Cheng Shi suddenly smiled.
He wasn't sure whether it was the depth of their friendship that moved him, or the realization that he'd been underestimating this Deceit Chosen's magnanimity. Either way, his smile was brilliant as he reached out and grasped the card without hesitation.
Of course — ever the cautious one — he'd hidden Brother Tongue in his sleeve. When both touched the poker card simultaneously and he felt no warning from the tongue, his heart settled.
As the clown gripped the magician's card, a building of achingly familiar style materialized in his consciousness:
An orphanage.
Zhen Xin hadn't lied. She'd genuinely laid her deepest secret before Cheng Shi. But the calculus behind this was layered.
She'd known this player for a long ti — through her sister's mories. And once she'd accessed Cheng Shi's own mories, she understood why her sister Zhen Yi cared so much about this previously unknown clown.
Because his past and hers were "strikingly similar" yet "completely opposite."
Cheng Shi was a "born" liar — yet paternal love had raised him into a good person.
She was a good person raised in warmth — forced by circumstance to beco a liar.
Their shared backgrounds ford the strongest resonance. But it wasn't the full reason she dared trust him.
It always ca back to the sa thing: Cheng Shi had saved An Mingyu. That kept Zhen Xin's emotional anchor alive. That was why she'd bare her deepest secrets so openly.
And the trigger for this decision was the Ti trial — one she'd never participated in but heard about from Ming Yu's own lips!
The world was nothing like she'd imagined. Countless Zhen Xins struggled across different worlds. Which ant countless An Mingyus weren't all alive and well.
If Ming Yu could cross into another world to save another-her, why couldn't Zhen Xin act? Why not find a way to help Ming Yu — or, if she dared be greedy...
'I want to save every Ming Yu. And every .'
To do that, she needed to understand the world anew.
And the first step was earning the trust of a "pioneer" who understood the world far better than she did — confirming whether this pioneer shared her thinking. Only then could she make this liar-who-trusted-nobody believe in her, and share the secrets outsiders couldn't access.
This conviction drove Zhen Xin's decision — and showed the clown what kind of magician she truly was. What kind of Deceit "collection."
Zhen Xin's past played through his consciousness. But barely past the opening, Cheng Shi raised his head and eyed the magician strangely.
"If I weren't sure I was receiving your mories, I'd think I was looking in a mirror.
What a coincidence — you're an orphan too."
"Quite the coincidence. But not all orphans are the sa."
'?'
'That "not the sa" better not be you elevating yourself at my expense.'
His eye twitched. He wanted to tease her — but when the next stretch of mory unfolded, he opened his mouth, couldn't make a sound for a long ti, and finally let out a deep sigh.
"So... that's when Zhen Yi was born. Right?
A lunatic who wanted to fight everything on your behalf whenever you were afraid.
Of course — Zhen Yi is His collection.
And you, Zhen Xin... you have a good sister. She saved you.
Before the apocalypse. And in this ga."
Zhen Xin was noncommittal. Silent. Cheng Shi clicked his tongue and kept watching. The deeper he went, the quieter he beca. The theater fell into total stillness. His gaze toward Zhen Xin grew increasingly complex.
Her past was anything but warm.
Zhen Xin's parents were long unidentifiable. In her mories, she'd grown up in a place called "Sunshine Orphanage."
Much smaller than Cheng Shi's — barely a dozen children and two or three teachers.
But among those teachers was soone Cheng Shi actually recognized. The face was plainer in life than in the ga, but unmistakable: the Puppet Master he'd t in the Sighing Forest — An Jing!
An Mingyu's aunt.
An Mingyu was also an orphan — her parents killed in a car crash. But she was luckier: she had a devoted aunt. She didn't need to live in the orphanage.
Didn't need to and didn't were two different things. Since Aunt Jing worked there daily, Ming Yu practically lived there too.
That was how two parentless girls beca each other's best friend.
This orphanage was far warr than Cheng Shi's. The director was an elderly woman whose parents had perished in a family tragedy during her youth, and whose husband and children were taken by a natural disaster in middle age. In her twilight years, while she could still move, she'd founded this haven for children like herself.
The teachers were genuinely kind — Zhen Xin's mories made that clear. They truly loved the children and wanted them to thrive. The orphanage was a happy place. And in that warmth, Zhen Xin and An Mingyu slowly grew up.
But things weren't always smooth. To the orphanage, the next developnt seed like good news: a wealthy couple known for their philanthropy visited Sunshine Orphanage to discuss adopting a child.
These benefactors were actually friends of the director. The old woman had been watching the children's developnt closely. Noticing Zhen Xin's sharp mind and steady temperant, she felt it was a sha to keep such a bright girl cooped up here. So she reached out to the couple — childless friends — and asked if they wanted to adopt an exceptional child.
They agreed. They ca. They t Zhen Xin and were delighted. Adoption proceedings moved quickly.
But adoption at Sunshine Orphanage wasn't like at Cheng Shi's — no money-and-go. The director insisted on asking little Zhen Xin herself.
Aunt Jing also wanted better for Zhen Xin. So, without telling Ming Yu, she found Zhen Xin one day and relayed the director's suggestion.
Zhen Xin listened. She studied Aunt Jing's face and read the orphanage's guilt and hope. So she didn't refuse. She didn't want to disappoint the people who cared about her.
Everything went smoothly. Zhen Xin left the orphanage with An Mingyu's reluctant farewell.
...
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