Cheng Shi still hadn't moved. He'd been standing in place for quite so ti now.
Not because he was being controlled — but because he was waiting!
Waiting for the next audience.
Ordinarily, Cheng Shi never expected audiences with deities. But today was different. The last trial's rhythm had been far too strange — strange enough that he was convinced it all had to be Their orchestration.
They likely wanted to tell him sothing through that deliberately distorted trial. The problem was, he hadn't figured out what. So he was waiting for a more straightforward "explanation."
How arrogant — a re player, standing there waiting for the gods to explain themselves.
Yet Cheng Shi simply felt this wasn't over. Even the reunion with Aph Ros had to have so aning behind it.
Because clearly, Aph Ros was trapped — and with very high probability, imprisoned by Ti.
But if an entity imprisoned by a true god could still summon him, then another true god's power had to be involved. And that was the god Cheng Shi was waiting for!
But evidently, he'd overthought things.
From the first light of dawn until the sun stood at its zenith, not a single deity summoned him. Not even the two of Void.
Yet this very anomaly only proved the trial had hidden issues!
Seeing no audience forthcoming, Cheng Shi had to try another approach. He was too curious. He wanted to understand what lay beneath this trial and what Aph Ros's "eras" ant.
So he pulled out his dice, preparing to pray to the Fun God.
But just as he was about to recite Deceit's prayer, he put the dice away again.
"No — before seeking an audience, there are other ways to learn about these so-called 'eras'... and about Aph Ros."
Cheng Shi muttered under his breath, then retrieved the Standard Phone from his warehouse.
He quietly spoke a na. The call connected before long. The voice on the other end was steady and authoritative as ever.
"It's ."
Cheng Shi smiled at the familiar voice, then quickly lowered his pitch:
"I know it's you. I want to ask about soone."
The other person clearly paused, then chuckled.
"Is that you?"
Cheng Shi blanked. He frowned.
He could tell this wasn't a bluff — "Dragon King" genuinely seed to know who he was.
Yes — the person on the other end was none other than the current Chosen One of Deceit: Li Jingming.
But even as a forr mory follower, he shouldn't have known Cheng Shi's identity.
'What's going on — did Big Cat let sothing slip?'
Not wanting to waste ti and confirm his identity, Cheng Shi imdiately rasped back:
"It's not."
"Mm, then it is.
I only like exchanging mories face-to-face. I've never done a phone trade. But for you, I'll make an exception."
Cheng Shi blinked again. Keeping his voice low: "Why?"
"I hear you tricked Zhen Yi?"
'...Damn.'
'He really does know!'
'Who the hell's been gossiping behind my back?!'
'Is my identity that easy to guess? It's only been a few days, and everything's leaked?'
Cheng Shi's face darkened, but he maintained his disguised voice: "How'd you guess?"
Li Jingming chuckled: "You don't know?"
Cheng Shi's heart lurched. Instinct told him sothing had gone wrong again: "What should I know?"
"You really don't know. This is a... fascinating mory.
Zhen Yi called everyone. She told them her boyfriend also got Tu Tou's phone, and asked them to 'check in on him often' and 'call him to keep him company.'
But she conspicuously skipped Tu Tou. So when everyone phoned Tu Tou to ask about it, the good-natured Tu Tou was still trying to cover for you.
That's when everyone figured out the truth — Zhen Yi's Fate Weaver boyfriend nad Cheng Shi did indeed have Tu Tou's phone. And what's more, Tu Tou's relationship with him seed... pretty good?"
???
'Shit!'
'I'm offline for two days and this happens?'
Cheng Shi was speechless, gripping the phone in frustrated silence. Then Li Jingming spoke again:
"I don't have much ti — I've got a trial to run. Consider that mory a welco gift for a new friend. Now tell
— what mory do you want to exchange, Cheng Shi?"
'Exchange mories — that's his condition?'
'As expected, even under the banner of Deceit, he's still practicing mory's will.'
'How does the Fun God even feel about you?'
'A mory Oathbreaker bearing the title of Deceit Chosen while doing mory's bidding — sure, that's entertaining, but from any angle it's the Fun God who loses out.'
'Unless He's watching for His own entertainnt?'
"..."
'You really are sothing, Lord. You don't even spare yourself.'
Seeing the jig was up, Cheng Shi laid his cards on the table.
"I'll trade my own mories for information about soone."
"Your mories?" Li Jingming savored this for a mont, then suddenly laughed. "Interesting. Accepted. So — whose story do you want?"
His words were even more brazen than Cheng Shi's god-waiting stance — as if no matter whose na erged from Cheng Shi's lips, he could narrate their tale.
Cheng Shi's eyes darted. He deliberated briefly, then tested the waters: "An Envoy of Corruption."
Li Jingming clearly hadn't expected Cheng Shi to inquire about not a player, but a deity. He wasn't particularly shocked, though. After a brief pause, he replied with asured authority:
"Certainly. Which one?"
"..." 'Brother, you really do know a lot.'
Cheng Shi didn't answer. Instead, he lobbed back a question that struck Li Jingming as utterly baffling:
"If you don't tell
who they all are, how am I supposed to know which one?"
"?"
This ti Li Jingming truly fell silent.
The last ti a phone call had left him this speechless was when Zhen Yi had impersonated Zhen Xin.
'Void really is Void. Whether it's Deceit's followers or Fate's, in certain respects they all share that quintessentially Void quality.'
With that thought, Li Jingming shook his head and laughed:
"Fair enough — my oversight. Then whose story do you want?
Drasilco, Aph Ros, or Tria?"
!!!
'Aph Ros!'
Upon hearing that na, Cheng Shi's pupils contracted sharply. His breath caught.
'He truly is one of Them!'
'Aph Ros is an Envoy of Corruption!'
'Not only that — Corruption has three Envoys?'
'Or does Li Jingming only know of three?'
Even if he only knew three, that was already extraordinary. Cheng Shi hadn't known of a single one.
He'd only just now confird Aph Ros's identity.
'Good. Now that the intel's secured, next step is...'
Cheng Shi cleared his throat lightly and pulled the receiver away:
"Ahem, actually — never mind. I don't want to know anymore. Let's talk next ti. Thanks for the company, Dragon King. Until we et again."
Without waiting for a response, he hung up.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
Listening to the dial tone, the smile froze on Li Jingming's face.
But soon enough, he laughed again — roaring with mirth.
"Hahaha! Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
I just got swindled by a Fate Weaver. Hmm, co to think of it, the rumor about him tricking Zhen Yi probably isn't a rumor after all.
However...
This Fate Weaver doesn't seem to understand mory very well.
A person's thoughts, actions, movents — every trace of life is mory. The mont you asked that question and hung up my call, Cheng Shi, your story was already committed to my mory.
So — let
guess. Which of those three...
did you recently encounter?"
...
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