Cheng Shi was obviously bluffing — but the bluff happened to rest on a perfectly reasonable guess.
0221 had used Zangier's hand to complete his assembly of divinity — an opportunistic shortcut, certainly. But Wei Mu had also achieved this kind of assembly. Had his success been an opportunistic shortcut too?
Was it possible that he also possessed one of Zangier's fingers?
Cheng Shi harbored deep suspicions about this, and during the confrontation with Zangier, he'd been paying careful attention.
He'd noticed that when Zangier rged into 0221, the latter's fingers were indeed reduced by two due to the descent's effects. That ant Zangier had only lost two fingers — Wei Mu hadn't acquired any of those gruesoly absurd implents.
And out of sheer prudence, Cheng Shi had even verified 0221's toes during the fusion, confirming all ten were intact and ruling out another unlikely possibility.
That only made Wei Mu's ability to assemble divinity more intriguing. How had a re mortal pulled off such a feat?
Did he possess a tool similar to Zangier's limbs?
Possible — but it didn't feel like sothing Wei Mu would do.
A man who relished watching others commit foolish acts would never embrace so-called foolishness himself.
Cheng Shi had been completely stumped until he heard Hu Xuan's account of the Container. Only then did a faint glimr of a hypothesis form.
Later, when Wei Mu appeared and greeted three Envoys with such unflinching composure, a bolder conjecture had crystallized:
Could he possibly have a Container?
After all, even the likes of Hu Wei and Long Jing couldn't maintain this kind of tranquility when facing an Envoy. No matter how naturally composed a person was, none had managed to display what Wei Mu was displaying — re politeness in his tone and nothing more.
So where did that confidence co from?
Just because he was the most intelligent Player in the ga?
No — absolutely not. Intelligence only mattered when the gap in power and status was manageable. When that gap widened to the point of looking up from below, cleverness counted for far less.
Wei Mu's bearing reeked of sothing to fall back on. And as for what that "sothing" might be, Cheng Shi had ford a hypothesis — one he didn't dare believe. So he bluffed.
He did it so naturally that even Wei Mu fell for the trick.
"Interesting. You even know that a Container can't be detected by outsiders. But I'm different from others. Though I've lost so power and mories, not much in this universe can escape my eyes.
Even without having recovered my true sight, what remains of my 'vision' tells
your experiences have been anything but ordinary.
Go on, then. Tell
where your Container ca from."
The entire table went silent.
Aph Ros's gaze sharpened, now regarding this mortal, Wei Mu, with keen interest. Hu Xuan chuckled softly but said nothing, lowering her head to hide the gleam flashing through her eyes. As for the puppet — it rose once more, standing on the tabletop, and executed a slight bow toward Cheng Shi.
"I have never doubted the power of Deceit. Today, You have proven it to
once again.
However, Lord Yu Xi — before I recount this matter, I have one question."
"Heh." Cheng Shi rapped the table idly and shook his head with a wry smile. "You don't have the standing to ask extraneous questions. The only reason you're here at all is that the three of us happen to be in the mood for conversation, and you have so tangential connection to this Zangier affair.
Before my curiosity runs dry, you still have an opportunity to earn the right to stay.
But the mont I lose interest in you — tch — no one's going to apologize for the loss of one little puppet."
"..."
The puppet fell silent, standing frozen for a mont before turning its head to the domain's true master, Aph Ros. She read its aning and laughed lightly.
"My brother speaks true. Evasiveness is hardly a comndable way to treat people.
And looking to
is useless. The master here is my brother, Yu Xi. I'm rely a prisoner. And He has beco that warden's guard.
If He loses interest in you, then I'm afraid — to curry favor with the guard — I'll have to find a way to escort you out."
"..."
The puppet's silence stretched on. Wei Mu felt the weight of their combined pressure bearing down on him. He had confidence, yes — but his confidence stemd from his understanding of certain things. And right now, even if he was sure he understood Aph Ros, he couldn't say the sa about this Yu Xi.
Because he had never once heard that na. He hadn't even known that Deceit had an Envoy!
And consider this: the Envoy of Deceit — a Servant God who had reached the absolute pinnacle in the arts of deception and cunning. How could such an entity possibly be easy to deal with?
So after a mont's thought, Wei Mu chose to cooperate.
Not compromise — cooperate. He believed he needed to remain here, at this long table that seated three Envoys, and listen to Them discuss things about this ga, about this universe, from perspectives he'd never had access to.
"Please forgive my overstepping. I understand. I'll strive to earn the chance to stay."
The puppet lowered itself stiffly back onto the tabletop, head bowed, as though entering so kind of confession mode.
Cheng Shi rejoiced inwardly, a smile curling the edge of his lips as he turned an eager ear. He was finally going to hear sothing interesting from Wei Mu's mouth. What he didn't expect was that the man's very first sentence nearly crashed his brain.
"My Container was bestowed by my Benefactor, Folly. When She summoned , I scorned Her incompetence and demanded Her authority. Unfortunately, She had no authority. So all I received was this one Container."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence — the evening breeze of Dolgod today.
The hush arrived so abruptly that the three present gained a profound understanding of a truth: Folly truly was destined to walk toward Silence.
'Dude — do you even hear yourself?'
"Scorned Her incompetence." "Demanded Her authority." "She had no authority." "All I received was one Container."
Any single one of those statents was explosive enough on its own. How had he managed to string them all together?!
Seriously?
These Folly followers — why did they always radiate this kind of higher-dinsional, abstract insanity?
This was the first ti Hu Xuan had lost her smile at this table. Beneath its surface, her fists were clenched white — apparently the only way to keep her facial expression from crumbling.
Aph Ros was stunned. Her eyes flew wide, a terrifying Corruption aura billowing from Her entire form. She stared at the puppet in disbelief, murmuring to Herself.
"She... has no authority? How can She have no authority? Where did Her authority go?"
"Heh. Squandered it."
The one who answered wasn't Wei Mu — it was Cheng Shi.
The mont the bombshell dropped, the sharp-witted Clown seized the opportunity and put on the biggest show he could.
Lord Yu Xi let a snort of laughter escape him, idly swirling the goblet in his hand — tilting it endlessly but never letting a single drop spill over the rim. Then, a heartbeat later, his hand gave a deliberate twitch and sent every last drop of wine cascading onto the table. He gazed at the spreading stain on the cloth and smiled.
"See? That's exactly how She squandered it."
...
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