Those behind the scenes have the conveniences of being behind the scenes.
Since the venue had a stage and a curtain, there was naturally a backdoor. That invisible curtain was like a monitor. With a shift in his thoughts, Cheng Shi switched his perspective deep into the Audience Ground, observing the "corpse" that had taken a fall.
The corpse had already resurrected and sat up.
Rubbing his neck, Du Qiyu sat in the void without saying a word. He looked up at the heights, seeming to be waiting for soone's arrival.
Cheng Shi's lips curled up. He tentatively pulled the curtain a bit. Indeed, through the gap between the two invisible curtains, he saw the figure standing before the curtain!
Of course, one could walk from the backstage to the front stage, and Du Qiyu was completely unaware of this.
That ant that right at this mont, as long as Cheng Shi pulled open the curtain and walked out, he could appear right in front of the Beast Tar and question him about his real identity.
However, he was in no rush to step out. Instead, he waited for a while, observing that Du Qiyu harbored no other ambitions and was earnestly waiting for Yu Xi's arrival. Only then did he confirm that the other party was not a scher and at least held true "trust" in Yu Xi.
Although the source of this trust was very odd, Cheng Shi felt it was enough. With a smile, he transford into Yu Xi, pulled open the curtain, and stepped out.
The real Yu Xi instantly took the stage.
In a place unseen by the audience, the lead actor quietly swapped identities.
A pair of long, slender arms broke into Du Qiyu's line of sight first, followed by a bamboo-pole-like body and that familiar pure-white Mask. The Beast Tar noticed Yu Xi's arrival imdiately. A trace of faint astonishnt flashed across his face, but his body reacted swiftly, standing up at once. With an expression of joy and profound respect, he bowed deeply in Cheng Shi's direction and greeted,
"Praise be to the great Lord Yu Xi. You arrived much faster than I imagined."
Cheng Shi took a step forward, letting out a soft chuckle but not responding verbally. Instead, he wantonly scrutinized his "childhood acquaintance" before him, and the more he looked, the more he felt sothing was off with the other party's identity.
He didn't speak, simply staring fixedly at the Beast Tar, exerting a silent pressure.
In the silent void, at the very bottom of the Audience eting, this sense of oppression was magnified manifold. Even though Du Qiyu didn't seem afraid of Yu Xi, he couldn't help but slowly retreat half a step.
Seeing that Yu Xi hadn't spoken for a long ti, Du Qiyu cautiously lifted his head and asked tentatively, "My Lord?"
Cheng Shi glanced over the other party's eyes, feeling that he had seen this Xiao Qi's gaze sowhere before. Could the person playing Du Qiyu be an acquaintance of his?
But who would roleplay as a perverted Beast Tar, and what was the purpose of the act?
Cheng Shi knew he had to speak. Prolonged silence would only arouse the other party's suspicion. Rolling his eyes slightly, he looked up at the Audience Ground above and spoke in a low, echoing voice:
"Trying to be clever, are we? Who told you that I would definitely co?"
"?"
But haven't you already co?
Du Qiyu froze for a mont, his pair of eyes blinking rapidly. He felt that the Lord Yu Xi today was... very strange.
Not like him at all.
But this was, after all, the Audience Ground of Deceit. He couldn't be sure if the Herald was being constrained by so rules or currently under the watchful gaze of the master of this place, Deceit. Thus, he could only play along, explaining earnestly:
"You saw my emblem, recognized my identity, spared my life, and kicked
down into the void. Wasn't that a signal for
to wait for you here?
Are you here..."
Du Qiyu sneakily glanced around the area, then followed Yu Xi's line of sight to shoot a look upward, asking silently, "Is it inconvenient to talk?"
"!"
Emblem!
What emblem?
When he heard that word, a flash of light suddenly illuminated Cheng Shi's mind!
Fla emblem? Fire Passer Proof!?
He was actually a Torchbearer!?
Cheng Shi's pupils shrank, suddenly realizing everything.
No, it should be said that this person absolutely had to be a Torchbearer. Otherwise, Long Jing would never have let him off. But who among the Torchbearers could he be?
Cheng Shi closely observed those blinking eyes, feeling they were increasingly familiar. He frantically recalled all the Torchbearers he had crossed paths with and pondered which of them could possibly have a connection with Xiao Qi.
After thinking left and right, he actually thought of one!
Xie Yang!
This neighbor of his had broken free from Xiao Qi's Cage and joined the Torchbearers. Could Du Qiyu be Xie Yang?
He didn't look like him.
Moreover, how could a follower of War participate in an Audience eting of Deceit?
Did Xie Yang break his oath? No, that didn't seem likely.
Cheng Shi closely observed Du Qiyu's eyes. He felt that although there was resolve in those eyes, it wasn't the sa kind of "stubbornness" as Xie Yang's. Furthermore, the occasional nimbleness that flashed within those eyes didn't quite seem like a man's...
A woman?
Cheng Shi's brows furrowed even deeper.
While Yu Xi was scrutinizing Du Qiyu, the confused Du Qiyu was also observing Yu Xi. He didn't doubt Yu Xi's identity; after all, no one would dare to co here at this ti to impersonate the Herald. He just didn't understand why Yu Xi kept staring at him fixedly, as if trying to discern sothing from his person.
But soon enough, Du Qiyu figured it out himself.
He let out an "Oh!" in sudden realization, gingerly pointed at their surroundings, and asked in a hushed whisper, "My Lord... can I speak here?"
Cheng Shi paused. He hadn't expected that before he could even think of an excuse to urge the other to say sothing, the person actually had words waiting to be spoken.
Can speak, of course he can.
He let out an amused snort and nodded, "Feel free to speak."
Du Qiyu let out a breath of relief. He had thought it was inconvenient to communicate here, hence why the Herald remained silent. Seeing Yu Xi nod, he quickly explained:
"My Lord, I know you are the Fla of Hope!"
"???"
Wait, bro, who am I?
The Fla of Hope?
Cheng Shi was dumbfounded.
Why didn't I know I was the Fla of Hope?
Du Qiyu was very tense. Even though he had received permission, he remained constantly vigilant of their surroundings, covering his mouth and whispering:
"Before I ca, Sister Yue gave
a heads-up. She said that if I ever ran into trouble at the Audience eting, I just had to say I am your person—that is, Yu Xi's person.
I asked her why, but she refused to say. Only after I pestered her for a long ti did she finally tell : You are actually Yu Xi!
My Lord, you deceived us so thoroughly..."
The last sentence was both a complaint and carried a hint of pleasant surprise. The clear, lodious voice held a few traces of familiarity.
"......?"
Did I deceive them?
Cheng Shi blinked rapidly, feeling as though an imnse scapegoat had just crashed upon his head.
Soone who could be called 'Sister Yue' by a Torchbearer was highly likely to be his old friend, the Fire Seeker Ji Yue. But why would Ji Yue claim that Yu Xi was the Fla of Hope?
Who in the world started this rumor?
Given Ji Yue's Truth-oriented brain, if she hadn't verified it, she would absolutely never make empty claims. Yet, she had never seen Yu Xi, so where on earth could she...
Wait a minute!
She had never seen Yu Xi, but she HAD seen the Fla of Hope!
A Fire Seeker of the Torchbearers could naturally et the Fla of Hope. Could this rumor have originated from the Fla of Hope itself?
What was He doing, helping build montum for His identity?
Shaping Himself into the Deity who shelters the Torchbearers?
Hiss—thinking about it this way, it wasn't impossible.
Having figured everything out, Cheng Shi remained stunned for a long while before shaking his head with a chuckle.
No wonder this Du Qiyu was so bold, daring to announce his affiliations directly at the Audience eting. Turns out, he had nothing to fear.
And no wonder he and Long Jing could cooperate so well together. Two muddle-headed fools who only had a half-baked understanding of each other. If even one of them knew a little bit more, today's performance wouldn't have reached this point.
Indeed, in the Era of Void, anything could happen, especially on the stage of Deceit.
What a delightfully muddled clown circus.
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