Cheng Shi had achieved the desired effect.
Seeing the barely concealed terror in Long Jing's eyes, his smile grew even more enigmatic.
'Yes, I'm a clown. My talent is diocre. I can't lie. My falsehoods get devoured by the Tongue of Eating Lies. But...'
'I have an out— Brother Mouth!'
This was Cheng Shi's greatest trump card and the source of his newfound confidence.
Because he'd called upon Brother Mouth once more, and the haughty Fool's Lips had made the rare decision to cooperate!
As for the nature of that cooperation — it required rewinding the clock to explain properly.
Back to the mont inside Go Lis's Grudge, right after Cheng Shi rescued Long Jing!
Before pulling all the peak players into Go Lis's Grudge, Cheng Shi had indeed considered leaving the departed Long Jing as a casually shelved "contingency."
After all, the man knew he wasn't the real Cheng Shi. So once everything was over, whenever Long Jing brought him up in front of others, Cheng Shi could deflect every chain reaction from the diocre Person gathering onto a nonexistent con artist — cleanly closing the logical loop and keeping himself uninvolved.
But no one expected that every single person who'd announced their departure... hadn't actually left.
The mont he rescued Long Jing, Cheng Shi's face darkened enough to curse.
From that point on, he began searching for a new explanation for his identity.
The Zhen Yi disguise wasn't bad per se — only that he'd worn it so many tis it had lost its novelty.
More importantly, like every other peak player, he'd been psychologically wrecked by that Master of Trickery. The instant that na crossed his mind, only two words surfaced instinctively: "bad luck" — never "entertainnt."
Playing her any longer was genuinely starting to disgust him. So he shifted approach and began brainstorming how to perform an entirely fresh role.
But he only knew two con artists at the peak level: Zhen Yi, and the newly t Long Jing. He could hardly impersonate Long Jing right in front of the real Long Jing — that was too absurd, too farcical.
Not knowing any peak cons didn't an he couldn't fabricate one, though. But high-scoring [Deceit] followers probably all knew each other, making that approach unreliable.
But this was no obstacle for the clown, because he quickly hit upon a bolder idea: why limit his thinking to peak players?
Put another way: why limit the role he played to the identity of a "player"?
Were there no peak-level con artists among those who weren't players?
Yes. Of course there were. For example...
The Fun God's Envoy!
If [Deceit] had an Envoy, He would undoubtedly be a "peak" con artist!
Playing an Envoy might be difficult for others, but for Cheng Shi — no, for Lord Ultraman — it was just right.
Moreover, once clothed in that identity, no matter how bizarre, dramatic, contradictory, or unreasonable Cheng Shi's behavior beca, anyone "in the know" would probably ntally rationalize it all.
After all, on the path of [Deceit], the illogical was logical — especially for an Envoy, the existence closest to Him!
So Cheng Shi's nerve swelled for a mont. He hatched the idea of playing [Deceit]'s Envoy. But a performance at that level was impossible on his own, so he went to beg a certain "soone."
The Fool's Lips!
He'd first asked Brother Mouth a question:
"Brother Mouth, how co I've never heard of our Benefactor's Envoy? Does He even have one?"
The Fool's Lips maintained its usual aloofness and ignored him. But Cheng Shi was never one to give up. Throughout the escape, he'd pestered Brother Mouth relentlessly.
"Brother Mouth, if I impersonate an Envoy of our Benefactor, He wouldn't get mad, would He~"
"Brother Mouth, would you be willing to play a new role with ?"
"Your silence counts as consent."
"Then it's settled. Help
check with Brother Tongue — can it pitch in too? When the ti cos, you two pull off an epic double act and crush this acrobat. How about it?"
"This is pri entertainnt. I'm already about to crack up. How co you're not reacting?"
"Great, you didn't refuse. Then I'll continue. Mm... let
think. Since this performance will be led by you, Brother Mouth — yes, you're the lead. I'm just writing the script. As everyone knows, the lead actor is the most important part of any show because they get paid the most.
"And the more you get paid, the more responsibility you should bear.
"Don't misunderstand, Brother Mouth. I'm absolutely not passing the buck. If our Benefactor cos looking for trouble, of course I'll shoulder part of the bla.
"Err... what I an is, we'd both share so responsibility, right?
"Great, you've consented again.
"Now then, the question of identity. Fabricating an Envoy identity is kinda scary, not gonna lie. But based on my understanding of the Fun — I an, our Benefactor — if He had an Envoy, that Envoy's na would probably...
"Not be very serious?
"In that case, how about we call it...
"Giggle Freak?"
"..."
The Fool's Lips gave zero reaction. But Cheng Shi could swear the Tongue of Eating Lies in his storage twitched at the na.
Then again, it might have been his imagination.
"Too goofy? Servant Gods' nas should have a certain gravitas. Let
think... How about 'Deceit's Cold Eye'?
"Or 'Eternity of Lies'?
"Can't very well call it 'The Smiling Clown'?
"No. Absolutely not!"
Cheng Shi fell into deep contemplation. Without even getting a response from the Fool's Lips, he'd imrsed himself in the role, fretting over his new na the entire way. But nothing clicked until the mont everyone cleaved through the Void and plunged into Mockery and Jeering. That's when the perfect na hit him.
"I feel like our Benefactor's Envoy doesn't need to follow naming conventions of other Envoys. [Deceit] should have its own flair.
"Since you're the lead, Brother Mouth, let's just call it... 'Yu Xi.' Simple, clean. What do you think?
"Once again, you say nothing. Then I'll assu you—"
"Good."
The Fool's Lips responded. Suddenly responded.
Though only a single word, it was the most resounding reply Cheng Shi had ever heard from Brother Mouth.
That one "Good" stunned him senseless. So much so that upon dropping into Mockery and Jeering, he froze for a beat — but then his expression transford to sheer, overjoyed disbelief.
"Brother Mouth, you agree?"
"I don't need a script. But the lines and timing of my appearances are decided by . That's a lead actor's prerogative."
"?"
'Sothing was off. A hundred percent off.'
Based on everything Cheng Shi knew about Brother Mouth, it had never been this proactive. The only tis it showed initiative were when it was setting him up.
So was it possible that Brother Mouth had spotted the entertainnt value and wanted to use this as a pretext to screw him over big ti?
At this thought, Cheng Shi suddenly chicken-outed.
"Uh, Brother Mouth, how about we discuss this more? No rush. I can probably co up with another approach."
"You're backing out?"
"Yes!" Cheng Shi's answer was equally thunderous!
"Fine. You can back out of your part. I'll play mine. Each to his own. No interference."
"..." 'This is bad. I just fell into a pit, didn't I?'
Cheng Shi's heart lurched. But suspicion imdiately took over.
His con artist's instinct told him: this matter had just gotten a lot more complicated.
"Brother Mouth... the Fun God doesn't actually have an Envoy called [Yu Xi], does He?
"Don't tell
you were that Envoy all along!?"
"Yes."
"???"
Cheng Shi shuddered in fright. He was about to press further when the Fool's Lips spoke again:
"However, only when we rge as one are we the true Envoy."
"rge with whom!?" Cheng Shi's pupils contracted.
"With you."
"With !!??" Cheng Shi went pale with shock!
"Correct. With you. That's exactly what the script you just made up says."
"..." Cheng Shi's piercing gaze instantly glazed over.
'Is that what I ant?'
'Is conning a clown really that fun?'
'Let this world full of clowns burn!'
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