Li Jingming knew Cheng Shi was ssing with him. He saw right through it—or rather, he was used to it by now.
This kind of teasing had beco visibly more frequent ever since he'd left mory for Deceit. And it wasn't just Cheng Shi—every other Void walker he encountered was just as relentlessly mocking.
Though in the past, this behavior had been more common among Deceit followers specifically. They'd always been displeased with Li Jingming's status as the Chosen of mory. Back when they were on opposing sides, they'd occasionally hurl insults. Now that they were "family"... the insults had stopped. The passive-aggressive needling, however, had begun.
After all, for these disciples of the Fun God, snarky sarcasm was far more satisfying than crude insults. Li Jingming had accepted his fate as the eternal target of these entertainnt-seekers.
But today, the Fate Weaver in front of him was displaying a will that leaned remarkably close to Deceit—which did give him pause.
Still, he didn't show it. He didn't take Cheng Shi's words to heart either. Seeing that the man was clearly gearing up for another round, he simply chuckled, quickly produced his "postage," and tossed an identical ti-keeping wooden bird to Cheng Shi. Then he spoke before Cheng Shi could:
"Postage. Now talk."
Cheng Shi blinked. Holding the underwhelming B-rank item, he pursed his lips. 'I hadn't even said what the postage was, and you're already jumping ahead.'
He could plainly see the Dragon King hadn't bought a word of his act—just thrown sothing cheap over to shut him up. But he hadn't co here to fleece the man. This was purely a reflex—the instinctive opening move of a devout follower when encountering the Chosen of a rival god.
A harmless joke. Though if it happened to turn a profit, the Clown was happy about that too.
Pocketing the bird, Cheng Shi's eyes swiveled. He grinned:
"The postage is a bit short, but it'll do. The Fun God says he's busy today and won't be seeing you.
However... if you have questions for him, feel free to pass them through , and I'll relay them.
Of course, conveying devotion isn't the kind of thing tainted by money—so I won't charge for delivery."
Cheng Shi's abacus was clicking at full speed, but he knew no sane person would believe him. These lines were bait to steer the conversation toward the Fun God. He was dying to know how the Fun God had managed to recruit Li Jingming. The curiosity was killing him.
What he didn't expect was for Li Jingming to actually respond. The man studied Cheng Shi with a contemplative look, then nodded:
"Fine. Then ask him for —what happened to Order back in the Grand Tribunal? What was going on?"
Cheng Shi was thrown: "Wait—you're seriously asking?"
"Why not? You offered free ssaging. Why wouldn't I ask?"
"..." Cheng Shi's expression turned peculiar. He was getting the distinct impression that the Chosen of mory had surprisingly high compatibility with Deceit. Not in the Long Jing or Zhen Yi way—more in the Mi Laozhang way. The type that dismantled you with a perfectly straight face, weaponizing sincerity into sarcasm.
"You don't need to ask him that. I know the answer—I can tell you myself."
The instant those words left his mouth, a sharp glint crossed Li Jingming's eyes: "You saw what happened? You weren't affected by the chaos?"
Cheng Shi spread his hands: "How could I not be? Even you and Hong Lin were hit. What resistance could a lowly priest have? I didn't see anything—my Benefactor Fate told ."
Li Jingming's lips curved: "After I fell into chaos, I knew nothing of my surroundings. I didn't even know you'd been affected until you just told . So... how did you know Hong Lin was hit?"
Cheng Shi rolled his eyes in exasperation:
"Are you deaf? I just said my Benefactor told . How co you only listen to half my sentences?
Dragon King, we're both smart people here. Can we quit the probing and counter-probing? I'm baring my heart to you—could you at least be sincere?"
"?"
'Who's the insincere one here?'
'How do you even have the audacity to say that?'
Li Jingming's eyelid twitched. He nodded irritably:
"Fine. Let's keep it simple then.
I assu you know what I'm about. I walk the path of mory—I enjoy exchanging mories with people."
He paused to shoot Cheng Shi another look. "Of course, if soone doesn't care for mories, I do have so Existence-path materials on hand."
"..." Cheng Shi's expression grew even stranger. He got the growing sense that Li Jingming had struck so enormous jackpot and was now flush enough to barter with anyone. "Where do you get all this good stuff?"
Li Jingming didn't answer. Instead he smiled: "Shall we begin the exchange?"
Cheng Shi's eyes spun. He nodded: "Sure. That was my first question."
"Very well. My answer is... mory exchange. Everything I have was acquired through trading various mories."
'An intelligence broker!'
He'd expected it, yet sohow the label still crystallized sharply in his mind. The Dragon King certainly had the qualifications for the role—though for him, "intelligence broker" wasn't quite right. More like a mory rchant.
He was selling the remarkable mories he'd recorded. The price? Another interesting mory.
"Fair enough. Your turn. If it's the question from before, I can go ahead and—"
"No—no rush. That's what I want to ask him, not you.
Cheng Shi, I'm curious about you. You don't strike
as a Fate gambler—you're more like a Deceit con artist. So my first question is: what's your relationship with the Fun God, beyond sharing the sa Void path?"
Cheng Shi hadn't expected the Dragon King to be this interested in his faith. He considered for a beat, then answered with a perfectly straight face:
"Simple. I'm a follower of Fate and a follower of Deceit.
To be blunt: I've fused Deceit and Fate. So I'm a true walker of the Void."
He laid the secret bare without a mont's hesitation. And the instant those words left his mouth, Li Jingming's entire deanor transford!
He stared at Cheng Shi in disbelief. But Cheng Shi simply produced a die in his left hand and raised a mask in his right, smiling:
"Dragon King—you're the first player in the world to learn this secret. Well? Is this mory spectacular enough?"
Flashes of astonishnt raced through Li Jingming's eyes. He suddenly understood the man's intent. It seed today's mory exchange was about to involve real currency.
"Spectacular. Absolutely spectacular.
No wonder I kept having déjà vu about you. So that's what it was—you're the lucky one chosen by Void after Zhen Xin!"
Li Jingming got it now. He finally understood why Cheng Shi had been subtly targeting him throughout their journey. A Fun God follower's bias against him was perfectly natural. And this Fate Weaver—no, this Clown—wasn't driven by pure greed after all. Perhaps he was manufacturing entertainnt under the guise of greed, offering it as tribute to his other Benefactor.
'What a greedy Fate Weaver. What a mastermind of a Clown!'
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