Cheng Shi had only ever witnessed two [Deceit] followers in their "audience with god" state.
One was himself. The other was Long Jing.
And these two forms appeared to overlap almost perfectly — a concordance rate of roughly 99.99%.
This made Cheng Shi wonder whether every con artist looked like this when eting the divine.
If so, it ant it wasn't that he had no backbone during his audiences — it was that the entire [Deceit] roster had no backbone. And that bla could be placed squarely on the Benefactor.
After all, poor team culture was always leadership's fault. Nothing to do with the foot soldiers.
Cheng Shi smiled. He wasted no more words with Long Jing and moved on to business. And the business was, naturally, profiting from Hu Wei's operation!
Let's not forget — this was the fundantal reason Cheng Shi had conned Long Jing!
Cheng Shi hadn't crafted a [Deceit] Envoy identity for laughs. He'd done it to stop Long Jing from unmasking him so he could join the Grand Marshal's trial and profit. His objective had never changed from the very start:
Greed without limit!
This was also the core reason he'd sched against Zhen Yi.
So after Long Jing had helpfully rationalized every inconsistency in his own head, Cheng Shi cut straight to the point. His goal was simple: get Long Jing to help him find treasure.
Of course, he couldn't put it that bluntly. Even selling products required packaging — cons required even more elegant wrapping.
And so, speaking as the Envoy "Yu Xi," Cheng Shi said:
"If flattery isn't a con, then it's aningless.
"Put away that greasy look, President Gong. I prefer the version of you that deceived the masses on the diocre Person stage."
Hearing this, Long Jing's heart steadied further. He felt no embarrassnt at all — instead, it confird that this Envoy was indeed the sa person from the diocre Person gathering, not so "third party" who'd snuck in midway.
'So He really did co for the tongue.'
'Does Zhen Yi know? Probably not — otherwise, how would she dare confront an Envoy?'
'And how did the Envoy reclaim the tongue from her hands?'
'Oh, right — it was His own tongue. Taking back what's yours must be infinitely simpler than relying on contracts.'
Long Jing remained respectfully silent, head bowed. He sensed the other hadn't finished speaking, so he assud a posture of devout listening, waiting for his "opportunity."
Cheng Shi indeed wasn't done:
"I am indeed searching for certain things. As for what exactly..."
He picked up the Tongue of Eating Lies beside him, flashed it briefly, and returned it to his storage. Then he regarded Long Jing with a half-smile:
"You've seen it. Things like these."
Long Jing's pupils contracted once more.
He seed to understand the Envoy's aning: tongues! No — more precisely, things similar to the tongue?
'Could Lord Yu Xi have other "organs" scattered throughout the world!?'
'Wouldn't this be the perfect chance to prove himself!?'
Long Jing's eyes widened, but he didn't dare interrupt. He simply waited with burning anticipation.
"Correct— you've guessed it. Just so scattered small components. These body parts of mine are terribly restless. Every era they cause
new problems.
"So don't be anxious. Your 'coincidence' in finding this broken tongue may not have been a true coincidence — it may have been the tongue subtly influencing you.
"Anyway, the rest you don't need to know. Just understand this: in the operation organized by the player you call the Grand Marshal, there may be clues to more of my scattered body parts. That's why I want to join your ga under this identity.
"Yu Xi, Yu Xi — without participating in a ga, how can one make fools of the masses?
"I haggled with Him for quite a while before securing a player slot. And that... is my purpose in coming here.
"President Gong, I think well of you — far better than that 'collection piece' of His. So keep working hard. I hope to see you at an Audience eting. Preferably under the title you people call... Chosen One.
"Hmm, Chosen One. Nice ring to it."
After this, Cheng Shi smiled and patted Long Jing's shoulder, exactly like a senior executive painting rosy futures for a new hire.
But this grand [Void] promise? Long Jing swallowed it without a mont's hesitation!
He gobbled it down, terrified of missing a single morsel of this spiritual feast!
His eyes blazed with light — not only because he now knew how to assist his Benefactor's Envoy, but because the Envoy's "casual" revelations contained a treasure trove of intelligence he'd never heard before.
Things like the Envoy's troubles. The concept of "eras." The player identity haggled out of Him. And... His collection!
Of course, if these words were "deliberate," even better — that would an the Envoy was interested in him. And interest was the first step on the ladder of advancent!
Without the gods' direct attention, gaining an Envoy's notice was already excellent.
At least in Long Jing's understanding, knowing an Envoy was sothing most peak players could only dream of.
'He might not have a direct line to the gods, but at least he'd taken the first step toward "reaching divinity"!'
'Worth it. So, so worth it!'
'Praise the Tongue of Eating Lies. Praise Lord Yu Xi. Praise the great Fun God, [Deceit]!'
Watching the swirl of exhilaration in Long Jing's eyes, Cheng Shi smiled happily.
This conversation hadn't just resolved his identity crisis — it had netted him an eager subordinate. But none of that was the most important part. What mattered most was that Cheng Shi had, right in front of soone else, voiced the question gnawing at his mind.
And that question was: did Brother Mouth truly have other "siblings" scattered out there?
From the mont Cheng Shi obtained the Tongue of Eating Lies, he'd been mulling this over. He'd secretly asked Brother Mouth, but Brother Mouth never opened up. Brother Tongue would chat about other things, but the instant this topic arose, it mimicked Brother Mouth and played dead.
This only deepened Cheng Shi's certainty that the two were deliberately hiding sothing!
This performance had also been a probe of the Fool's Lips and the Tongue of Eating Lies. He wanted to see how they'd react when he voiced his theory and let an outsider hear it.
But just as Cheng Shi expected — zero reaction from either.
Cheng Shi wasn't worried, though. This was only step one. The road to uncovering Brother Mouth's backstory was long.
'The Fool's Lips... Yu Xi...'
'Did He truly exist?'
'If not, then how had Brother Mouth managed to slip past every god?'
'Surely the gods couldn't have detected it and simply not cared?'
Initially, Cheng Shi had assud it was simply his Benefactor's "surveillance device." But the longer he spent with Brother Mouth, the more he rejected that theory.
'It definitely had a story — perhaps a spectacular one.'
'It seed it was ti to attend to his own business and explore [Void]'s power. He couldn't keep freelancing for everyone else forever, right?'
Based on their previous dynamic, silence should have settled in now.
But once Long Jing learned Cheng Shi's "true identity," he beca absurdly chatty. He had too many questions. Seeing that the Envoy wasn't in a hurry to leave, he carefully chose his words and asked them all.
"Lord Yu Xi, forgive my boldness — is this Fate Weaver called Cheng Shi, well... the player identity you haggled for?
"May I use this identity to contact you?"
Cheng Shi chuckled inwardly. 'This acrobat was greedy. Already climbing the pole, asking for contact info.'
But Cheng Shi had no intention of locking himself into a single alias. He needed multiple identities — the more, the better — to disguise himself as his exposure grew.
So he snorted with amusent and said:
"Until I've found my body fragnts, I'd suggest you don't try contacting
casually.
"Besides, you won't be able to.
"What I call an 'identity' is rely a qualification to participate in trials like an ordinary player. As for that ranking list they've compiled — my na won't appear on it.
"Within trials, I have many identities. They tend to be interesting people I've encountered.
"I t that Fate Weaver once. He's a rather... fascinating soul favored by [Fate].
"I sensed the broken tongue's aura on him, and followed the trail to His collection."
'So this is what an Envoy is!'
'Nearly every sentence contained intelligence he'd never heard before!'
Long Jing was in heaven. Full cerebral euphoria.
He desperately wanted to learn more — about the Envoy's story, the body fragnts, anything — but Cheng Shi knew when to quit, refusing to spin more tales that might trip him up.
Seeing the Envoy's smile turn ever more cryptic, Long Jing realized he'd pushed his luck.
He hastily swallowed his unspoken questions and sat back down obediently.
"No one is responsible for answering all your questions. Just as no being can resolve mine.
"You know enough. Go back. I hope the next trial brings rewards for us both."
'Even the Envoy has questions?'
'What kind of matter could puzzle an Envoy?'
Long Jing burned with curiosity but knew when to stop. He shot Cheng Shi one more galvanized look, gave a solemn nod, and silently committed to mory: help the Envoy find his body fragnts.
And so, an acrobat and a clown reached a fictitious consensus through an absurd con, then shared one last smile before going their separate ways.
The mont Long Jing dropped his sound curtain and stepped back, the other side's conversation also concluded.
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