"We still have a chance" — that wasn't just empty talk from Cheng Shi.
Before the ti reset, he'd already contemplated thods for clearing this trial, and the chance he spoke of was embedded within those very thods.
Poison had ntioned that the reason she'd co to the Rosna Empire was because she'd seen a pictorial scroll depicting Rosna on the skin of that mummy. At this point, the gathering at the Recruitnt Square clearly hadn't taken place yet, which ant the person surrounded in the center might not have appeared within Cheng Shi's group's line of sight.
After all, that person was holding a dagger — and Poison was quite certain it was the Gift of Sores.
Thinking along those lines, the teleportation array might not be the only lead. There was a good chance they'd overlooked so critical piece of information. The Gift of Sores might not have returned to Kannar via the teleportation array at all — it might have been here the entire ti, simply undiscovered by Cheng Shi and his group.
But in a sea of people, where could the players even begin searching for the lost dagger?
They didn't need to search. Cheng Shi had never intended to expend great effort hunting for the dagger or the person holding it. He'd had a target in mind from the very beginning.
Using the teleportation array to trace back was the first solution. If that didn't work, then on to the second — which was also the thod for clearing this trial.
If the person holding the dagger hadn't appeared, then force them to appear. Force even Him to appear!
Consider this: anyone bold enough to rally the populace before the World Destroyers' siege must have a purpose. They couldn't possibly be doing it just to show off a divine gift at the mont of national collapse. Given the current situation, the person with the dagger was very likely the instigator trying to lead the people of Rosna in resistance against the World Destroyers' invasion.
Initially, Cheng Shi had thought this person might be the First Prince, but now it was clearly not the case. That coward didn't have that kind of courage — and more importantly, he was dead again.
So Cheng Shi planned to steal the nest before the bird arrived — rally the populace ahead of that person, then covertly watch for the "instigator" whose behavior seed off. If that person truly possessed the Gift of Sores and saw soone preemptively using their strategy to leverage divine might and stir up chaos, they surely wouldn't sit idle.
Of course, this wasn't rely an act of impersonation. Behind the performance, Cheng Shi had deeper calculations. Whether those calculations would pan out depended on whether this so-called "instigator" actually existed.
As for the biggest challenge in this performance — how to rally the entire city's population...
For a con artist who regularly impersonated others, this was almost laughably simple.
In a nation that worshipped the gods and teetered on the brink of destruction, what identity could command more authority than an envoy of a deity?
As long as he played the role of Decay's envoy convincingly and struck a savior's pose, bringing the entire city's population to their knees would be child's play.
And what Cheng Shi needed to do was play this role of Decay's envoy to perfection!
He'd even prepared props for this performance in advance — a black robe steeped in the heavy aura of Decay!
Cheng Shi didn't own such a robe, but that didn't an no one else did.
Rember the Decay hunter Yu Mu, last seen strung up inside Go Lis's resentnt? As it happened, this Twilight Hunter possessed exactly such a garnt — a black robe, hooded no less.
When Cheng Shi recalled the mont during the diocre Person Society eting when Yu Mu had lowered his hood at Hu Wei's behest, he'd imdiately set his sights on this trapped Decay believer. That was why, when leaving the tribunal earlier, the request Cheng Shi had made to Aph Ros was to take Yu Mu's robe.
Now he had the perfect disguise for his cuckoo-in-the-nest sche. All that was missing was an actor.
As for who that actor would be...
It absolutely could not be Cheng Shi himself.
The lure-the-snake-from-its-hole tactic was too dangerous. In the face of the unknown, there was no need to turn himself into a target.
Besides, he'd truly taken Aph Ros's warning to heart. Without sufficiently understanding that particular Him, Cheng Shi didn't want to prematurely risk getting involved in anything related to Him. So this ti, he wouldn't be playing the Decay envoy — and there was a more suitable candidate present anyway.
Soone like... fellow hunter Qu Yan.
When a chaleon donned the twilight hunter's garnts, who could say this chaleon couldn't beco a twilight hunter?
And so Cheng Shi draped the black robe over Qu Yan and handed him sothing else as well.
"Your mission is to pose as an envoy of Decay and summon all the city's people to the Rosna Recruitnt Square to worship you.
As for why — don't ask too many questions. Just know it's related to finding the Gift of Sores.
This is a gamble of faiths. I don't know the outco until it's over, so whether we find that dagger depends on how convincing your disguise is.
But don't feel too much pressure — I'll be helping you. Take this. It's a Tomb End Stone from the lands of Decay. Its aura will make you more closely resemble a true avatar of Decay, but be careful not to let it corrode you.
Also, you only need to go to the Recruitnt Square and stand there as I've instructed. I'll have Da Yi handle the rest.
When the people co to pay their respects, you still won't need to speak. I'll be behind you, giving you a voice.
If all goes well, we'll see that dagger appear. But if They circumvent mory and intervene too deeply, this mission will probably fail.
Rest assured, though — I don't shortchange those who get the job done. Even if the Gift of Sores is taken away through Their divine intervention, the points you've earned and the trials you've won won't be lost for nothing.
That's all. Off you go."
With that, Cheng Shi also handed Da Yi a page of text. The mont Da Yi caught it, his expression changed dramatically.
"G-Grand... my lord, this is... the Dyeing Plague?"
Cheng Shi smiled faintly. "Correct. To make the people who worship Decay aware that His envoy has arrived, they need to physically sense the power of Decay. Take it into the city and make a round. I shouldn't have to teach you how to spread rumors.
Just rember one thing — don't kill all my extras. Be quick about it. Once the gathering is assembled, toss it outside the city walls.
We need so ti. Conveniently, let this plague hold off the World Destroyers outside for us."
Da Yi nodded solemnly, then asked with a puzzled look:
"My lord, why not just go out and kill those damn World Destroyers directly?"
"?"
'Getting close to War was supposed to be an act, not an actual defection — how are you becoming more and more like the real thing, friend?'
Cheng Shi's eye twitched slightly. He replied with practiced mystery: "It's not that simple. Go."
Da Yi's expression froze for a mont. Sothing seed to click, and he nodded, leaving with the hunter, one after the other.
Once the two had departed, Cheng Shi took the previously knocked-out Old Gallon and left the imperial court, climbing to a high wall of the palace that overlooked the square.
Old Gallon was jolted awake by the cold. The mont he opened his eyes, he stamred: "M-my lord, I... Ai Lian, she..."
Cheng Shi scoffed and shook his head. "Forget about her for now. What you should be praying for is that I gain sothing from this gathering. Otherwise, she's probably already broken her oath and turned to Death."
Old Gallon shuddered violently and fell silent. He followed Cheng Shi's gaze downward and saw, through the raging blizzard, countless figures converging on the Rosna Recruitnt Square. The black dots gradually blanketed the snow, transforming the pristine white plaza into a seething mass of humanity.
"Praise Decay! Praise Decay!"
"We're saved! We're saved!"
"I told you our Lord wouldn't abandon us! It's our devotion that earned His gaze!"
"This is His envoy! This is supre glory! Where is His Majesty? Why hasn't His Majesty co out to welco our Lord's envoy?!"
Old Gallon was stunned. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and stared at the figure standing in the center of the square, murmuring in bewildernt:
"That's... that's our Lord's envoy?
My lord, is that truly an envoy of Decay?"
He couldn't fathom how today's Kannar could be so extraordinary. He'd just encountered three mysterious beings — clearly more than mortal — who'd rescued him in the midst of a blizzard, and now the envoy of his nation's patron deity had arrived.
But this nation's royalty had been so blasphemous toward their faith. So this envoy's arrival... did it bring salvation, or divine punishnt?
...
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