"Who's there?!"
The person making noise inside the palace was indeed Nangong. This Decay priest appeared highly alert, seemingly having detected Cheng Shi outside the chamber.
But in truth, she hadn't heard anyone approaching at all. With the wind howling and snow raging outside, she — a low-ranked priest — couldn't possibly have sensed the light-footed Cheng Shi through a blizzard.
Yet she still looked toward the entrance. Not because she was bluffing, but because soone had told her that soone was coming.
Cheng Shi hadn't expected the Blood Exchange Priest to have beco so sharp in the months since they'd last t. Since he'd been discovered, there was no need to hide from an old acquaintance.
So he intentionally made a bit of noise, letting Nangong know soone really was approaching.
Nangong's heart sank at the sound. Her entire body tensed. She gripped her dagger and looked toward the stone pillar outside the entrance where the noise ca from, simultaneously backpedaling several steps in the opposite direction. Her face was painted with panic as she shouted: "Co out! I can see you!"
But the mont those words left her mouth, she saw a hand reach past her shoulder from behind, holding a bottle of cola right in front of her face. Then she heard a voice from behind — one that seed vaguely familiar.
"People say when a friend visits, you offer them a cola. So how co when you bump into , you're reaching for a knife, Nangong?"
"!!!"
Nangong's mind went blank with an audible buzz. She'd never expected the noise to be a diversion — the intruder had already crept behind her. She was so panicked she didn't even have the bandwidth to wonder why her assailant's weapon of choice was a bottle of cola!
She was too frantic — as though so secret that would crumble under scrutiny had just been exposed. Like a startled animal, she instinctively ducked beneath the cola bottle's "sneak attack," then blindly swiped behind her. Without checking whether the dagger had connected, she scrambled on all fours toward the exit in a frenzied... "hop."
Yes, her coordination had completely collapsed. Her escape turned into an awkward sa-side stumble — like a startled roe deer lurching its way out.
"..."
Watching this unfold, Cheng Shi was stunned too.
It had been a long ti since anyone's physical cody had left him this taken aback. Even an Acrobat probably couldn't have choreographed sothing this bizarre and slapstick.
But his attention wasn't on Nangong's embarrassing display. He was wondering why she was so... terrified.
'Interesting. What's this Blood Exchange Priest doing here?'
'She's after the legendary Gift of Sores too?'
'But who told her that the First Prince's quarters would contain clues about the dagger?'
After all, the First Prince's residence wasn't in any prominent location within the imperial court. Even wandering aimlessly, it would be nearly impossible to end up here by chance.
When sothing was this profoundly unreasonable, it ant there were secrets he didn't know about.
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and watched with great interest as Nangong continued her performance.
But to her credit, the old friend still had so reaction ti. Midway through her "hop," she suddenly froze. She turned around with an expression of pure shock to stare at Cheng Shi behind her, then widened her eyes and asked in disbelief:
"Cheng... Cheng Shi?"
The Blood Exchange Priest had a decent mory.
Cheng Shi smiled and nodded. "It seems I owe you an apology — turns out you were just performing an acrobatics routine for an old friend. Not bad, not bad at all. Quite spectacular."
As he spoke, Cheng Shi wickedly started applauding.
Nangong's face turned crimson in an instant. She scrambled to her feet, tugging her clothes to cover her scar-riddled body. She awkwardly hid the dagger behind her back, then retreated two steps with a face that was half red, half white.
Though there was a flicker of joy in her eyes at seeing a friend, it was far outweighed by wariness toward Cheng Shi. This priest friend had clearly learned enough hard lessons by now — even a forr acquaintance couldn't be easily trusted.
"You..."
Nangong took several deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves. She was about to ask why Cheng Shi was here, but he imdiately cut her off and reversed the question:
"What are you doing here?"
"..."
Nangong was tongue-tied. The composure she'd barely regathered was shattered again. Her nerves were taut, her expression ugly, and she squeezed out the thinnest of smiles, scrambling to think of an excuse — only to hear Cheng Shi "oh" with feigned realization:
"I see — you're here looking for the Gift of Sores too!"
"!!!"
When those words ca out of Cheng Shi's mouth so bluntly, Nangong broke into another round of cold sweat. But amid all these layered shocks, she finally regained her clarity and realized sothing monuntal: the high-tier match her team had stumbled into contained a player nad Cheng Shi!
And he was the Offspring Priest she'd been matched with months ago!
He really was an expert — just as Song Yawen had said. He had to be at least 2000 points!
No — a player in a 2000-point match couldn't have slaughtered an 1800-point Annihilation Apostle like chopping vegetables. He had to be well above 2000. Possibly 2400!
This revelation made Nangong even more nervous. But at least she knew this Offspring Priest wasn't a bad person — or at least, not bad enough to make her despair.
But was he... also here for the dagger?
Nangong pressed her lips together and answered in a pale voice: "Yes... I just wanted to take a look, to see if there was a chance..."
Cheng Shi sighed and shook his head.
No need to hear more. His Master of Deception talent had already told him — she was lying. She wasn't here for the dagger!
But if not, then why had she quietly slipped away from her three-person team and risked coming here?
Cheng Shi's brow furrowed slightly. His gaze casually drifted to Nangong's right hand, the one behind her back.
She was holding a dagger, but had hidden it behind her...
Under what circumstances would a panicked player hide their defensive weapon behind their back?
Sure, even if she recognized him and felt that her initial slash was stupid and embarrassing — the issue was that this Blood Exchange Priest's face was still plastered with caution. Soone this wary of him would never instinctively hide their weapon.
Even if she wanted to avoid embarrassnt, she could have at least tucked it into her sleeve. After all, she was bundled up so tightly — those long sleeves could easily conceal a dagger.
But she didn't. She chose the thod that kept the dagger furthest away from him.
'Interesting. She doesn't want
to see that dagger?'
He couldn't bla himself for overthinking. In a place where a dagger was supposed to appear, encountering a friend who was deliberately hiding a dagger — anyone would overthink!
'She... Nangong... found the Gift of Sores?'
'It was still in the First Prince's quarters?!'
'No, impossible. Da Yi had searched this place. If there was a dagger here, he couldn't have missed it.'
'So the dagger wasn't originally here — but soone... brought it back?'
At this thought, Cheng Shi's eyes narrowed slightly. And at that mont, Nangong noticed his gaze too. She tensed, took another step back, and gripped the dagger behind her even tighter.
"Are you afraid of ?" Cheng Shi smiled.
Nangong stiffened, then nodded and imdiately shook her head: "No. I know you're a good person."
"Mm, I'm a good person, absolutely. A great person, even.
You know I'm a priest too. The hardest part of being a Blood Exchange Priest is managing your self-inflicted wounds. You look a bit weak. Tell you what — let
give you a free healing session. Consider it a gift from an old friend."
With that, Cheng Shi extended his hand.
That made Nangong stumble backward in fright.
She was terrified — the last thing she wanted right now was to end up pregnant with so bizarre child. But Cheng Shi didn't give her a chance to refuse. He simply flicked his wrist and...
Tossed over a bottle of cola.
"...?"
Nangong had been ready to dodge a healing spell, only to find a cola bottle rolling to a stop at her feet. It reminded her of that other trial — the two hours she'd spent knocked out by Cheng Shi.
'He still loves his cola.'
"You..." For a mont, Nangong didn't know what to say.
She'd always rembered that trial. She rembered Cheng Shi's kindness too. But right now she truly had secrets she couldn't let him discover. Still, seeing him use this gesture to remind her he ant no harm — as mories flooded back in that instant — Nangong pressed her lips together and finally smiled.
"I... won't fall for it again. Your cola has powerful sedatives in it. You'll sleep right through it. I won't drink it."
The mont those words left her mouth, the cola bottle at her feet burst open with a "pop," releasing a cloud of gas. Nangong didn't even have ti to react. Pure instinct made her tense up and inhale sharply — and then her eyes rolled shut as she collapsed unconscious.
"Thud—" The priest girl hit the floor. Seeing this, Cheng Shi clicked his tongue and said:
"One trick after another — each one different from the last.
How could the sa ruse fool the sa person twice? When you want to deceive soone, you obviously switch up the routine. But I have to say, this feeling is really nostalgic. That familiar fish pond match energy — one scam, one knockout, never misses.
The road to fraud prevention is long and arduous. Nangong, oh Nangong — when will you learn?"
Cheng Shi chuckled at his own words. But as the laughter faded, his expression gradually turned cold. His aura began climbing steadily. Twin scalpels appeared in his hands, and with razor-sharp eyes trained on the dissipating smoke, he spoke in a soft, mocking tone:
"You've been watching this show for quite so ti now, haven't you? It's ti to show yourself.
Or would you prefer I co and invite you out personally?"
...
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