"What do I want?
I don't want anything. I just noticed a wisp of new Corruption authority had fallen on the ground — ah, or perhaps it fell on you, old bones. Either way, it looked like nobody wanted it, so I thought I'd find sowhere to dispose of it properly.
I was being generous!"
"..."
"..."
Cheng Shi was shaken to his core. The green flas in the giant skull's eyes nearly sputtered out.
He looked at Deceit, then at Cheng Shi. After a mont of silence, without a single word, He and the entire Fishbone Hall dissolved into countless streams of white bone, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Communicating with Void was, fittingly, an exercise in nothingness. He'd never enjoyed it. Rather than stay and be provoked, He might as well retreat to sowhere quiet.
Death could run, but Cheng Shi could not.
He could clearly feel his Benefactor's gaze was... off. He wanted to say sothing but couldn't find the words, so the scene simply... froze.
Those eyes watched Cheng Shi with a half-smiling, half-not expression. After studying him for a mont, the voice ca:
"That work uniform fits you quite nicely."
Cheng Shi's lips twitched. 'It's not like I dressed myself — You put this on . I'd love to change back, but the problem is, You're the one who has to do it, Benefactor.'
Those eyes seed to read his thoughts. Two casual blinks summoned a gust of void wind that blew Cheng Shi several ters backward.
As the little skull rolled, it gradually transford back into Cheng Shi's original form. The mont he felt limbs growing back, he arrested his montum and stood up with an awkward expression.
But he still didn't speak. His mood wasn't as lively as usual. Strangely, those eyes remained silent too — just watching him. The silence deepened.
So silences exist to gather the energy to break awkwardness. Others serve to... deepen the impasse.
Like now. As ti passed, the situation calcified.
Between this one man and one god, an increasingly thick pane of frosted glass seed to have ford, distorting each other's reflections upon its surface. From each perspective, the other no longer looked the way they'd been accustod to. Everything had changed flavor.
Of course, all of this was purely Cheng Shi's own perception. Whether the Fun God's gaze had actually changed...
He didn't know. Because he didn't dare look up.
He stayed silent because he knew he couldn't out-deceive Deceit. The mont he opened his mouth, the crack spawned by suspicion might only widen.
Cheng Shi possessed a keen self-awareness. He knew his power couldn't exist without Void's shelter. And mory had said as much — the other gods' interest in him stemd entirely from Void's interest in him.
So he didn't dare carelessly shatter Void's filter on him — placing himself in an untenable position. Yet this very cautiousness only deepened the standoff.
"..."
'This can't go on!'
Cheng Shi realized that if he let this silence persist, the situation would spiral beyond recovery. His relationship with Deceit would never be the sa.
mory's words were indeed ant to drive a wedge. But the problem was that it was an open sche. He hadn't fabricated weapons from thin air — He'd used the suspicion already living in Cheng Shi's heart as the blade, slowly cutting the tight bonds between Cheng Shi and Void.
And Cheng Shi had indeed been struck. Watching things slide toward collapse, cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
But this deadlock wasn't entirely unsolvable. Old Jia had once taught him that the best way to prevent misunderstanding was thorough communication.
In truth, misunderstandings arose the sa way deception did — being isolated on the wrong side of an information gap. With proper communication and sufficient awareness of the full picture, misunderstandings naturally couldn't form, and one wouldn't be deceived.
But the question was: how could a mortal have "thorough communication" with a god?
Was he supposed to openly challenge whether the god had sches against him?
How would he challenge? With what standing? What right?
Chess pieces on a board could only submit to being moved. Even if a move went wrong and the piece was captured, could the dood piece rage at the player as it was placed back in the box?
No. Because chess pieces had no mouths.
But Cheng Shi did!
Under Old Jia's tutelage, Cheng Shi had learned many things. Among them was tempering the thick skin he'd forged in his orphanage days into sothing even thicker.
He saw the current situation clearly. He knew that if he didn't break the ice today, then from this point forward — even if he continued walking the path of Deceit — his devotion would no longer be devotion, and his Benefactor's gaze would grow blurred.
Though his lips never spoke devotion, his heart — through affinity with "deceit" — still held a sliver of expectation and reverence for the so-called God of Deceit.
This was undeniably the best possible relationship between man and god. From every angle, Cheng Shi didn't want to break it.
So he could only break the deadlock instead.
And his thod of breaking it was... utterly artless. Brutally simple, even.
This clown who followed Deceit chose, at this very mont, standing before Deceit Himself — to use sincerity as his opening move.
He cut straight to the point. His first sentence was earth-shattering — no other player alive could have asked what ca out of his mouth.
Because the question was:
"Benefactor... are You... harming ?"
Who said a mortal couldn't question a god?
If you never questioned, how would you know you couldn't?
This was the question Cheng Shi had most wanted to ask — the proposition he'd been pondering ever since learning that many players doubted the gods' intentions. The suspicion had peaked the mont he himself beca Void's darling, yet he'd never once voiced it. He hadn't even discussed it with other players.
But the more one concealed, the more one feared. When a chess piece knows it's a chess piece, it will probably spend its entire existence wondering when the player will push it across the river as a sacrificial pawn.
Cheng Shi believed he was certainly a pawn that had crossed the river. But the question was whether this pawn, after crossing, had any chance of delivering checkmate. Because only by checkmating the opponent and winning the ga would the remaining pieces on the board have a chance at survival.
So, after countless deliberations and a thorough weighing of the full picture, he asked this question that was practically tantamount to suicidal blasphemy.
Cheng Shi raised his head and looked solemnly into those star-filled eyes. Though his expression was steady and his gaze resolute, the five screaming faces lighting up on his fingers betrayed the anxiety and terror within.
Those eyes — stars flickering, spirals spinning — smiled upon hearing the question. A brilliant... radiant smile.
He studied His follower with great interest, the corners of His eyes lifting:
"It seems fear truly is one of life's most easily triggered emotions. Viewed this way, the scholars following that pen-pusher are indeed researching in the right direction. No wonder you obtained that new Corruption authority.
How interesting. You...
are afraid of ?"
"..." 'Obviously.' Cheng Shi couldn't possibly say "no" at this point. He knew he couldn't deceive Deceit, so his only option was to stay the course of sincerity. He spoke in a low, firm voice: "Yes — I'm afraid!"
"Very good." Those eyes smiled even wider. They blinked while studying Cheng Shi, as if examining a prized artwork. "Why are you afraid of ?"
"Because... the unknown." Cheng Shi's answer was resolute and decisive.
He knew today was a heart-to-heart — between man and god. He couldn't guarantee whether his Benefactor would lie, but to ensure the road ahead was smoother, he could only guarantee his own absolute honesty.
"Wrong. 'The unknown' is too broad. The universe is vast and deep — for humans, almost nothing is known.
Your answer is too vague. So it's wrong.
Think again. Why are you afraid of ?"
"..."
Cheng Shi's expression shifted. His gaze lowered slightly, but he said nothing.
Seeing his reaction, those eyes burst into hearty laughter:
"You've thought of it, but you don't dare say it.
That's fine — I'll say it for you. It's because...
there is no kindness without reason in this world."
"!!!"
Cheng Shi's entire body jolted. That was indeed what he'd been thinking — but he never expected the Fun God to say it outright.
Hearing it was terrifying. Even the tone was identical to mory's.
'So He was there? He heard everything?'
'No — He might have picked it up through Mockery and Jeering. But the question is, didn't mory guard against Him?'
'He just let the Fun God overhear everything?'
"..."
'Of course — mory couldn't have guarded against Him. Sowing discord ant both parties in the rift hearing those heart-piercing words for maximum effect.'
'Chaos probably thought the sa way. So even though everything happened on Chaos's turf and right beside mory, the Fun God still learned every last word.'
'But...'
'Benefactor — since You've spoken those words Yourself, I assu You'll give
an explanation?'
Cheng Shi furrowed his brow slightly, unconsciously clenching his fists. He also sensed a change in Deceit and knew this heart-to-heart was probably going to work. Even if this was just intuition — as a liar, Cheng Shi's intuition had always been sharp.
'So what is this "reason" — the one I've been too afraid to ntion, the one mory wielded as a weapon?'
'Today... will I get my answer, Benefactor?'
...
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