At the sa mont, the southern stronghold at the edge of the town center received three guests amid the raging blizzard. The hosts were less than welcoming — countless scavengers grabbed their weapons and encircled the trio on the spot.
After the outer periter sounded the alarm, a leader-like figure burst from the largest, most intact building at the camp's center. He had delicate features, a pale complexion, and a face full of fury. Whip in hand, he stord out bellowing about teaching these perpetually clueless outsiders a lesson.
Unfortunately, before his whip could crack, the War follower at the front taught him a lesson instead.
He got chopped. Ai Si's great sword, launched in a long-range throw from a considerable distance, took his arm clean off. The sight sent scavengers scattering in panic — and even Cheng Shi clicked his tongue in wonder.
"I say, Zhang-lao, when did priests start hitting this hard?"
Zhang Jizu side-eyed Cheng Shi, apparently reading his real intent. "If you want to complint yourself, just do it. No need for the roundabout."
"???" Cheng Shi blinked. "Is that what I ant?"
"Isn't it?
Well, if you were complinting
— then thank you."
And with that, he walked right past Cheng Shi to stand beside Ai Si, curious to see how this War priest would pacify the camp.
Nothing fancy. Ai Si simply declared, "Move and you end up like him." Every fleeing scavenger froze.
The great sword might have limited reach, but she could throw it far enough.
Nobody who'd survived the "fall" wanted to die here for nothing. So nobody moved.
Simple. Efficient.
Honestly, San Dales was probably the trial with the fewest obstacles the Players had ever faced. These peripheral scavengers didn't even register as combat units. They were re decorations in the frozen landscape — serving as little more than guides.
The real danger lay inside that boiling fog.
Grayish-white mist churned with dark gray plus, so dense that even the biting wind couldn't thin them. The sight was suffocating.
Cheng Shi observed it for a while, then stepped forward and kicked the downed man's severed hand away.
"You're Well Si?"
The one-ard scavenger was terrified. Clutching his shoulder, he howled incoherently. "No — I'm not Well Si! I'm his assistant, Ber To..."
"An assistant with that much attitude? Where's Well Si? Don't tell
our heroic and awe-inspiring Lady Ai Si scared him to death in there?"
Cheng Shi tossed the joke out casually, even winking at Ai Si over his shoulder.
Ai Si was speechless. She quietly retrieved her great sword.
'Traveling with two of the absolute peak Players, and the one doing the fighting is a priest? This makes no sense.'
She'd been matched with peak Players before. She'd even t the Grand Marshal once. He always took point; everyone else just followed. And now?
The only conclusion: comparing yourself to others is a recipe for rage.
Cheng Shi was clearly joking — but to the three Players' surprise, Ber To's face actually drained of color. Through tears and wails, he nodded.
"Well Si is dead. He's dead inside the house."
"???"
It wasn't just the Players. Every scavenger outside froze in horror, all eyes turning to the central building.
"Dead?"
The grin vanished from Cheng Shi's face. Brow darkening, he pushed Zhang Jizu and Ai Si toward the building, grumbling as they went.
"War Supervisor — this is on you!"
"???" Ai Si's brain stalled. She could barely walk. "How is this my fault?"
"If you'd been gentler, would Well Si be dead?"
"..."
'You actually think he was scared to death by ?!'
Ai Si snapped. She raised the great sword without a word — then caught herself, stiffened, and lowered it.
"I'm not falling for it again. You just want
to slice the building open so you don't have to go in first. Forget it."
Hearing this, Cheng Shi pursed his lips and edged an inch farther from her.
"As expected — the sa trick never works twice...
Hmm? Zhang-lao, why've you stopped?"
"There might be clues on these scavengers outside. If we all go in, nobody watches them.
So you go in. I'll stay out here."
Zhang Jizu produced his scalpel with a perfectly straight face and stood his ground — but his squinting gaze never once left the building's interior.
"...Could you be any more transparent? Letting your teammates scout ahead — is this your idea of camaraderie?"
"I don't have teammates. All I see are two traveling companions plotting to screw
over."
"..." Cheng Shi was dumbstruck. He pointed at Mi Laozhang for a long mont, a thousand thoughts distilling into one sentence: "Today I finally realized your heart is as narrow as your eyes."
He then nimbly dodged the Death Chosen's scalpel swipe, and — face as dark as ever — entered the building with utmost caution. He dragged Well Si's corpse outside.
But his joking expression was gone. His face was grim.
"Can't be resurrected. Can't be questioned. Our 'friendly teammate' did this.
And I'm guessing the scavengers who charged in were incited by her too.
Zhang-lao — we're way behind. She's not only ahead of us, she's torched the only path in."
Cheng Shi stared into the fog, a shadow of gravity crossing his eyes.
"The History School knows a lot more than I expected..."
"You're sure it's Surna Zhen?" Ai Si asked, skeptical.
"'Surna Zhen'? Nice na for her. Besides her, who else has the skill to puppeteer people like this?
One step behind ans every step behind. If those two mutts hadn't insisted on playing dress-up as , I never would've lost track of this most annoying pest.
Speaking of, the other two teammates should be close. We need to speed up.
Zhang-lao — round up the scavengers. Don't let them scatter. I'll handle the interrogation."
He flung a scalpel that embedded itself next to Ber To's neck, stopping the man's pathetic attempt to roll out of sight. One foot on the man's chest, he spoke low.
"When does the Ghost Frenzy end? And don't say you don't know. Wrong answer, and you can join Well Si."
Ber To blanked for a second, then wailed out his answer.
"Day after tomorrow! The shortest Ghost Frenzy lasts at least two days. So the earliest the fog will start to settle is the day after tomorrow."
'Day after tomorrow?'
The trial was three days total. If it ran until then, ga over — forget the Secret Peeping Ear; they wouldn't even clear the trial.
"Who charged in? How many?"
"D-don't know them. They were all new scavengers from the outskirts — faces we'd never seen. Tons of them. They hit the Devout Land from every direction. Our forces were too concentrated at the stronghold, and they slipped right through the gaps."
"When did Well Si die?"
"Don't know. When I saw the Frenzy, I went to alert him. He was already dead inside when I opened the door. No one else was around. To avoid suspicion, I passed along his expulsion order and faked his ti of death. I just wanted to clear my own na — nothing more." Ber To was shivering with pain, his body losing heat in the blizzard.
But Cheng Shi had zero intention of sparing a heal to keep the man alive. He kept pressing.
"So your little gang isn't all that united, huh. The specter — what does it look like?"
The question was loud — clearly not directed at Ber To alone. And when Cheng Shi finished, the assembled crowd fell dead silent.
"..."
The three Players scanned the faces. Nobody was refusing to answer — these scavengers genuinely didn't know what the specter looked like. Put simply, none of them had ever seen it.
'Formless? Invisible?'
'Interesting. If nobody's ever laid eyes on it, then does it...'
'Actually exist?'
...
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