Foolish Game of the Chapter 811: Stay Away from Them

The intensity just went up a notch!

Sure enough, the instant the ear got involved, things started getting complicated.

The Cheng Shi in the jacket had pulled Long Jing's na seemingly out of nowhere. Whether he'd spotted so clue or not, the fact that he could na-drop that specific person ant this trial had just sprouted a host of new variables.

Could Long Jing be impersonating him?

Not impossible. The Acrobat was equally skilled at disguise, and they'd t face-to-face before.

So who the two in front of him actually were was genuinely up in the air.

Cheng Shi's eyelid hamred. His face tightened as he studied them both. Had this trial taken place anywhere else, he'd have the most convenient tool for exposing their identities — the Tongue of Eating Lies, which could devour their disguises whole.

But he'd co to this trial for the ear. And these two "hims" had almost certainly co for the ear too. That created an excruciatingly awkward situation: he couldn't casually reveal the Tongue, lest their covetous eyes shift from the ear to the tongue.

After much deliberation, Cheng Shi rotated his ring-bearing hand upward.

At the exact sa mont, Trench Coat Cheng Shi scoffed, drew a dagger laced with Decay essence, slashed his own left arm, and transford the entire limb into a withered Decay arm.

And Jacket Cheng Shi went even further — flinging a die into the air, catching it in his palm, then cracking a grin and dropping into a fighting stance. Clearly, he intended to settle this with force.

Once again, silence descended.

Face dark, Cheng Shi side-eyed the Decay arm that wasn't attached to his body, then glanced at the die sitting in soone else's palm. His eyelids wouldn't stop twitching.

'Well, well, well — you've done your howork!'

'Ca prepared, did you!'

'Even your thod for breaking the stalemate is identical to mine.'

'You're both this good at roleplay — why not go impersonate Zhen Yi?!'

'What's the point of playing the Clown?'

'Is it funny?!'

Cheng Shi was genuinely laughing from fury. He jabbed a finger at both of them. "Tch — interesting. But do the two of you honestly not know whether those items in your hands are real or fake?"

Jacket Cheng Shi smirked, his gaze dripping with scorn as he looked the other two over. "You've studied

so thoroughly for this performance — what, got a crush on ?"

Trench Coat Cheng Shi arched a brow and fixed his stare on Jacket. "I thought he was Zhen Yi. But now — you seem like the better candidate.

Zhen Yi, if you really have the skill, why not show

whether you can replicate my combat style from the Experint Ground?

Illusions are just illusions. Fool other people all you want — just don't fool yourself."

"..."

Before Jacket could react, Suit Cheng Shi's composure cracked.

'Hey pal — don't fool yourself either! You actually think you're Cheng Shi now?!'

'If you're Cheng Shi, then who the hell am I?!'

His eyelid was thrashing even harder. But no matter how much trash was talked, no one threw a punch. Everyone knew that fighting here was pointless. Even if they ripped each other's covers off — then what?

The mont soone vanished, they'd reappear as another Cheng Shi.

This was clearly no longer a simple identification problem. From the instant three Cheng Shis laid eyes on one another, whoever got unmasked first was effectively admitting they were inferior to the other two.

So in this "contest," only the winner could afford to reveal their identity. The losers — whoever they were — would remain Cheng Shi till the bitter end.

"..."

Realizing this only infuriated the real Cheng Shi further.

But the anger didn't cloud his thinking. To figure out who they were, he first had to understand why they were impersonating him.

Zhen Xin — very low probability. She'd just incurred a debt to him. No reason to appear here masquerading as him. Even if she had, he was confident he could identify her once they split up.

Zhen Yi — no reason needed. For her, not causing chaos would've been abnormal. Besides, she knew he'd taken the Tongue of Eating Lies. Showing up despite that ant she was playing for high stakes.

And don't forget — she still had access to her sister's History School intelligence network. Knowing about San Dales was entirely plausible.

The Dragon King's presence, however, was more... thought-provoking. What exactly was this mory follower after?

As for Long Jing... heh. The one in the jacket was probably him.

During the Truth Experint Ground, the Fate Weaver's combat prowess had been on full display. If even Ai Si knew how the Experint Ground had ended, then the story had clearly spread far and wide among the Players.

Great. He was officially famous now.

And Long Jing had likely seized on that buzz, using this opportunity to impersonate him. After all, who would dare disguise themselves as an overwhelmingly powerful warrior... right in front of the real deal?

Unless they were a warrior themselves!

He knew about the Tongue of Eating Lies, so naturally he could dig up intel on the Secret Peeping Ear. The only suspicious thing was the timing — arriving in San Dales at the exact sa mont as Cheng Shi.

With that thought, Cheng Shi's gaze toward Long Jing gained a wry edge.

He had ways to handle this Acrobat.

But there was no need to sort identities out right here. With a third person watching, two liars would never drop their guards. The real chance to pick them off one by one would co after everyone dispersed.

So Cheng Shi lowered his hand — and as coincidence would have it, the other two did the sa. The tension that had been running knife-edge between them inexplicably fizzled out.

Three pairs of eyes t. Every smile was loaded with unspoken aning.

...

anwhile, elsewhere.

Zhang Jizu frowned and halted. He'd noticed that Ai Si's footsteps ahead had vanished — right around the bend at a nearby junction.

The War Supervisor hadn't told a single lie so far and her personality seed normal enough, but prudence demanded caution.

So he pald his scalpel, erased his own footsteps, and crept toward the passage.

Two seconds later, Ai Si's voice echoed from around the corner — though this ti, her tone was grim.

"Found them. But we're too late. They're dead."

Zhang Jizu's brow tightened but he didn't quicken his pace. He advanced steadily until every angle of the junction was in full view, confird there was no threat, then narrowed his eyes and walked toward Ai Si and the corpse at her feet.

The last teammate, dead. Silently, in a pipe far from the others.

"Male. Early twenties. Also a priest — funny, this round doesn't just have three Cheng Shis, it's got three priests too.

Judging by the Grand Tribunal insignia on his robes and the Law Texts in his breast pocket, he's a Justice Official.

The only Order follower, dead at the trial's start. Does this an this trial will be entirely lawless?

Interesting. Truly interesting.

As for the cause of death..."

Ai Si tapped the body lightly with the flat of her blade. The corpse looked intact, but under that gentle pressure, the chest and abdon caved in entirely. The sight made Zhang Jizu squint hard.

"Oblivion."

"Correct. Looks like Oblivion. An Oblivion follower annihilated this Justice Official's every internal organ.

Which raises a question: in a trial with only six players, where did a seventh — an Oblivion follower — co from?

Unless one of those three Cheng Shis is an Oblivion Player fishing in muddy waters."

Not impossible — but unlikely. At least based on their earlier encounter, none of the three had the ti to do this.

Though there was another possibility.

Zhang Jizu stepped closer and began examining the body in detail. Before long, he reached a conclusion.

"The body is fresh, yes, but the ti of death is considerably older than the trial's start.

This wasn't a Player who died in this trial."

He extended a hand toward the corpse, but it produced no response. Narrowing his eyes further, even more convinced of his assessnt, he arched a brow.

"The body can't be resurrected. That ans our teammate prepared well in advance. It seems he planted a corpse to conceal the fact that he'd already left the scene.

He's definitely a lone wolf intent on staying hidden. The only question is — if he chose invisibility, why is his thod so crude?

Even outside a Silence trial, this kind of conspicuous stunt would hardly cover his tracks.

So leaving this body here probably serves a purpose beyond simple disguise."

Ai Si picked up the thread instantly.

"Intimidation. Deterrence. Surveillance from the shadows?"

"Precisely. She's both notifying us that she's already gone, and warning us she'll be watching from the dark.

I've seen this approach before. But I would have expected... her to already be standing in front of us."

"Who?"

Ai Si's question had barely left her lips when a cold snort echoed from behind them in the main tunnel.

"Zhen Yi, of course. Sa old tricks from a Master of Trickery!

But this makes things even more interesting. If the one who vanished is Zhen Yi, then the two of you... are who, exactly?"

The Trench Coat Cheng Shi at the front had whipped around, glaring at the other two trailing far behind.

During the brief separation, the three Cheng Shis had changed again. The Suit Cheng Shi was gone. Now there was one Jacket and two Trench Coats.

Soone had pulled a fast one and switched clothes. Based on the current circumstances, the swap appeared to be exposed.

Then again, maybe not — because nobody knew how many of the three had changed outfits.

Zhang Jizu looked from the corpse at his feet to the Cheng Shis behind him. His temple throbbed.

'As expected — any trial that involves Deceit is never going to be simple.'

"So what do we do?" Ai Si looked relatively at ease, treating the whole thing like a show.

Zhang Jizu pondered for a mont, then rendered the only correct decision available:

"Stay away from them."

...