Cheng Shi was panicking.
Because he discovered that his prayers had not only failed to summon either Benefactor, but had sohow caused the Gate of Joyous Lust token to vanish from his hands.
He didn't know when it was taken or by whom, but he guessed it was probably Fate — since Fate had apparently rejected his proposal to put Aph Ros to work.
Losing an SS-grade item didn't particularly pain Cheng Shi. What truly agonized him was that the token had been a window into the gods' secrets — and that window had just been slamd shut.
'So They really don't want
knowing about "eras"!'
But the more They concealed, the more curious Cheng Shi beca. Yet curiosity was useless now — he had no other avenue to learn these things.
He'd considered calling soone, but that wasn't a safe approach. If his own Benefactors weren't prepared to tell him, then should problems arise while he was digging into it, would They still have his back? That required careful consideration.
Playing it safe, Cheng Shi decided to shelve the matter and keep his eyes open during future trials.
A day of frayed nerves had left him exhausted. He decided to sleep early — drown his worries in slumber.
But the instant he closed his eyes, his vision plunged into absolute darkness!
So deity had summoned him again!
He knew because he never turned off the small lamp beside his bed. The faint glow of a magic lamp filtered through his eyelids, leaving a trace of light in his vision even while sleeping. That was how he could tell whether his consciousness was being invaded or area-affected.
This ti, the darkness was too pure. Pure as...
The void!
Cheng Shi guessed who it was. He snapped his eyes open — and sure enough, a pair of dazzling, radiant stellar eyes had opened before him!
But dazzling were the star-points, and radiant was the flowing light. The expression in those eyes was so glacially cold that one glance imdiately evoked the dispassionate, all-observing Fate!
So Cheng Shi's heart settled. Joy spread across his face. He imdiately opened with praise:
"Praise the great God of Fa— Deceit!
May the universe's lies weave themselves in Your hands into phantoms of deceit, adorning this great era of Void!"
He'd corrected himself — and fast — because he suddenly realized that if it were Fate, He wouldn't deliberately summon him at the precise mont his eyes closed, making such a theatrical entrance.
As for why these eyes looked so cold — ha, given Deceit's personality, need more be said?
Moreover, in the split second of his correction, Cheng Shi seized the flash of inspiration to weave a probe into his praise. Whether it would work...
That depended not on whether the Fun God took the bait, but on whether He was in a good enough mood to bite willingly.
And so, when a Void fishing line appeared before him — bearing a straight hook and dangling bait — those cold eyes transford into sothing playful. They sneered:
"I don't recall there being a deity called 'Fa-Deceit' among Void.
What — has your path of Void already advanced this far beyond mine?"
"..."
Cheng Shi's smile froze. He lowered his head sheepishly and tried to spin it:
"My inner devotion always makes
want to praise both Benefactors at once. I accidentally let my true feelings slip. Please forgive my blunder, Lord Benefactor."
The amused eyes heard this and said nothing. They simply blinked — and from deep in the void erged a voice identical to Cheng Shi's.
"As long as my face is thick enough, He won't hold this tiny slip against , right?"
"Shit — I forgot He could do that!"
"Wait, what I an is... Lord Benefactor, don't You think this is a bit... unsporting?"
"Goddammit, it never ends."
"No, no, no — stop thinking!"
"..."
Cheng Shi was numb. Cold sweat beading on his face, he lowered his head in silence and began ntally looping Deceit's prayer.
Seeing this, the mocking voice grew louder:
"Oh my — accidentally let a follower's true feelings slip. Please forgive my blunder, dear follower."
"..."
Cheng Shi's mouth was twitching so rapidly it approached facial paralysis. He looked up at his Benefactor with an expression of total surrender:
"Whatever makes You happy."
"Hee~
I'm not happy. When a certain little cat set foot on Fate's path, she showed such a strong sense of belonging to a certain organization. So how co, when it's little bone's turn, he's not nearly as devout?"
'Hm?'
'Little bone? What little bone?'
Cheng Shi wasn't stupid. After a one-second delay, he realized the "little bone" Deceit was referring to had to be Squinty Zhang!
'He summoned Squinty Zhang?'
Shock and delight flashed across Cheng Shi's face:
"Squint— Little bone had an audience with You?
You granted him a second faith?"
The spirals in the eyes reversed twice. With a smile that wasn't quite a smile, He acknowledged.
"So people just can't let go of those dice even while tricking others. Deceiving on one end while buzzing in my ear on the other, practically reciting every fabricated promise word for word for my benefit.
Bold of you — playing both sides like that. When did I ever agree to grant little bone a second faith?"
Hearing this, Cheng Shi imdiately pulled his head in like a turtle. He went quiet.
Not because his Benefactor was pinning baseless charges on him — but because everything his Benefactor said was true. He really had been playing both sides!
When Zhang Jizu had asked what he stood to gain by betting alongside Cheng Shi, Cheng Shi had spun him a whole sales pitch.
But he knew every word was fiction. aning that by normal logic, Zhang Jizu's gamble was all risk, zero reward.
Cheng Shi didn't want that. He felt Squinty fit his wavelength. They shared an almost identical cautious temperant. He didn't want his new friend taking blind risk for nothing.
So while fast-talking Zhang Jizu, he'd simultaneously clutched a Die of Fate and ceaselessly chanted Deceit's prayer in his heart — hoping He'd overhear his "creative reinterpretation of Deceit's intentions"!
Yes — he wasn't just tricking Zhang Jizu. He was also "tricking" his Benefactor, Deceit!
Well, "tricking" wasn't quite right. It was more like "baiting."
While selling Squinty Eyes on the plan, he'd simultaneously been pitching Deceit on how much entertainnt "pulling Zhang Jizu onto Deceit's path" would generate — hoping to convince Him well enough that, in a burst of amusent, He'd actually grant Zhang Jizu a second faith!
That was Cheng Shi's true purpose. In a ga with zero upside, he'd manufactured an upside for his new friend!
Of course, he couldn't be sure Zhang Jizu would actually want to walk Deceit's path. So he'd left the final choice to Squinty himself. And the mont Squinty agreed to join the gamble, Cheng Shi's other gamble went live.
The upside: the Fun God, entertained enough, actually accepting Zhang Jizu. The risk: Zhang Jizu getting nothing.
So what Cheng Shi had been gambling on was never their lives — but whether his Benefactor would find the entertainnt value high enough to give Zhang Jizu a hand.
And now, it seed he — no, Zhang Jizu — had... won the bet?
The eyes in the void, seeing Cheng Shi retreat into his shell, sneered once more.
"Twisting a deity's will is the great cri of blasphemy. Your audacity grows by the day."
Cheng Shi politely broke into a cold sweat, then whispered his explan— his defense:
"Lord Benefactor, You can't pin baseless charges on . When did I ever twist Your will?"
"Refusing to admit guilt makes it worse." With that, the void's atmosphere began to chill.
...
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