When an awkward person doesn't realize they're awkward, the awkwardness inevitably falls on everyone else.
The four of them stared at each other through the closed iron gate. After a mont, the [Folly] follower walked up as if nothing had happened, chin tilted slightly, nostrils scanning the three people behind the gate. Her tone carried a faint sneer:
"I didn't expect you to actually find this place. That was beyond my expectations."
"But I suppose stupidity is temporary. Even the dullest person has their bright monts."
It had to be said—after becoming a woman, this [Folly] follower's voice had beco much more pleasant. Not the content, of course—the timbre. A crisp, dulcet tone that imdiately evoked an alluring woman. Who could have guessed that this woman had been a nostrils-raised man just an hour ago?
Cheng Shi was having the ti of his life. With equally biting sarcasm, he fired back:
"I'd say [Folly] is far more underwhelming. Looking down on everyone all day, but I don't see His followers being all that smart."
"We finished exploring the whole place and you've just found the door?"
"Is it hard to see when you're navigating with your nostrils?"
"Why not use your eyes? Don't like them?"
"Oh right—I forgot. Your eyes are busy venting. Otherwise you'd suffocate, right?"
"Tsk—weird. Swapping the functions of your nose and eyes. I don't think you follow [Folly]—you follow [Chaos]."
"Why are you glaring at ? Am I wrong?"
"Even if I am, tough luck. Endure it. You're outnumbered."
"..."
"..."
"..."
After that barrage, all three present fell silent.
Scorpio stared at Cheng Shi as if witnessing divine descent. Zhang Jizu thought this liar's deception skills were matched only by the venom of his tongue. The [Folly] follower's face turned liver-red, fists clenched at her sides—but she wisely kept her mouth shut.
Because Cheng Shi was right. Three against one—she couldn't win.
Cheng Shi, never one to show rcy, leaned against the gate and knocked twice with a grin:
"Not bad. A wise deity once said everyone must learn patience. I see great potential in you."
"Want to know what happened inside?"
"Tell
what you've gathered. If the intel's useful, I can authorize an information exchange."
The [Folly] follower stared at Cheng Shi with an iron expression. After a long silence, she spoke gravely:
"You didn't find any clues either. Otherwise you wouldn't look like that. No need for mind gas—I'll share intel. But first, tell : where are the other two?"
Cheng Shi's expression stiffened. Inwardly, he was deeply impressed by the [Folly] follower's razor-sharp observation.
However insufferable these [Folly] worshippers were, under their Benefactor's blessing, they were genuinely intelligent. Extraordinarily so.
Cheng Shi didn't press the point. He openly conceded:
"Yes, we ca up empty. But aren't you in the sa boat?"
"If you had even one piece of useful intel, you'd have turned and walked away by now with your chest out. Why would you stand here swallowing your pride, seeking to cooperate again?"
"Am I wrong, miss?"
"Oh—by the way, I don't even know your na."
Hearing this, the [Folly] follower uncharacteristically didn't counter-attack. She raised an eyebrow with a touch of surprise and regarded Cheng Shi with slightly elevated respect.
But in the next instant, her gaze slid past the three, peering deeper into the compound. She studied the bloodstained Scorpio, then sneered again:
"Looks like soone betrayed you. Heh—though 'betray' is generous. You were just strangers temporarily huddling for warmth. So people were simply following their own will, and you happened to be in their way."
"It involves that Scavenger, doesn't it?"
"I said it before: warmth that can't be categorized often harbors ulterior malice. I didn't expect it to co true so quickly."
"And the Chieftain?"
"Hollow brotherhood wouldn't fall apart this fast. So—he's dead, isn't he?"
"Your face looks terrible. I suppose I'm right. Those pastries really were problematic."
At this, a sharp glint passed through Cheng Shi's eyes. But he said nothing, because the [Folly] follower wasn't done.
"I'm willing to cooperate. On the condition that none of you act excessively foolish."
"I'm Gao Ya. Singer. 2,377."
'Oh—no wonder the attitude's so lofty. A Soloist who plays to an empty hall!'
Soloist—the singer profession of [Folly].
Cheng Shi didn't imdiately accept, nor did he imdiately refuse. He just studied Gao Ya with an amused smile:
"I'm curious—what gives you the nerve to propose cooperation?"
"That missing pastry chef is the [Oblivion] Chosen One. He's currently roaming around searching for offerings to his Benefactor. I'm guessing you deduced his motive but not his identity. No matter—I'm generous. That intel's free."
"So—are you scared?"
"And setting him aside, standing before you is an Another Day Assassin, a Gravekeeper, and a Wood Elf. What makes you think you can take on all three?"
"That rock-hard mouth of yours?"
At this point, Cheng Shi chuckled inwardly. 'Hard-mouthed indeed—though at this point, her mouth is the only thing still hard...'
Gao Ya's face went pitch dark. She had correctly deduced many things from observation and exchange—which was precisely why she'd stayed to seek renewed cooperation. But being talked down to so bluntly genuinely infuriated her.
"I may not be able to defeat the three of you. But neither could you keep
here. Wasted effort only slows down the trial—a suprely foolish act."
"Also—the Another Day Assassin and the Gravekeeper might be real. But you—hah—are absolutely no Wood Elf."
"I can tell. You're—"
Gao Ya was gearing up for another analytical flourish, but Cheng Shi had lost patience. They'd co here to leave—four people chattering through an iron gate wasn't exactly productive.
He shot Zhang Jizu a look and discreetly beckoned Scorpio with a finger behind his back.
Both caught his aning instantly. Smiles curling their lips, they moved.
Gao Ya saw Cheng Shi's subtle gestures. She'd started frowning and retreating mid-sentence—but it was too late. The other two were far faster!
Scorpio vanished into the wall's shadow in the blink of an eye. Zhang Jizu raised a hand and fired a healing spell saturated with overwhelmingly dense restorative energy straight at the [Folly] follower.
Who said healing couldn't be crowd control?
When the healing energy was too massive, it beca an attack in itself.
A beam of pale green-tinged white light slamd into Gao Ya, instantly flooding her with so much vitality that her legs buckled. Then Scorpio materialized beside her and drew his Arc of Ti Restoration lightly across both her ankles, opening two shallow cuts.
[Ti]'s power erupted, binding Gao Ya in place like chains.
Cheng Shi, thoroughly entertained, pulled the rope ladder from his spatial storage to climb out.
Zhang Jizu saw this, sighed, grabbed Cheng Shi's shoulder, and hurled him over the high wall and iron gate like a hamr throw.
'That's so serious strength!'
Cheng Shi was stunned. He frantically adjusted his posture in midair, aiming for a proper tumble-landing. But the mont he straightened up, squinty-eyes had already sailed over the iron gate just as Gou Feng had done earlier, landing right in front of him.
"..."
'Hold on—you call this "hand-to-hand combat"?'
Cheng Shi looked up at Zhang Jizu and suddenly realized he'd misjudged.
What squinty-eyes had ant by "surviving" was surviving in trials involving peak players under extrely complex conditions. In normal trials without peak players, aside from staying alive—he apparently... wasn't exactly incapable of fighting?
"Why are you looking at
like that? Your [Prosperity] thods are too slow. We need to be more efficient."
'Right, right, right—whatever you say, big bro!'
...
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