The Evil Infant Inquisition being a shell organization had nearly driven the players' investigation into a dead end. But Turadin's unexpected appearance—combined with Cheng Shi's masterful con job—had turned the trial on its head.
This was great news. No more sneaking back to haul evil infant files overnight. No more worrying about whether the evil infant "history" he'd improvised was accurate. After all, the entire Inquisition was fake—Dolgod had never had any "legitimate" evil infants.
Cheng Shi exhaled heavily. He glanced at squinty-eyes. The two exchanged a knowing look but neither ntioned the possibility that Gou Feng might still be hanging from the second-floor ceiling of the Inquisition.
Both steady players had no desire to venture back into danger, nor to investigate the relationship between the Three Wu Tribes and Dolgod. They just wanted to clear the trial quickly and finish their respective missions.
Turadin left in high spirits—off to the Head of Church's room to find those childbirth records. He told the players he'd have the list stolen by midnight, so they should hold tight and wait.
Watching Turadin leave, Cheng Shi clicked his tongue and addressed the group:
"I suggest everyone change their appearance and disguise their identity. Although I believe the Head of Church's son genuinely has the talent for being a [Corruption] follower, who knows what counterasures the Theocracy of Growth might have. So as a precaution—get so disguises."
"Once he's actually secured the list without being caught, we can show ourselves."
"And don't forget—there's still an [Oblivion] warrior hunting out there. Changing our look might buy us so safety."
Everyone nodded and agreed to find rooms within the church to alter their appearances, then reconvene in the small courtyard outside the lounge.
For once, the group briefly scattered. Scorpio vanished into the shadows. Gao Ya cautiously blended into the church crowd. Zhang Jizu didn't budge—he had zero intention of leaving Cheng Shi's side.
Cheng Shi said sowhat helplessly: "Bro, do you have a crush on ?"
Zhang Jizu laughed and shook his head: "You sent them away. Where are you going?"
"You caught that?"
"Your intent was obvious. You didn't even try to hide it. Everyone could tell."
"Otherwise Scorpio and Gao Ya wouldn't have left at this mont. You hold the team's authority, so they cooperated and gave you personal ti."
"Perceptive bunch." Cheng Shi remarked as he began walking—in the sa direction Turadin had gone. "Turadin's appearance was too convenient. Why does the insider we found in the church just happen to know all this? Aren't you curious?"
Zhang Jizu narrowed his eyes with so surprise.
"But you picked this target yourself. I was right behind you watching you deliberate between several marks before choosing him."
"So why do you think there's a problem?"
"Why? I don't know why myself." Cheng Shi laughed self-deprecatingly. He could hardly say he'd been conned so many tis that he'd developed a conditioned response—every coincidence looked like a scam now.
"What I can confirm is that choosing him as my angle was based on observation. But I can't be sure who placed him in my line of sight."
"This also relates to what I prayed for. I need to understand what He actually wants
to know."
Zhang Jizu's pupils contracted. He whispered: "What exactly did you pray for?"
Cheng Shi answered while walking: "I prayed for a trial to have an audience with my Benefactor. Instead, I got matched into a [Birth] trial."
"You wanted an audience with [Deceit]?"
"What does the Fun God have to do with anything? I'm a Wood Elf, rember? So my Benefactor is [Prosperity], big bro."
'Right, right, right—your Benefactor is [Prosperity]...'
Zhang Jizu was speechless. He thought: 'If [Prosperity] had a follower who talked this much nonsense, He'd probably die of fury.'
'But why did [Birth] intercept [Deceit]'s trial?'
'Does He truly want to tell Cheng Shi sothing through this trial?'
'Why not just summon him directly?'
'Why have all the gods beco so cryptic lately? [Deceit] wants to protect His follower but won't act personally. [Birth] has sothing to say but won't summon him directly...'
'What's going on with Them?'
'Has sothing happened that I don't know about?'
Zhang Jizu followed Cheng Shi with a deeply furrowed brow, watching him circle out of the main hall and start scaling walls toward the Head of Church's room on a higher level. He imdiately understood.
"You're planning to shadow Turadin? Make sure he gets the list without a hitch?"
"Not exactly. I have a feeling more people will conveniently wander into my field of vision—just like Turadin. So I want to see if he's the only insider."
"..." A novel rationale.
But Zhang Jizu said nothing and followed anyway—the very picture of a dutiful bodyguard helplessly watching his client court death.
The two clung to the outer wall of the church compound's tallest building like geckos, inching upward centiter by centiter. Before long, they reached just below the window balcony of the Head of Church's room.
They dangled beneath the balcony, peering carefully inside. Currently, only Turadin occupied the room.
He clearly knew his father's schedule—certain the Head of Church wouldn't be here at this hour. That's why he'd rushed over.
With practiced ease, he reached to the top of a cabinet, fished out a key, unlocked a drawer beneath the Head of Church's desk, and pulled out stacks of docunts. With expert efficiency, he counted to a specific page and extracted a single sheet.
Watching this, Cheng Shi remarked with a strange expression:
"He's definitely done this more than a few tis."
Squinty-eyes humd softly: "A father can never hide from his son."
Just as both assud everything was going smoothly—that Turadin would tuck the list into his shirt and leave—an unexpected developnt unfolded.
Turadin was gripping the birth record sheet with whitened knuckles, his arm trembling slightly. His eyes swept back and forth across the page again and again, his face shifting from blank to disbelieving.
"This doesn't make sense. How is this possible?"
"Where's the [Corruption] Holy Infant? Why aren't there any citizens expecting to give birth soon?"
"Could everything they said be lies?"
"No, no—they clearly don't follow [Birth]. What they said should be true. But where's the Holy Infant?"
Turadin was panicking. He frantically flipped through other docunts, desperately searching for a sheet with the "Holy Infant's na." But there was nothing. No matter how carefully he searched, not a single additional birth record turned up.
Watching this scene, both Cheng Shi's and Zhang Jizu's expressions darkened.
'Just as I suspected. This trial was never going to be that simple. Dolgod has no officially docunted citizens due to give birth anyti soon.'
Which ant they had absolutely no way of finding the so-called "life that shouldn't be born" through this approach.
"I knew it. Getting matched with people like you couldn't possibly make for an easy mission."
"No wonder He gave seven days. Looks like a speedrun is out of the question."
"..."
...
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