:
'Morning Joy's victory truly shouldn't depend on the clown alone. If so — then let the victory co a little easier.'
Afterward, Mada Freud staged the scene, pinned everything on Sunset's Ringmaster Fate, and then used the fabricated cri to lure the Sunset clown to Morning Joy for the final showdown."
The altered plot sent shockwaves through Cheng Shi. He refused to believe the Fun God had rewritten the ending without deeper aning. His mind roared, his body went cold, and in that instant, he seed to understand what had truly caused the despairing end-of-era he had lived through in the trial.
Corruption?!
Was the Fun God using this to tell him — to tell the world — that Corruption had influenced Him? That it had nearly led Him astray?!
Then what had pulled the path back from the brink?
Was it really Ti?!
Noticing the shift in Cheng Shi's expression, Zhen Xin paused. Her face grew even more serious. "What exactly happened?"
"Sothing beyond what either of us expected. Until I can confirm it fully, I can't say what the truth is. Keep going — let
sort out the trial first."
Zhen Xin nodded and continued:
"After that, we brought Mada Freud back. Before ironclad evidence, she had no defense. When Lake learned the truth, he demanded to know why she had done this to him. Freud said nothing. And then..."
"What?" Cheng Shi felt his heart skip. Zhen Xin's pause made his skin crawl.
"She killed herself.
The thods of the Extre Desire Brotherhood. She had hidden poison in her mouth. While everyone's attention was on Lake, she bit down — and took her own life."
"!!??"
Zhen Xin let out a deep sigh:
"But that was far from the end.
We concealed the deaths of Masford and Mada Freud, buried them, and escorted Lake back to Sunset. But when Ringmaster Fate heard the news that Lake had survived the explosion — a flicker of shock passed through his eyes.
No one caught that flash of sothing off. No one except you.
You saw the change in Fate. You told us things were far from simple. Then we restrained Fate — and pried out the secret.
Those shoes...
They hadn't been stolen by a spectator. They hadn't been found by Freud poking around. Fate had deliberately placed them in plain sight — for Freud to find!"
"What?!"
Cheng Shi was dumbfounded. He repeated it in disbelief: "Fate baited Freud with the shoes, then deliberately let Lake lose heart and let himself be lured to Morning Joy?"
Zhen Xin nodded: "Yes. That night, while checking on Lake, he stumbled upon the uninvited Freud and overheard her 'secret' with Lake. He understood this traitor who had broken away from Sunset, so after eavesdropping he devised a plan to win without lifting a finger!
What he hadn't counted on was that in the final days before the last showdown, Freud's plan would be exposed by us — and his own sche would collapse with it."
"..."
The twist ca so suddenly that Cheng Shi's brain crashed.
What was this? Fate had used Deceit's hand to bring about Fixed Destiny?
Granted, on the path of Fixed Destiny, Deceit had indeed contributed the most. But if every move the Fun God made — or the entire Fear Faction — had been under Fate's calculation all along, that was simply too outrageous!
Was this really the sa Fate who championed Fixed Destiny and would sacrifice everything for it?
No wonder Deceit had said Fate was an even better liar than Himself.
Then again, whether the Fear Faction was truly the Fear Faction at this point was debatable. The current state of the Fun God and Fate was also unclear. In that false end-of-era, Cheng Shi still could not figure out why Fate had chosen to self-destruct.
If the Deceit trial's ssage was that Fate was the true mastermind behind everything — then how could this world's own Fate have dared to annihilate Himself at that crucial mont?
Had He orchestrated everything just to welco His own Void?
That defied all logic.
Cheng Shi sank into thought. Zhen Xin continued:
"Lake, knowing everything now, was utterly heartbroken. He felt Kanrival and Sunset could no longer hold him.
So he tendered his resignation to the shattered Ringmaster Fate and left the land that had caused him such pain.
He believed this place was unworthy of art's highest temple. He wanted to go beyond the snowfields and find a pure land — a place free of conflict forever, where the circus would live on for all ti.
And so, alone, he left Sunset, left Kurd, left the northern snow country, and headed south in search of a new ho.
You personally saw him off. And we... attempted to 'reverse' the trial's ending according to the Fun God's 'hints.'
Faced with two circuses that had no natural conclusion, President Gong continued playing his Lake, and I played Morning Joy's Masford.
On the fifth day of the trial, the final showdown arrived as scheduled. President Gong — credit where it's due — was every bit the seasoned 'clown' of the stage... He won. The audience loved him, and Sunset's attendance far exceeded Morning Joy's.
He won Sunset a false tomorrow. And we earned ourselves a cleared Special Trial."
Zhen Xin had been watching Cheng Shi's eyes throughout. When she finished, she pressed her lips together:
"What are you thinking, Fate Weaver?
Can you share what you know now?"
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