Cheng Shi held nothing back. He openly handed the clown doll to Zhang Jizu, who took one look and instantly understood why Cheng Shi was so desperate for it.
Clown Substitute (SS): A substitute prop crafted by the circus's magician for the clown. Can be activated before entering a trial. Upon use, creates an identical duplicate of you that enters the trial in your place.
Special Effect — Lifelike: The duplicate functions as a special substitute player identity, sharing all your mories, talents, abilities, and items.
Special Effect — Empty Joy: The substitute player cannot earn any score or rewards from clearing trials.
Special Effect — Drum Flower: Upon the substitute player's death, the body reverts to the Clown Substitute form, awaiting the next fated person to pick it up.
It certainly looked like a gimmick item—entirely consistent with his understanding of [Deceit] and [Void]. The only question was how Mo Shu had gotten it.
Cheng Shi read the doubt in squinty-eyes' expression and smiled: "You might not believe it, but the Fun God summoned him."
"Mo Shu?"
"Yes. He said it himself—this was [Deceit]'s gift to him. Also, he apparently hasn't embraced [mory], though [mory] did grant him an audience. He probably still has [mory]'s items, and their function is to erase the mories of everyone in his trial."
"Didn't you just say this was [Deceit]'s gift to you? Now it's his?"
"Temporary custody and permanent ownership aren't the sa thing."
"You can pick up a package soone mailed—but you should still thank the courier for the delivery, right?"
"..."
'Specious logic!' But imagining Mo Shu as the courier felt surprisingly satisfying.
Zhang Jizu smiled, entirely unsurprised. At their tier, everyone had special lifesaving asures. The Clown Substitute clearly offered more opportunities for Mo Shu's [Oblivion] path—but for Zhang Jizu himself, the item was rather useless.
He didn't fear death, and he wasn't one for gimmicks.
So he snorted a laugh and pushed the clown back into Cheng Shi's arms.
Cheng Shi had known squinty-eyes wouldn't be interested. But what intrigued him more was: if even Mo Shu had been summoned by two other gods, then who had squinty-eyes had audiences with?
He pocketed his sole spoil of war and casually asked. Zhang Jizu didn't hide it, but his answer genuinely left Cheng Shi dumbfounded.
"[Truth] and [War]."
"?"
Cheng Shi was stunned. [Truth] made sense—squinty-eyes' every move was thodical and orderly, fitting [Truth]'s will. But...
[War]?
'Did He lose His mind?'
"What could you possibly share with [War]? You have absolutely nothing to do with Him."
"I'm baffled too. I never saw Him. I just spent one night on so blood-soaked battlefield, then was sent back."
"..." Cheng Shi pondered briefly. Finding no leads, he dropped it. "We didn't actually kill Mo Shu—only a duplicate. But there's still a payoff. At minimum, his [Oblivion] path just got a lot harder. So I deserve major credit, right?"
Zhang Jizu smiled with narrowed eyes: "Sure. Though I'm curious how you took him down."
Cheng Shi spread his hands: "You saw everything. It was all thanks to the Substitute Death Doll. Co to think of it, you contributed... err... about one-tenth of the credit."
Zhang Jizu snorted: "Mo Shu isn't easy to kill. If a re Substitute Death Doll were enough, the real necromancers, Scarlet Hunters, and death weavers ranked below
would've killed him hundreds of tis already."
"Nobody who reaches the top of the Ladder of Ascent is easy prey."
Cheng Shi studied squinty-eyes with an odd expression, trying to determine if the man was complinting himself. Then squinty-eyes continued:
"Also—that thunder earlier. Your doing?"
"Don't worry about that. Let's focus on the present. Since I've earned credit—can we maybe knock the Substitute Death Doll's price down by half?"
Zhang Jizu blanked, then his expression turned exasperated.
"You actually want to pay? I was kidding."
"GREAT!" Hearing he didn't owe anything, Cheng Shi bead instantly. Laughing, he clapped squinty-eyes on the shoulder, praising nonstop: "I knew I chose right! As that Lord's right-hand man, you should have exactly this kind of generous spirit!"
Zhang Jizu was thoroughly speechless. He swatted Cheng Shi's hand away and pointed at the ruins ahead:
"Ti's short. Business first. The thunder slowed the church's response, but not for long. People outside will co in to investigate any mont. We need to move before they see us."
"..." Cheng Shi turned to look at the ruins, his expression flat.
'Bro, I asked you to co save soone—and you burned the whole place down?'
Zhang Jizu didn't elaborate. He strode forward into the debris. But Cheng Shi didn't follow. Instead, he left a parting line and snapped his fingers—vanishing on the spot.
"You handle yours, I'll handle mine. No overlap."
"..."
...
Switching to Mo Shu's perspective.
The instant Cheng Shi disappeared, he'd sensed he'd fallen into a trap. But unable to determine its origin or effect, he could only rush to the church to find Cheng Shi. If not the man himself, at least the two teammates he was close with—use their lives as leverage to force Cheng Shi out.
But halfway there, a violent wave of disorientation crashed through his mind. mories and awareness peeled away like threads being drawn from silk. His eyes shifted from terror to calm, then to hollow stupor.
He stood frozen in place, chanically surveying his surroundings, suddenly unable to rember what he was doing.
No—not just his purpose. He seed to have forgotten himself entirely.
"Who... am I?"
At precisely that mont, Turadin—the one Cheng Shi had thrown out the window—ca stumbling over. He still carried the great [Corruption] mission in his heart. Even battered and far from healed, he gritted his teeth and ran toward the church.
He knew Cheng Shi had rescued him so he could help create a [Corruption] Holy Infant. He couldn't let his brother down—and especially couldn't cut off the hope of spreading [Corruption]'s will in Dolgod!
But mid-sprint, he spotted the very person who'd kidnapped him.
He didn't know who this man was, nor did he need to. He simply categorized him as another stubborn traditionalist obstructing [Corruption]'s spread. The instant he noticed him, his spine went rigid and cold sweat poured.
But when he realized the man seed to have lost his power and intellect—standing there in a daze like an animated corpse—this audacious son of the Head of Church actually bent down, picked up a rock, and crept toward the disoriented Mo Shu.
Then, just as Mo Shu was mumbling sothing with his head bowed, Turadin smashed the stone into the "kidnapper's" skull!
CRACK!
Mo Shu stiffened from the sudden blow and toppled. Without a mont's hesitation, Turadin straddled him and brought the stone down again and again on the fallen man's head—until blood and flesh had been pounded flat into the dirt. Only then did he stagger to his feet, gasping.
"Huff—huff—"
"You don't look like you're from Dolgod—so you probably didn't know. We people of Dolgod... excel at stoning."
"Ha. Hahaha. HAHAHAHA!"
"So this is what it ans to follow your heart. This is unfettered freedom. This feeling is simply... exquisite."
...
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