That San Dales' past was steeped in mory's aura should have made perfect sense — all pasts belong to mory, after all. But the strange part was... let's not forget why certain people were here.
The Secret Peeping Ear!
That was clearly a Deceit artifact. Why would it exist within a mory of the past?
Nobody knew. But this was undeniably San Dales' past.
So to understand why the Theater was staging mory's play, they'd have to follow the "plot."
But Cheng Shi had no intention of being "led by the script." He spun on his heel and squeezed right back out through the gap in the Theater door.
Seeing this, Ai Si and Zhang Jizu exchanged glances, foreheads darkening with exasperation.
"Zhang Chosen, please don't tell
you're going to follow Surna Cheng and crawl back out through that crack."
Zhang Jizu squinted at Ai Si with a aningful smile.
"You're brave. More so than I expected."
And with that, he followed Cheng Shi through the door.
Ai Si frowned, watching Zhang Jizu's retreating back with a thoughtful look. After a mont, realization dawned and she snorted. Rather than following the two, she chose to cross the marketplace and walk toward the theater at the other end.
The distance wasn't far, but she moved cautiously — observing every NPC's movents, expressions, speech, and posture, trying to determine whether these apparent background characters were truly real.
At one point she ducked into a narrow alley and killed several residents to confirm.
When their warm blood spilled onto her hands, she knew: this was genuinely San Dales' past. The real past.
She picked up the pace, sprinting toward the theater's staircase. But when she looked up at the grand entrance above —
She froze. Every muscle seized.
Because there at the top of those long stairs stood two figures, gazing down at her with amused expressions.
Cheng Shi. And Zhang Jizu.
They'd gotten ahead of her!
Ai Si was stunned. She whipped around to look at the door she'd co from — still intact, right there. But before her stood another identical door.
Her brow furrowed. Sothing clicked. She climbed the stairs to join her teammates and looked past the second theater's entrance.
Of course!
The second theater's door was absolutely identical to the first — sa angle of opening, sa width of gap.
Her pupils contracted. "So..."
"So the direction doesn't matter." Cheng Shi was smiling but his eyes were dead serious. He surveyed the surroundings. "What matters is the 'plot.' We seem to have missed sothing, and now this mory has us trapped. Am I right?"
Easy enough to verify.
Ai Si, stubborn, dragged her sword through the door — and erged from the original entrance, once again facing Cheng Shi and Mi Laozhang from across the bazaar.
Undeniable now.
Brow tight, she crossed back to join them. "How did you know it was the 'plot'?"
"A guess. War Supervisor — we saw what you did. You'd better pray the residents you killed weren't key characters. Otherwise...
Actually, maybe not. Those three mutts are probably stuck sowhere too.
Let's go. Search-and-sweep thod — simple and effective. Speed it up."
Cheng Shi shot a look at Mi Laozhang, ready to send him ahead to scout — but Zhang Jizu didn't budge. Instead he pointed down the stairs at a young man standing perfectly still.
"Perhaps it's him."
The other two blinked. They followed Zhang Jizu's gaze.
"Why?"
"Everyone is moving, no matter what they're doing — even the market vendors never stop or zone out. Only this fellow is standing there motionless, as if all of San Dales has forgotten he exists.
When things defy the norm, there's always a reason. We should talk to him."
Zhang Jizu drifted behind Cheng Shi and gave him a push. Down the stairs they went.
Ai Si tried to dodge — failed. Cheng Shi grabbed her and dragged her to the front. Once again: point woman.
The three descended in their absurd formation and surrounded the youth. Only up close did they realize: the young man was asleep on his feet.
"..." Cheng Shi nearly choked on a laugh. He pointed at Zhang Jizu, then at the boy, cracking up. "'When things defy the norm, there's always a reason.' Indeed — sleeping standing up is pretty damn abnormal."
"..."
Zhang Jizu's eye twitched. Ignoring the jab, he shook the young man awake.
The youth startled, snatching a cap off his face. He blinked blearily at the three strangers. Seeing their travel-worn appearance, he scrubbed his eyes, forced a textbook smile onto his face, smoothed his collar and ssy brown hair, produced a stack of flyers from his pocket, and — with practiced flair — handed one to each of them.
"Here for the show?
The Joy Theater has a performance tonight! Bring a friend with this flyer, and the second ticket is twenty percent off — great deal. Interested?
Um... there are three of you. The third is full price. But...
I'll cover the third discount out of my own pocket. How about it? The show is fantastic — absolutely worth it."
Cheng Shi took the flyer, gave it a lazy scan, then looked at the young man — clearly a theater employee — and grinned.
"What's your na?"
"Crown, sir. My na is Crown. I'm an actor at the Joy Theater."
"Crown..."
Cheng Shi sampled the na, eyebrows raised, and nodded approvingly.
"Good na. You look a lot like soone I used to know. If I didn't already know you weren't lying, I'd have mistaken you for her.
Her na was Shaman. Do you... know her?"
Crown's smile stiffened. He scratched his head awkwardly. "Sir, that sounds like a girl's na."
Cheng Shi laughed. He clapped the young man's shoulder.
"Don't be so rigid about gender. Who says a woman can't be a man?
Right, Zhen Xin?"
Crown blinked again, looking at the three oddball strangers with a puzzled expression. Mustering so courage but clearly anxious, he corrected:
"It's 'Joy,' sir. This is the Joy Theater. Not the 'True Heart' Theater."
...
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