Regardless of what Cheng Shi was thinking, to the other two n, the exchange between these two looked increasingly like flirting.
Da Yi scowled and cut the act short with a forceful cough:
"Hot damn, whether you two are in heat or just fooling around, put it on hold.
"Poison, I blocked Gongyang once for you. Ti to start coughing up the goods."
The Poison who'd been gazing adoringly at Cheng Shi one second shifted gears instantaneously at Da Yi's words. With perfect solemnity, she gave him a slight bow: "Thank you."
Da Yi short-circuited. A flash of irritation crossed his stern face, imdiately replaced by sothing darker.
He clearly didn't like Poison pulling this, but Cheng Shi could tell the rugged assassin was susceptible to it nonetheless.
At the very least, his expression had softened considerably.
Poison was a master at reading emotions. She knew the gratitude was flimsy, but she couldn't possibly reveal all her life-saving intel at once. So she fed them just enough, and these morsels only cented her indispensable position within the team.
"The Gift of Sores is in this trial. You all heard
earlier. I wasn't lying — it's the truth."
Da Yi's eyes narrowed almost instantly.
"How do you know for sure?"
"Know for sure?" Poison casually brushed a strand of hair aside, smiling faintly, her gaze slightly distant. She seed to be recalling sothing. After a soft sigh: "Strange as it sounds, I think it was... fate's guidance?"
"???"
Cheng Shi froze. 'What does this have to do with my Benefactor?'
'So it wasn't [Deceit] who sent
here — it was [Fate]?'
The other two were equally confused. Da Yi frowned and snorted:
"Don't tell
the Blind One told you.
"If she'd prophesied this place, the dagger would've been snatched by Zhen Xin long ago."
Poison chuckled and shook her head:
"The Blind One? No, no, no. The 'fate' I an isn't Her — it's that intangible, invisible fate!
"Da Yi, you should know I've been searching for this dagger for a long ti. My longing for it is no less than yours.
"But it was impossibly hard to find. For a while, I was convinced soone had already claid it — otherwise, how could trial after trial yield zero leads?
"Even when my prayer was precise enough to specify 'seeing it,' nothing ca back.
"Until a few days ago — right around when Mr. Ram t his new fla. I happened to match with this sa woman.
"She was a [Decay] follower. A mummy.
"She said she was sick of living like the walking dead, didn't want to rot anymore. Mr. Ram could help her escape this 'sea of suffering,' so she decided to trust him just once.
"Stupid, I thought. I couldn't understand why she'd trust a man-eating lunatic. But then I understood — she simply didn't care anymore. She didn't care about being deceived, didn't care about being hurt, didn't care about dying. She even craved... death.
"All she wanted was release, but she lacked the courage to end it herself.
"Mr. Ram, however, had the courage to 'release' people. He was excellent at burying others — in his stomach, of course.
"But sowhere along the way, sothing unexpected happened. A spark ignited between them. The perpetually savage man was actually drawn to this girl's death-seeking aura. He grew... gentle.
"He changed his mind. He didn't want to eat her anymore.
"Sensing the shift, the girl ca to . She said she didn't want any more attachnts in her final monts. She asked
to help her find release.
"You all know — I'm a... good person.
"I can't refuse anyone's request. So I ended her decay. And then Mr. Ram went insane."
"..."
'Absolute madwoman!'
Cheng Shi's mouth twitched. 'Not a single sane person in this story.'
Da Yi frowned impatiently: "I'm not here for storyti. Get to the point!"
"Coming right up!" Poison was instantly compliant with Da Yi. "The point is — I'm not just a good person. I'm a kind person.
"Unlike certain people who only bury their victims in their bellies, I found a proper resting place and gave the girl a complete burial.
"Since she'd renounced [Decay], it wouldn't do to let her [Decay]-blessed skin contaminate her grave.
"So I unwrapped the mummy's 'bandages' layer by layer, letting her depart cleanly.
"No need for praise. I've always been this considerate.
"Perhaps my consideration moved the heavens and earned a reward. Because as I peeled back those 'bandages,' I discovered intricate patterns and markings on the inner surface of her blessed skin.
"Curiosity got the better of . I assembled all the fragnts into a single image, and then..."
"Then what?"
All three were hooked.
Poison smiled mysteriously, covered her mouth with one hand, and whispered:
"Then I found a place called Rosna in that puzzle. It was a scroll depicting this nation, showing a scene:
"Countless followers prostrated on the ground in collective worship. At their center, a black-robed figure held aloft a dagger radiating holy light, apparently delivering so impassioned speech. anwhile, the worshippers bared their backs, revealing countless festering wounds.
"That scene is what convinced
the dagger was what I'd been searching for.
"Because its na is the Gift of Sores!
"It was the one that brought the visible devastation — the sores — covering this entire land!"
Finished, Poison pressed a hand to her chest, barely containing her excitent:
"So — do you all believe this was fate's guidance?"
Jiang Chi looked contemplative. Da Yi's brows knotted tightly. Cheng Shi's eyes darted about.
It wasn't that he doubted Poison's words. It was that "fate" was the sort of thing nobody could predict until the final act. Better not to attribute everything to it.
Seeing the three growing convinced, Poison pressed her advantage:
"I was searching for when exactly that scene took place. Until I just saw that plaza..."
"You're saying the image depicted that very plaza!?" Da Yi's tone was deadly serious.
"Yes. That exact plaza."
Cheng Shi raised a brow. 'What a coincidence.'
At this point, the team's sole [Ti] follower Jiang Chi interjected: "But the timing may not align."
Poison smiled at him: "Then let's make it align. Isn't that what you [Ti] followers do best — changing ti?"
She fixed him with a aningful look.
Jiang Chi's face grew serious. He stroked his chin, apparently weighing the feasibility of Poison's proposal. And in that mont of distracted contemplation, he missed the scrutiny in Poison's gaze.
Poison was indeed studying her partner. Not out of habitual caution — but because the hand she had hidden in her jacket pocket was gripping...
A pocket watch with its hands snapped off!
Yes, a pocket watch!
She was certain it wasn't hers. Soone had slipped it into her pocket. So who had quietly planted a broken watch on her person?
The answer was obvious...
Cheng Shi!
Rember — she was wearing Cheng Shi's jacket!
The watch in the pocket was the very one Cheng Shi had pulled out at the trial's start. Him putting his own watch in his own pocket was so utterly natural that it would never arouse suspicion!
And this was Cheng Shi's true objective!
He hadn't launched that inexplicable little ga for a down jacket. He'd done it to pass information to Poison right under the other two's noses.
He'd tossed the jacket to Poison in full view of Da Yi and Jiang Chi. Poison had only realized he might have sothing to tell her after he'd already donned her jacket.
So she'd cooperatively put on his.
The ssage was simple. A pocket watch signified [Ti]. A broken watch with snapped hands ant [Ti] that had lost its precision.
Cheng Shi was telling Poison that this Jiang Chi wasn't a good person. Perhaps at this level, "good" and "bad" were too simplistic — but at minimum, he was communicating that the man might not be trustworthy.
As for why he'd make such a claim...
He'd made it up.
Pure fabrication.
Central heating could warm, but it could also cool. Building rapport with so while using dirty wedge-driving tactics to fracture others was a reliable way to earn more "trust" within the team.
Cheng Shi wasn't a master of such arts, but basic manipulation was well within his skill set.
And so, through his elegant information relay, Poison had taken the bait.
But whether the [Corruption] Chosen One had genuinely swallowed the hook, or had bitten down willingly...
That was sothing nobody could say for certain.
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