So while Zhang Jizu was still leading the others in circles at the South Stronghold, the resurrected Cheng Shi had long since used the Silence page and infiltrated the fog.
But he hit the sa problem as Mi Laozhang: inside the fog, all sense of direction vanished. He explored for ages — all the way until the others entered the fog — and still couldn't find the exit.
When he'd exhausted every thod without reaching the Faith Theater, Cheng Shi had no choice but to think about where the puzzle's key lay.
And naturally, the mont the clown treated the Devout Land's fog as a riddle rather than terrain, the answer surfaced quickly — because his reasoning aligned almost perfectly with Zhang Jizu's.
The fog was clearly demanding an entry ticket from outsiders. And that ticket was almost certainly the secrets in people's hearts.
Cheng Shi was deeply conflicted.
He had far too many secrets. He had no idea which one the fog would broadcast — and none were secrets he wanted to share.
So he decided to skip the test and negotiate with Brother Mouth again.
He told the Fool's Lips: since we've struck one deal, why not another? Brother Mouth, is there any way to bypass this mandatory public-humiliation phase?
The Fool's Lips said yes — it could take Cheng Shi's place and pay the secret. But the condition was that all trial loot would go to it.
Cheng Shi blinked. What besides the Secret Peeping Ear could be valuable enough to make Brother Mouth this serious?
The clown couldn't figure it out. But he reasoned: whatever belongs to his own mouth belongs to him, right?
So he agreed without hesitation. Brother Mouth then told him: just go ahead — the secret, I'll handle.
The deal was struck so easily that Cheng Shi felt uneasy. His heart lurched — he spent a long ti worrying he'd been conned again.
But no matter how many tis he pressed, the Fool's Lips stayed silent. Out of options — and out of ti — Cheng Shi chose to trust those cursed lips one more ti.
He faced another problem, though: without the Gravekeeper, how could he safely pay the ticket?
Simple. If nobody could revive him, he'd revive himself.
Thankfully, Cheng "Steady" Shi always kept insurance. When he'd first entered the fog, he'd stumbled across the bodies of the scavengers he'd recruited. Just in case, he'd stuffed one into the Molten Coffin. Now it was ti for that corpse to earn its keep.
He propped the body at a fixed position, walked backwards until the corpse was barely visible — at a distance where one healing chain's round-trip ti was just enough — and stopped. He donned the Lush Horn Crown and fired a healing chain imbued with recovery energy at the distant corpse.
Simultaneously, he chuckled aloud — breaking silence — and "sacrificed" his secret to the fog.
According to Cheng Shi's script: he would drop dead, and the returning healing chain would strike his body, reviving him cleanly.
Spending one revival charge from the Lush Horn Crown was a pity — but against the prize of the Secret Peeping Ear, one life was an acceptable trade.
Per the deal, Brother Mouth would also surrender its own secret upon Cheng Shi's death, earning the fog's passage ticket. But... as ntioned, that was the scripted version.
Reality was slightly more complicated.
When he broke silence and spread his arms in surrender, the eerie presence did appear behind him — but then stuttered to a halt. It didn't kill Cheng Shi. Instead, it skipped the life-harvesting step and went straight to broadcasting the secret in his heart.
And so — Cheng Shi's deepest secret was announced to the world.
When Cheng Shi heard the broadcast, his face went utterly black. Fists clenched, he demanded: why was it still his secret that got aired?
The Fool's Lips responded indignantly: "That wasn't your secret. It was... mine."
"..."
Cheng Shi short-circuited.
Call it right? Nothing about it felt right. Call it wrong? It kind of... had a point.
Brother Mouth was sentient. Which ant Cheng Shi's experiences were Brother Mouth's experiences. So calling it "my secret" wasn't technically wrong.
But this felt an awful lot like freeloading, Brother Mouth!
"If I'd known this would happen, why would I have made the deal?" The clown was furious.
"I saved your life at the very least."
"But what I wanted to save was the secret!"
"I told you — that's my secret."
"..." Cheng Shi's face stayed dark. But when he heard "I saved your life at the very least," a barely perceptible glint flashed through his eyes.
The Fool's Lips definitely had a connection to this fog. Or rather — "fragnts" like Brother Mouth were all connected to this place. They were clearly hiding sothing. And the ability to stop the fog's specter from harvesting a life was the strongest evidence.
Cheng Shi's curiosity about the Faith Theater's treasures intensified.
He gathered himself, stepped over the scavenger's corpse, and walked toward the now-visible Faith Theater.
Yes — the scavenger had died again. The second secret the fog broadcast wasn't a Player's secret at all, but this scavenger's.
Clearly a clever man. He'd seen through Cheng Shi's lie — but compared to living aninglessly on the periphery, he preferred to make his life spectacular just once.
He'd managed it. Spectacular twice, even.
After clearing the fog, Cheng Shi finally arrived at the Faith Theater's entrance. The great door stood before him — seemingly a single push away.
But just as he reached for it, he stopped. His raised hand lowered.
For so reason, his heartbeat felt too fast. His thoughts too scattered. He sensed that whatever lay behind this door wasn't as simple as he'd imagined. A fear born from the desire-to-know crept through him.
So he asked Brother Mouth one more ti. This ti:
"Should I open this door, Brother Mouth?"
The Fool's Lips was silent for a long ti. Cheng Shi didn't rush him — he waited patiently. He had a feeling Brother Mouth would respond.
Sure enough, after an age, the Fool's Lips sighed.
"Why did you co?"
"?" Cheng Shi raised a brow. He mused: "To reunite you, Brother Tongue, and the ears..."
"Clown."
"???"
'Don't just randomly insult . I can tell the difference between a professional title and a put-down.'
Face blackening again, Cheng Shi frowned and reconsidered. "To piece together the mask that might exist. To uncover the story of what happened to you..."
"Do you believe that yourself?"
"I..." Cheng Shi stalled. His expression shifted several tis. He said nothing more.
"Figure it out before you go in. They're still going in circles in the Devout Land. The clown has plenty of ti."
"..."
Cheng Shi fell silent. But not for long. Soon his eyes hardened with resolve. He pushed open the door and walked straight in.
...
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