Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow.
When a person was utterly powerless to resist and their survival instinct burned at its fiercest, they'd instinctively display their greatest value to carve out a space to live. Cheng Shi's silence was precisely to let Gongyang Jiao demonstrate his worth.
He still said nothing, only gesturing with his eyes for Gongyang Jiao to continue.
Seeing no rejection, Gongyang Jiao seized the lifeline with desperate fervor:
"I can serve you — help you search for your mask fragnts.
"You know I'm a warrior of extraordinary will and relentless persistence. This isn't a boast — I spent an entire month without sleep, matching into trial after trial, just to encounter Poison.
"At my match frequency, news of your mask fragnts should surface quickly, Lord Yu Xi!"
'Wow, you're quite the obsessive one, bro. Seems the grudge against Poison is real.'
'Was Hu Wei telling the truth? A [Corruption] follower, catching actual feelings?'
Cheng Shi found it privately amusing, but his expression stayed ice-cold. He looked down at Gongyang Jiao with a contemptuous snort:
"Too distant. Until I've witnessed your loyalty, every promise is rely a lie woven from fear.
"You want to lie before ...
"Are you sure?"
Gongyang Jiao wasn't actually lying — at least not right now — but Cheng Shi used the intimidation to ratchet up his submissiveness.
Sure enough, Gongyang Jiao flinched at the words. He'd keenly perceived "Lord Yu Xi's" obsession with playing the role of Cheng Shi, so he reflexively reviewed Cheng Shi's attitude and behavior throughout the trial. Viewing things from that angle, he imdiately showcased his most useful asset:
"I can prove my loyalty, my lord!
"I can make that Chaleon follow your orders too. He dreams of an audience with a god — I promised him exactly that opportunity. That's why he agreed to partner with
in hunting Poison.
"Trust , my lord. I can bring him into your camp.
"I know you don't need us. But the 'Cheng Shi' you're playing does. Whether it's winning or losing this trial, or claiming the Gift of Sores that bitch... she was after — Cheng Shi needs manpower, doesn't he?
"Your forr teammates all abandoned you. They're blind fools. I can kill them for you.
"Such trivial matters aren't worth your personal attention.
"Besides, that ring of yours... doesn't it hunger for more fear?"
As he spoke, Gongyang Jiao lifted his head, eyes blazing as they locked onto the Fun Ring on Cheng Shi's hand.
His covetousness was completely undisguised. Cheng Shi's brow furrowed slightly.
'What a [Corruption] follower!'
'Your appetites really were enormous!'
'Even an Envoy's property couldn't dampen those greedy desires one bit.'
'Should I call you bold? Or praise your purity of faith?'
Thinking it over, Cheng Shi smiled.
He had to admit Gongyang Jiao's proposal was sound. With several teammates lost, he genuinely needed reinforcents.
So Cheng Shi approved Gongyang Jiao's plan to prove loyalty, and sent him to retrieve the Chaleon.
He didn't know what Gongyang Jiao told the [Silence] follower. All he knew was that when the Chaleon returned, unmistakable fear lurked in his eyes.
But beyond fear, the Chaleon's gaze burned with sothing else — sothing ambiguous yet fervent.
Cheng Shi shot Gongyang Jiao a questioning look. The Screaming Earl stepped forward and murmured:
"My lord, I didn't reveal your true identity. But to convince him that my resurrection wasn't so Desire Puppet arrangent or a sche to betray him, I did hint at a few things.
"It's all about you — though it's a mix of truth and fabrication. As for what he's imagined from it...
"I'd wager he's bought it."
Cheng Shi regarded Gongyang Jiao with mild surprise. 'Didn't expect a thick-chinned brute like you to have a knack for [Deceit]!'
As for the Chaleon, Cheng Shi neither understood nor cared to understand him. He'd never planned on collecting this many subordinates. What he wanted were controllable black-laborers, not every high-end fighter he crossed paths with.
That wasn't realistic. And it was exhausting.
Even if there was technically one more "subordinate slot" available in this trial, it wasn't earmarked for this [Silence] follower.
So Cheng Shi was indifferent to the Chaleon's attitude. They were using each other for this one trial. If fate brought them together again afterward — well, he could consider it then.
Cheng Shi then outlined his plan to seize the Gift of Sores. And it was during this exchange that Gongyang Jiao dropped a bombshell.
"The Gift of Sores is already gone, my lord."
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted: "How do you know?"
Gongyang Jiao lowered his gaze deferentially:
"The Chaleon heard your thunder near the plaza..."
At the ntion of thunder, the Screaming Earl couldn't help glancing at Cheng Shi's ring again, though he quickly dropped his gaze.
"We followed the sound and found the civilians you'd left behind.
"Of course, before the interrogation, I didn't know they weren't actually civilians."
Hearing this, Cheng Shi's lingering question was finally answered.
'No wonder Gongyang Jiao had parasitized his ring like that — he'd already sensed the kindred aura inside it back in that civilian house!'
'So his death was preditated!'
'From the very start, he hadn't been purely hunting the priest — he'd had his eye on the ring all along!'
'Two birds with one stone indeed.'
'Whoever said warriors were reckless? These peak warriors, no matter how manic or deranged, were each sharp as a tack.'
But that was water under the bridge. The Screaming Earl was now Lord Yu Xi's black-labor employee.
"Who are they?"
"The First Prince and his family." Gongyang Jiao raised an eyebrow, a trace of relish crossing his face. "The Rosna royals' fear was quite delicious... oh, my apologies, my lord. I lost myself.
"We didn't know the Rosna royals had already disappeared. So I asked him whether there was anything around here resembling the Gift of Sores.
"I swear, my lord — I had zero designs on that dagger. I only wanted its location so I could set an ambush and kill Poison. But to my surprise, I actually got an answer.
"The First Prince broke under the pressure. He said he'd once bought a dagger from a wandering rchant — one that absorbed rotting flesh and expelled [Decay] power. He treasured it as a supre artifact and even planned to offer it to his father, hoping this divinely powered dagger could replace the useless Sin Cleansing Scepter as the Rosna Empire's symbol.
"But that night, when he went to seek an audience, he overheard his father — the Emperor of Rosna — conspiring with the War Minister to flee ahead of schedule.
"He suddenly realized his father's faith wasn't genuine. That the entire Court's faith was compromised.
"So he abandoned the idea of presenting the dagger and sealed it away in his secret chamber.
"He didn't dare use it and was terrified of it falling into soone else's hands to be offered up.
"The First Prince wasn't worried about soone using it to expose the royal family's impiety. He was worried the dagger was a genuine divine gift — and that blasphemy would bring destruction upon Rosna!
"But he couldn't tell his father outright. He knew the old man was too stubborn — his first reaction upon learning the truth wouldn't be atonent, but destroying the gift.
"So he hid it.
"But..."
Cheng Shi sighed, shaking his head: "The Gift of Sores went missing."
"Yes." Gongyang Jiao nodded heavily. "The dagger disappeared. The First Prince never noticed. It was a minister's child who accidentally stumbled into his sealed chamber. When the prince went to scold the intruder, he discovered the dagger had already been swapped out.
"Terrified this was also an act of blasphemy, he never dared make a fuss. But he was equally terrified of divine punishnt falling on the Rosna royals, so he scrambled to sever ties with his father and the royal family — hoping to save himself.
"My lord, I know this sounds foolish. But this prince was never very bright to begin with...
"These are all his exact words. I didn't embellish a thing.
"His ignorant beliefs and idiotic actions gave him the excuse to distance himself from the palace. He also told us the Rosna royals were already preparing to flee.
"When we later caught up with you... that was confird. The Rosna royals had truly run."
"..."
Cheng Shi would never in his wildest dreams have guessed that such an absurd reason lay behind the First Prince's banishnt.
'What a talent this prince was. He'd committed the blasphemous act himself, then managed to pin the bla on the royal family. Was his rush to sever ties with his father an attempt to save himself — or his father!?'
'If his father, Emperor Rosna, ever learned the truth, he'd probably erect a monunt for him.'
'My son, I thank you for sparing my life!'
Cheng Shi's head was buzzing. Reviewing the entire story, he suddenly realized that [Decay] hadn't bestowed a single blessing upon this nation — but He'd thoroughly rotted their collective brains to the point of mush.
What Cheng Shi didn't know was that these truths wore an entirely different face in the kingdom's Historian's telling. If he'd known that in the hearts of the populace, this dim-witted prince was a stalwart War Faction hero, Cheng Shi might have burst out laughing on the spot.
'War Faction? United national defense?'
'Please. Was it the Historian who was terrible at his job, or was history itself this absurd?'
'Incredible. For the Rosna Empire to decay into dust, every participant deserved equal credit!'
Despite the gallows humor, Cheng Shi couldn't bring himself to laugh.
Because the trail to the Gift of Sores seed to have gone cold.
The sole witness had died under Gongyang Jiao's interrogation. Everyone connected to the witness had already fled. After unraveling half the yarn ball, the thread had tangled around multiple strands and knotted tight — about as pleasant as finding a fly in your soup.
Cheng Shi cursed internally, yet clung to a quiet hope in fate.
He hoped this wasn't a dead end. He hoped his Benefactor might still conjure so change on this seemingly impassable road.
But at least for the mont, he had no choice.
With the objective gone, all he could do was settle personal scores first. So grudges shouldn't be left overnight.
And that was how the earlier scene — Cheng Shi's trio ambushing Da Yi's trio — had co to pass.
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