"Yes."
Cheng Shi's answer was resolute. He even smiled at the clearly astonished Poison.
"As long as the intel is valuable enough, I can provide any special service you'd like."
"...You really have changed." Poison studied him with fascination. "But little priest, that's not how you do business. You have to tell the custor the nu first. Then the custor can decide whether to spend the 'money.'"
Cheng Shi let out an exaggerated "Oh~" and then replied with perfect solemnity:
"How right you are.
"Our establishnt offers the following services:
"Sensing fear, experiencing suffering, satisfying curiosity, and... indulging in pleasure.
"Prices rise in that order. It all depends on which service the custor desires."
When Poison heard the word "pleasure," her eyes lit up. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she unconsciously licked the corner of her lip. Her burning gaze locked onto Cheng Shi, and she asked in a husky, alluring voice:
"Why is everything you offer from [Corruption]'s nu?"
"For a [Corruption] custor, naturally we provide [Corruption] services. It's called customization. Isn't it?"
"True. In that case..."
Poison's face suddenly flushed — whether from Cheng Shi's healing restoring her complexion or from the "pleasure" blazing in her imagination. Either way, she looked at him with reddened cheeks and chose the most "expensive" option without hesitation.
"I choose pleasure. But I have one condition."
Cheng Shi smiled and nodded, polite as a true salesman: "The custor is king. Na it."
"I want to... try before I pay."
"Done."
Cheng Shi seed to have anticipated the request. Far from refusing, he agreed with remarkable readiness.
And the instant after agreeing, he stepped forward, crouched before Poison, slid his left arm around her back to cradle her waist, extended his right hand along her neck, and gently cupped the perfect curve of her chin. In a posture of absolute dominance, he leaned in closer amid her deeply emotional, bashful gaze—
BOOM!
The floor exploded.
[Death] Fun Ring charge -1.
Of course, the surprise Lightning Punishnt didn't actually hit the Poison in his arms. The instant he'd reached for her, she'd sensed the danger and flickered backward, dodging the lethal strike.
Staring at the charred, gaping hole in the floor, Poison's blush and smile froze simultaneously.
She'd expected Cheng Shi to pull sothing. But she'd never imagined he'd go straight for a killing blow!
The thunderbolt's power rivaled a Servant God's relic. And he'd just fired it point-blank, right in her face. Had she been any less nimble, even a glancing hit would have dealt damage far beyond anything she'd suffered earlier!
"You're serious?" Poison's pupils shrank.
"Oh my, it seems the custor has already recovered. My healing really is effective."
"..." Hearing this dripping sarcasm, Poison's expression blanked. She silently produced a fresh down jacket, turned away to put it on, then looked back: "This isn't about healing anymore — it's about you attacking ! Little priest, don't tell
you're working with Mr. Ram?"
Cheng Shi snorted and dusted off his hands: "Please don't slander our establishnt. This is a legitimate business — we don't stock any 'Mr. Ram' for your self-entertainnt. Besides, didn't you yourself order the 'indulging in pleasure' service?"
Poison laughed in spite of her anger. She jabbed a finger at the gaping hole: "I'd like to know — where exactly was the pleasure in that?"
Cheng Shi pointed mockingly at her, then at himself:
"You played the clown. I was thoroughly pleased. That's indulging in pleasure, isn't it?
"Great expression work, by the way. Solid performance. Thumbs up.
"No tip, though."
"..." Poison's mouth opened and closed stiffly, her expression as if she'd swallowed a fly.
She kept feeling like she could see a familiar figure behind Cheng Shi — whether that person's surna was Zhen or Chen, she couldn't quite tell.
While Poison fell into silence, Cheng Shi peered down through the smoking hole with a smirk and called out:
"Enjoy the show? Co on up already."
Shortly after, two heads slowly extended horizontally from below the hole, peering upward — one rugged, one refined. Their owners were none other than Da Yi and Jiang Chi, fresh from their plaza retreat!
Seeing them, Cheng Shi thought, 'Just as expected.'
He'd been deliberately stomping the wooden floor since arriving. Yet strangely, this clearly inhabited room had produced zero response from below.
He and Poison had fled here for shelter, landing directly in the attic with no ti to handle the house's residents.
Outside, the blizzard raged; upstairs, a fireplace burned. This family was obviously ho. So why no reaction?
Cheng Shi had initially assud the household was too frightened by the commotion to respond. But when Poison chose to play roleplay gas here instead of recovering or fleeing further, he realized she wasn't nearly as afraid of Gongyang Jiao as she appeared.
At least within this trial, she had the confidence to survive being jointly hunted by the Screaming Earl and the Chaleon.
So what was her trump card?
It couldn't be him — his appearance in this trial was an accident.
Nor could it be Da Yi — his genuine surprise at Poison's intel was impossible to fake.
By elimination, among his five teammates, only one person remained: the Pointer Knight who'd suddenly entered the fray under a flimsy excuse, wanting intel from Poison. Jiang Chi!
'He was probably Poison's ally.'
'At the very least, her backup. His mid-battle intervention had been suspicious from the start. Even if he'd given a reason, it was too flimsy. Two assassins were clearly both after the Gift of Sores — even if he wanted it too, what made him think he could claim a share between two assassins?'
'Unless he and Poison were already working together!'
'So he wasn't just a spectator — he was a flanking teammate!'
'And if backup had already arrived, had he been the one who subdued the NPCs downstairs?'
So Cheng Shi's Lightning Punishnt hadn't been aid solely at Poison — it was killing two birds with one stone.
He glanced down again. Upon seeing the pair, he thought 'just as expected.' But then he caught Jiang Chi's gossip-hungry gaze and Da Yi's amused expression.
"..."
'Great. Eavesdropping, were we!'
Cheng Shi's eye twitched hard. 'Sure enough — watching drama was everyone's idea of fun.'
'No wonder they showed up and didn't co upstairs. What's the matter, boys, were you actually planning to spectate a live "indulging in pleasure" session?'
Sensing Cheng Shi's mocking gaze, Da Yi rubbed the back of his head with an awkward grin:
"Hot damn, Brother Cheng, I just found out this Jiang guy is on Poison's side. He found
and brought
here.
"But... if I said I just arrived and didn't hear a thing, would you believe ?"
Cheng Shi rolled his eyes, not sparing his dignity: "No."
But the jab didn't land. Da Yi's "ruggedness" guaranteed him a hide as thick as Hu Wei's.
The big man barked a laugh, vaulted up to the attic, and launched into a barrage of flattery at Cheng Shi:
"Hot damn, that's why educated folks are smart! You're absolutely right not to believe , Brother Cheng!"
"..."
Cheng Shi nearly laughed in spite of himself.
'Wonderful! I never thought the day would co when even my clown status was under threat!'
Jiang Chi leapt up as well. A flash of embarrassnt crossed his face before he gave Poison a polite nod, then turned to Cheng Shi with a hint of admiration:
"Worthy of the legends. A priest with this kind of offensive firepower."
Cheng Shi sneered internally but denied it outright:
"Hardly. Just a lucky lightning gadget I picked up. Single-use. Already spent."
"..."
Jiang Chi's expression turned odd. 'Brother, I'm treating you like a master, and you're treating
like an idiot?'
'Who here would buy that?'
He glanced at Da Yi, who was facing Cheng Shi but clearly studying him and Poison from the corner of his eye.
This [War] assassin obviously didn't trust the two of them either.
'Now that felt right!'
This was peak-level play. Players who were fighting to the death one second might beco allies the next. Teammates who seed inseparable right now could put a knife in your back a mont later.
Everyone wanted cooperation, yet no one could find a sincere partner. They were rely interest-driven adhesives — the bigger the prize on one side, the stronger the bond in that direction.
And this was precisely why Poison had wanted to team up with Cheng Shi the mont she saw him. She knew he wasn't that kind of person.
But Cheng Shi didn't see it that way.
His gaze swept across all three in turn. Seeing them sizing each other up in return, he sighed silently.
'So these were his three teammates for this trial. The other two would likely refuse to cooperate — and worse, might ambush and hunt them.'
'Even this four-person alliance was temporary at best. They shared the sa objective, and none of their characters could be fully trusted.'
'Truly, whenever a trial involved Them, things got astronomically complicated.'
'So how, exactly, was he supposed to navigate this web of alliances and co out safely?'
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