The ring gave no response. But that didn't an the one inside couldn't hear.
Knowing the Screaming Earl's resurrection thod was still in play within this trial, Cheng Shi already had a complete plan in mind. But this wasn't the place to set it in motion. He chuckled softly, strode away from the Inquisition, and returned to the trial.
When he reappeared inside the Rosna Court, his teammates were long gone.
All that remained were massive bloodstains, chunks of flesh, clumps of charred remains peeled from bone, and countless scattered footprints.
Cheng Shi squatted down with interest and studied the tracks. Three different sets of footprints. It seed his teammates — the ones who'd wanted him dead — had already visited the scene. The question was whether they'd co out of concern, to confirm his death, or to figure out where he'd gone.
Cheng Shi wasn't entirely sure whether anyone besides the Chaleon had witnessed him killing Gongyang Jiao. If soone had, his best guess was Da Yi, who'd separated from the team.
He'd anticipated this. That was precisely why he'd left behind an ambiguous remark before departing — a hook he hoped would soday reel in this [War] big fish.
He was playing at mystery, sparring with them from afar. Whether it was shooting in the dark or not — he'd need to gauge their reactions when they t again.
But for now, Cheng Shi wasn't in any hurry to rejoin his teammates. He had sothing more pressing to handle. Such as... dealing with the soul-fragnt playing dead on his ring.
...
anwhile, on the other side.
Four silhouettes appeared once more atop the Court's outermost walls. Three of them cast complicated backward glances at the Rosna Court, then leapt from the wall with an old man in tow and returned to the Rosna Recruitnt Square.
The four were Da Yi, Poison, and company.
After confirming that the hunt's casualty was the hunter, not the prey, all three left with varying expressions.
Not out of fear — but because ti waited for no one.
They couldn't find Cheng Shi, and they wouldn't linger for a "teammate" with whom trust had already fractured. So the group departed the Court and, following old Jia Lun's directions, set out to find the banished First Prince.
As things stood, only the First Prince would know the dagger's whereabouts.
From Jia Lun's account, they learned the First Prince had been banished precisely because he was the sole mber of the Rosna royal family who belonged to the War Faction!
He'd advocated mass conscription and a united national defense — driving every World Destroyer out of their borders.
The Recruitnt Square before the Court had been built under the First Prince's oversight.
But the shrewd old emperor had long foreseen the empire's end. He knew the Rosna royals' sun had set. So he refused his son's counsel and promptly banished his war-hungry heir from the palace — sacrificing a royal scion to buy himself and the ministers ti to flee.
Hearing the full story, all three players agreed: the old emperor was indeed smart.
Whether the First Prince was a fool... that was debatable. It depended on whose perspective you took.
But the players didn't care about any of that. They weren't the saviors Cheng Shi had proclaid. They'd co running for one thing only: the Gift of Sores — the dagger every assassin dread of.
Logically, finding a nation's prince in its own capital should have been simple. The problem was that every guard who might have known the prince's whereabouts had fled with the emperor. Add a paralyzing blizzard, empty streets, and snow burying every trace, and the search beca exponentially harder.
Fortunately, the players were clever. Using the Historian's side profile of the First Prince, they quickly narrowed down several likely locations. The trio pushed back into the blizzard.
Da Yi led as always, hauling Jia Lun and setting the team's course.
Poison and Jiang Chi trailed behind, guarding the flanks — no longer just watching for the Chaleon, but also for a certain Fate Weaver nad Cheng Shi.
'Who knew whether this hard persimmon, having cracked the hunters' teeth, might co back for theirs?'
As the three traversed the rooftops, Jiang Chi suddenly sidled closer to Poison and asked with a frown:
"You and this Fate Weaver... you're close?"
Poison blinked: "What counts as close? Does sleeping together count?"
"???"
Jiang Chi nearly stumbled off the roof. He never imagined a casual question would unearth explosive gossip.
He stared at Poison in disbelief, but then — rembering this was Poison — decided it sohow tracked.
Still, he'd been derailed. He couldn't resist: "You two... slept together?"
Poison suddenly smirked: "No. I was asking you."
"???"
'Who asks questions like that!?'
Jiang Chi's mouth twitched, expression darkening. He recognized the subject-change for what it was. But he quickly steered back:
"Having worked together counts as close."
Poison's reply was blunt: "Oh. Then no, we're not close."
"..." Jiang Chi's face grew darker. "Not close, yet you left ssages for him in the snow? I saw you use Gongyang's blood to draw him a trail. Poison — I'm your partner. Even if he is too, you don't need to lie to
about it."
Poison blinked again:
"I wasn't lying. We're genuinely not close.
"We've never worked together. The one trial we bumped into each other in, he played
for a fool. All I managed was to cling to his coattails and scrape through.
"Also — you saw wrong. I just felt a little happ... sympathetic when Mr. Ram died. So I dabbed so blood and scribbled a couple of words. A casual tribute to a follower of my Lord, that's all."
Hearing this, Jiang Chi let out a cold laugh: "So you did leave him a ssage!"
"?" Poison's pupils contracted, her expression shifting: "You tricked ?"
"Heh." Jiang Chi shook his head, dead serious. "I'm just reminding you — without my help, you can't out-compete Da Yi. Don't count on that Fate Weaver helping you either. In his eyes, you're equally complicit in the trap that nearly killed him.
"Even if Da Yi played a more villainous role in that little sche, don't forget — he and that Fate Weaver are close. At least before things turned hostile, the Fate Weaver stood on his side."
Poison's eyes shifted. She feigned shock: "You're saying those two... slept together?"
"?"
It was clearly a joke. But Jiang Chi couldn't muster even a hint of laughter, because he knew that when Poison resorted to gags, it ant she was already guarding against him.
"Miss Poison, stop deflecting. We need to face our relationship honestly. So... is our partnership still on?"
At this, Poison's expression finally turned serious. She scoffed and asked coldly:
"Shouldn't I be asking you that, Sir Knight?
"I was being so openly affectionate with the little priest — practically had 'he's also my partner' tattooed on my forehead. Yet you still took the chance to push him out of the team. So was that supposed to help , or hurt ?
"I've been very curious — after that opening confrontation, how did you find Da Yi, and what did you two discuss?
"My partner — are you still my partner right now?
"You haven't... made a deal with the other assassin too, have you?"
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