Foolish Game of the Chapter 631: Prison Again, Always Prison

On the surface Cheng Shi appeared relaxed, but inside he was anything but.

Though the Blind One had revealed many truths he'd never known, his unanswered questions far outnumbered the answers he'd received.

Why had the Blind One suddenly tried to recruit him? Her deanor differed from the phone call. In his mind, she'd always been a cool and mysterious woman—yet today she seed lively, even testing him with probing maneuvers.

'Was it simply because the diocre Person Society events confird my identity, changing her opinion of ?'

'But here's the problem—if the Blind One is a Torchbearer, what about Zhen Xin?'

Given their famously close relationship, would she tell Zhen Xin about the organization? Or—would Zhen Xin tell her?

Cheng Shi hadn't forgotten: Zhen Yi had read his mories. Though she never ntioned the Torchbearers while playing "Cheng Dashi," who could say whether the Fun God had erased her awareness of them—or whether this unpredictable Master of Trickery had simply sensed the Fun God's intent and chosen to sit back, watching the fun unfold?

Both the woman and the god were impossible to read.

So for Cheng Shi, the tiline of the Blind One joining the Torchbearers was critical.

If she'd learned about the Torchbearers from Zhen Xin, then their motivations for approaching the organization needed careful scrutiny.

But if she'd joined first—before the trial where he'd encountered Zhen Yi—then she was far more trustworthy.

Bottom line: he had to stay wary of any entanglent between the Torchbearers and the Deceit Chosen.

Zhen Xin might not be frightening. But Zhen Yi's unpredictability was off the charts.

One mont she might respectfully leave the Fun God's protection intact. The next, she could trumpet the Torchbearers' existence to all the world. No one could predict what she'd do—and whatever she did would qualify as "fun," as an offering to the god.

That was the real headache.

Even worse: now that "Chaos" also counted as a form of "fun," exposing the Torchbearers would undeniably create massive chaos.

All Cheng Shi wanted to know was whether Zhen Xin had any ans of controlling Zhen Yi.

Too many considerations. Part of him wanted to keep asking, to vet this organization for the sake of those who guarded beauty. But he also didn't want to get in too deep.

Fortunately, the Blind One had said they'd still use the Rembrance Needle. That ant once this trial ended, he'd return to his prior anonymity within the Torchbearers.

And that was exactly how Cheng Shi liked it—the most comfortable state. Both sides undisturbed, each at peace.

Still, learning this much about the Torchbearers wasn't without benefits. For this trial at least, he had one more person he could trust.

The Blind One was definitively not an enemy. As for Qin Xin, a fellow Torchbearer—maybe. He didn't distrust the Torchbearers, but Qin Xin's scrutiny of the Blind One felt odd, and the man seed capable of detecting lies.

Walking and thinking, Cheng Shi soon found himself passing the inn where the trial had started. He stopped to ask a few casual questions, then pivoted in a different direction.

The Blind One trailed silently behind. Only when she noticed him heading back toward the town center did she frown and quicken her pace to walk beside him:

"The road outside town is the other way. Why are you circling back into the center?"

Cheng Shi flashed a mysterious smile without answering imdiately. He walked on, casually surveying the weathered town's decaying scenery. That inexplicable sense of familiarity kept surging, but nothing in the visible landscape matched.

'Where have I heard of this place?'

His gaze swept the surroundings again. The mud-brick buildings along the streets bore an unfamiliar style. The red globular flowers growing in uneven heights beside the roads were a species he'd never encountered. The laundry hanging inside and outside yards—various styles and fabrics—had distinctive local character he'd never seen elsewhere. And the people of every conceivable ethnicity hurrying through the streets... they bustled about with lively but unremarkable expressions, looking like transients.

'Transients? Temporary stays?... Travelers?'

He frowned, pondered fruitlessly, and let it go—focusing on the present.

"I changed my mind. Since you're familiar with this area and know the mine has clues, the Truth follower probably knows things too.

We split up to improve efficiency. I trust he and Qin Xin will find the key you ntioned. So we don't need to join the crowd. I have a better destination—one that typically holds information outsiders can't easily access."

"An administrative office?" The Blind One looked mildly surprised. She'd guessed his thinking—and it was a legitimate investigative approach. "But Cheng Shi, this is Falling Gate, not so town under the Grand Tribunal or Tower of Logic. There's no governing authority here, no administrative center. Just a few major broker factions maintaining stability—or rather, protecting their own interests.

But as you should know, in an unregulated zone involving multiple competing interests, stability is a luxury."

"I'm well aware. But I'm a humble man—I don't need luxuries. Products for the masses are enough to satisfy my curiosity.

Where we're going does qualify as an administrative office. You're not wrong about that. But it doesn't handle governance—only... inmates."

"Inmates?" The Blind One blinked. "You want to go to a prison?"

Cheng Shi grinned. Hearing the word, that familiar feeling surged back.

"Exactly. Everywhere I go, I like to visit the local prison. The stories in there are always the most fascinating, and the fellows inside are always pleasant company. We'll definitely co away with sothing."

"..."

The Blind One's expression turned sowhat helpless. She conceded his reasoning had so rit, but thought there were better approaches—naly, following Fate's guidance and letting her lead the intelligence-gathering route for maximum efficiency.

But after eting Cheng Shi, this Torchbearer had clearly stopped caring so much about trial efficiency. All she wanted now was to recruit this ally into the fold.

Still, out of habit, she quietly produced a die and ran a private divination on their upcoming route.

This was one of her talents—not the Prophet's prophecy per se, but similar in effect.

To her shock, the Fate Weaver who'd been defying Fate just monts ago had sohow chosen a path that scored near-maximum!

15!

Her sixteen-sided die had rolled a 15—aning Cheng Shi's chosen direction very likely aligned with Fate's own guidance.

'How could...'

Her gaze sharpened. She pocketed the die and continued following in silence. But the way she looked at Cheng Shi now... grew markedly more curious.