Cheng Shi kept pondering the connection between the specter and the Secret Peeping Ear, but no amount of speculation could replace seeing it firsthand. So he decided to confront this Theater guardian that had every scavenger too spooked to utter a word.
"So nobody's ever seen it. How convenient.
Happens that my eyesight's rather good — I can see through illusions to the truth. Today, I'll do you all a favor and take the first look."
With that, he hoisted Ber To off the ground and started marching toward the barbed-wire periter.
Ber To realized what was about to happen. Convinced he was about to beco a lab rat, he was scared witless. He thrashed uselessly, then resorted to sniveling pleas.
"My lord, I was wrong! Please don't throw
in! I'll die, my lord! I'll die!"
"Shh — quiet.
Don't be afraid. I'll have you know — I am the finest priest in this entire world. No matter who dies, I can snatch them right out of Death's hands!"
Ber To froze mid-struggle. He pointed shakily at Well Si's corpse. "Then... Well Si...?"
"Ahem. That's not important."
Cheng Shi quickly clapped a hand over the man's eyes and spoke soothingly.
"Relax. You and him are different. You absolutely won't die. At most you'll suffer a little.
But you look like you've got plenty of... masculine vigor. I'm sure you can handle a trifle of pain."
"I don't have vigor! I can't handle it! I really can't, my lord!" Ber To babbled in terror, but his protests went unheard.
Cheng Shi stopped just outside the barbed wire. Smiling that half-smile, he gazed at the scavenger in his hand and delivered his ultimatum.
"I'd suggest you think carefully before you speak. Die in there, and maybe I'll resurrect you. But die out here...
Then you really will have to go keep your boss Well Si company before Death."
"I..." Ber To was on the verge of collapse. His face contorted, as though making the hardest decision of his life. Then, in a mournful voice: "I choose to go straight down and join Well Si."
"?"
Cheng Shi's expression went cold. "Very well. Brave man. In that case, after I toss you in, I simply won't resurrect you. That way you get your wish and I get my result. Win-win, no?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Every scavenger in earshot went as silent as cicadas in winter. Even the howling wind seed to pause in fear.
Zhang Jizu and Ai Si exchanged a look. Two peculiar gazes completed an entire conversation in the wordless void.
'Is surna Cheng a demon?' / 'Has he always been like this?'
'Yes.' × 2
"NOOO — HELP !"
Just as the silence set in, a scream tore through it. Cheng Shi smirked and hurled the scavenger faction's second-in-command through the gap in the barbed wire. THUD — and the wailing cut dead.
Even though Ber To had clearly been injured by the impact, the man who'd been screaming bloody murder an instant ago clamped shut like a spring-loaded trap. He curled into a ball on the ground and didn't dare make a single sound.
The Devout Land's fog slowly swallowed him, leaving only a blurred silhouette. The scene remained silent.
Zhang Jizu and Ai Si crept up. All three Players pressed against the wire, senses straining. They detected nothing. The so-called specter hadn't appeared.
"Hmm? I thought anyone who entered during the Ghost Frenzy would die.
Why's it gone quiet?"
Cheng Shi frowned. He was about to pull Ber To back when the scavenger's body involuntarily twitched in terror — scraping against a small piece of tal beneath him. The friction produced a teeth-grinding squeal.
The next second, an eerie laugh drifted from deep within the fog. Then a shrill, distorted voice exploded in everyone's ears.
"Well Si is dead — what do I do now?
How will I endure so many long, freezing nights alone?
Who else will love
the way he did — who else would promise to make
his 'God Concubine' after he ascends?!"
"?????"
The voice ca fast and left faster. While every soul outside the wire stood dumbstruck with jaws agape, the shadow inside the fog twitched once — then went still forever.
Ber To was dead.
But nobody cared about that anymore. Every face wore the sa bewildered expression as they processed what "God Concubine" ant.
"..."
'So this is what "exposing soone's secret" sounds like?'
'Assistant by day, armrest by night?'
'Well, well, well — San Dales is every bit as spectacular as Dolgod!'
Cheng Shi's eye twitched violently. Still, straight-faced, he turned to Zhang Jizu. "Did you see anything?"
Zhang Jizu's eyes were nearly shut. Gravely, he shook his head. "Nothing. Not a thing. Even the fog's wind-displaced pattern didn't change. It's as though nothing ever entered this area."
Ai Si nodded in agreent.
"Truly — no anomaly at all.
But... that voice, the 'God Concubine' thing — is that what I think it is?
Ber To — wasn't he a man?"
"..."
Cheng Shi used to be fairly certain the answer was "yes," but now... less so.
"Let's broaden the definition. Who says only won can be a God Concubine?
Besides, you can't judge soone's software version by their hardware specs — especially when you haven't even inspected their hardware. What if it's not so... hard?"
"?"
Zhang Jizu was at a loss for words. Ai Si, on the other hand, looked entirely convinced. She peered at Ber To through the wire and nodded.
"Hard or not before, he's definitely hard now."
"..." Zhang Jizu was even more at a loss. He looked between Cheng Shi and Ai Si, increasingly certain these two were on the sa wavelength.
Cheng Shi ignored the tangent and rubbed his chin. "Let's leave the God Concubine business aside. We've got a major problem — ti is genuinely running out."
He frowned, and using thread wound around his hand, reeled the corpse back through the wire. Then he pitched it back out the gap and — in full view of the gathered scavengers — left the resurrection... to Mi Laozhang.
Zhang Jizu blinked.
"What are you looking at
for? Mi Laozhang, you can't possibly think I'm the only one who has to work this whole trial.
Stop staring. Resurrect him — he's still got intel we need."
"..."
'You knew there was intel and you tossed him in anyway?'
Zhang Jizu nearly laughed from fury. He drew a deep breath.
"Resurrection was your promise to him. Nothing to do with . Also — are you sure he even wants to be resurrect right now?
You'd be better off just using the brooch to ask him."
Cheng Shi waved the suggestion away.
"Oh, co on — aren't we inseparable teammates?
If so, why split hairs over 'mine' and 'yours'?
Use the brooch as little as possible. Don't forget — there might be a mory follower in this trial. I'd rather not leave too many 'mory traces' here.
As for whether our God Concubine wants to be resurrected... how would you know unless you resurrect him first?
If he doesn't want it, just kill him again. Sound good?"
'Sound good?'
'I think you're a living devil.'
'No — even the devil would put you on the altar.'
Zhang Jizu's eyelid hamred. But he resurrected the poor wretch anyway. As for why — nobody knew. call it a contribution to the team effort.
And when Ber To awoke, he felt the collective gaze upon him shift.
That forrly pale, delicate face flushed liver-red. Every fiber of his body clenched into a ball, and he refused to budge.
Cheng Shi, expression inscrutable, tapped the man with his scalpel to snap him out of it, then grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up.
"You and Well Si ran this place for years. Surely you know secrets the rest don't.
Out with it. If I absolutely need to enter the fog today — how do I do it?
Answer, and I'll erase everyone else's mory.
Can't answer...
Then sorry — I'll erase your neck."
...
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