Quiet night, sparse sounds, a vast river of stars.
When Cheng Shi opened his eyes again and saw the brilliant starry sky overhead, his entire body tensed. He didn't dare move a muscle.
He was terrified of being "shuffled" off to yet another god's territory for another round of interrogation.
But after straining his ears for a while and detecting nothing unusual — and feeling solid concrete beneath him — the air Cheng Shi had been holding in his chest ca crashing out. His body went completely limp, and he collapsed onto the rest area rooftop like a pancake.
'Back. Finally back...'
The recent trial rhythm had been absolutely lethal. The audiences after each trial were even harder than the trials themselves.
In trials, even if he couldn't out-deceive a peak player, he at least had the impersonation technique to escape. But facing Them... Cheng Shi was utterly helpless.
All he got was beatings and scolding...
At least Void's protection was still sowhat effective. So far, he hadn't died... no, hadn't died permanently.
He exhaled deeply, relaxing body and mind as he lay on the rooftop. He wanted to empty his thoughts and rest, but the mont his gaze drifted to the stars above, his Benefactor's words ca flooding back:
"Of course I do. My Herald — isn't that you, Lord Yu Xi?"
Was that a joke, or did it an sothing deeper?
Or perhaps... those words weren't directed at him at all, but at Brother Mouth?
At this thought, Cheng Shi suddenly spoke up:
"Brother Mouth, you dared to speak in front of Ti — so why won't you make a sound in front of our Benefactor?
And He's weird too. He clearly knows you exist, yet He never greets you.
You two... have issues!
Don't tell
I guessed right — you're holding a grudge against the Fun God because of the shattered mask?"
After saying this, Cheng Shi's brain was already spiraling through a ss of tangled thoughts. He'd received far too much information recently and needed ti to sort through it. Most importantly, he had zero expectation that the Fool's Lips would actually answer. Brother Mouth had never once responded to questions like this.
But to his shock, today the Fool's Lips replied!
"·Yes."
"???"
Cheng Shi bolted upright from the ground. His eyes went wide with disbelief — but then he twitched his lips and retorted:
"You're lying to
again?"
"·I never lie."
"..." Cheng Shi's face went dark. He desperately wanted to whip out the Tongue of Eating Lies and pass harsh judgnt on Brother Mouth. But then he rembered Brother Tongue's slap would land on his own face, and he reluctantly gave up.
"Let
think... What you said can't possibly be completely true, but it won't be entirely false either. So... your aning is that you and the Fun God do have issues — just not about the shattered mask. Am I right?!"
"·Sigh. Indeed, once a person has been deceived long enough, they get smarter."
"..."
"·Correct. He and I do have issues."
"!!!" Cheng Shi jolted again, body taut with extre tension. Like soone excavating a colossal divine secret, he whispered in utter disbelief: "What issues?"
This ti, the Fool's Lips didn't keep him in suspense. The answer was perfectly direct.
"·What His issues are, I don't know. My issue is...
why do you keep getting fooled like an idiot?"
"???"
Cheng Shi blinked. Then his face went black. All strength drained from his body, and he flopped back down with a thud.
'What kind of issue is that?'
'What kind of issue IS that?!'
'Is THAT the "issue" I was asking about?!'
'So you really do have issues, huh!'
'Fine, fine, fine. Clown. I'm the clown!'
Cheng Shi laughed self-deprecatingly, pulled a mask from his storage space, and skillfully placed it on his face.
Through the narrow slit in the mask, he emptied his mind and gazed at the stars. His thoughts drifted away.
The bright moon sank westward. The night deepened. On this quiet rooftop, aside from the occasional cold breeze, there was virtually no sound.
Cheng Shi let his thoughts dissolve into the moonlight, nearly drifting off again. Just as his eyelids were losing the battle, a piercing phone ring shattered his daze and dragged his groggy consciousness back.
Cheng Shi snapped awake and looked toward the warehouse.
At this hour... who could it be?
He frowned, decided to answer, and walked to the warehouse. He found the phone quickly.
The instant the call connected, a familiar female voice ca through — cautious yet warm.
"A lot of people have been probing around about your identity recently. I've been covering for you. What did you do this ti, Cheng Shi?"
"?"
It was Big Cat.
'Although... but...'
When Cheng Shi heard those words from Hong Lin's mouth, a bright question mark appeared above his forehead.
'Sis, what exactly have you been covering for ?'
'Huh?'
'Everyone who called already knows I'm Cheng Shi. And you're still over there trying to cover? I should be glad I didn't specifically call to give you grief — and now you want
to thank you?'
"...Thank you."
Cheng Shi said it anyway. He appreciated the gesture.
He also knew he couldn't bla Big Cat for the leaks. After all, she wasn't exactly a player who... ahem... excelled with brainpower.
Feline creatures just needed to scratch and bite. No need to involve the brain.
"Don't ntion it. That's what friends are for.
But you sound exhausted. Sothing happen?"
"..." Cheng Shi twitched his lips. "If you've got sothing to say, just say it, Hong Lin. You didn't call just to hear
say thanks, did you?"
Hong Lin paused, then her eye twitched: "What were you about to say just now? 'Da' what?"
"Da... late at night, you should get to the point. I need to sleep." Cheng Shi scrambled to recover.
"..."
Hong Lin didn't believe him for a second, but there was nothing she could do over the phone. She could only click her tongue sharply, then adopted a serious tone.
"I saw Nangong."
Her opening line ward Cheng Shi to the core.
'How wonderful — a kind girl t a good person...'
'Wait — hold on!'
Cheng Shi was confused: "What do you an you saw Nangong? You got matched together?"
"No. I saw her during a prayer trial's settlent results. A frail little girl with no strength to speak of — kind to the point of being... foolish.
I never expected her to be a faithless person. What happened, Cheng Shi?
Do you have any idea how much danger a faithless person faces in a trial?
Luckily the trial wasn't difficult, and luckily she encountered a good person... sigh, a good person who follows Decay.
I reviewed the entire trial. If that mummy hadn't protected her the whole way through, your friend... probably wouldn't have survived.
Praise Fate, at least — for not letting good people die too early."
"?"
Cheng Shi listened in baffled silence, blinking in confusion.
'A mummy who follows Decay? And a good person, no less. Hiss—'
'Big Cat's description sounds an awful lot like...'
"And you know what's even more incredible? This mummy used to follow Prosperity. He's an oathbreaker!
An oathbreaker who left Prosperity to embrace Decay!
Sigh — it's a sha. Otherwise, I could've helped him. But as things stand, he seems to be having a rough ti too."
"!!!" A gleam flashed in Cheng Shi's eyes. He blurted out a na with joyful astonishnt: "His surna is Cui, isn't it?"
"?"
The other end of the line went silent. Then, laughter suddenly rang out:
"You know him too?
You seem to know quite a few good people. No wonder the little fox trusts you so much.
Cheng Shi, oh Cheng Shi — and you still claim you're not a good person!"
"?"
'What does that have to do with
being a good person?'
'I may be a rotten seed, but you can't deny
the right to admire good people!'
'Cui Dingtian!'
'That mummy is Cui Dingtian!'
'He's still alive. That's wonderful — he's still alive!'
This was perhaps the best news Cheng Shi had received in a long ti. Hearing that this gentle old soul was still alive, Cheng Shi's smile grew ever brighter.
He stretched out his hand and gazed thoughtfully at the nail of his left pinkie.
"Praise Fate — for ensuring that all beautiful things shall one day et."
...
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