Those three players were the self-congratulating "Zhen Yi," the visibly embarrassed "Cheng Shi," and the uninvolved Zhang Jizu.
Think about it — under what circumstances would three peak players of this caliber stand bowing before an unknown NPC?
No thinking required, actually. The scene spoke for itself. The masked man's identity was obvious.
'Yu Xi?'
'Yu Xi!'
'It's Lord Yu Xi!'
Long Jing froze. His sharp eyes swept over the man again and again. His gaze was cautious — afraid of being disrespectful — yet equally afraid of not looking carefully enough and being fooled again. So he could only sneak a glance, avert, glance, avert, glance, and...
He stopped. Because the masked man had turned to look at him.
The grin on the pure-white mask stretched to a height that could only be called terrifying. Then the man spoke in an eerie, sharp voice, chuckling:
"Long Jing — what are you looking at?"
The voice made everyone jump. Even the two allies on stage flinched.
Because it was identical to the phantom's voice from the Devout Land's fog!
So the ghost was actually Lord Yu Xi!?
Long Jing's eyes went wide.
'It all fits! Everything fits!'
'Why did finding the Secret Peeping Ear require sacrificing your secrets? That wasn't sacrificing — Lord Yu Xi was toying with everyone!'
'He was playing the players. So He must have already recovered His ears. This trial was exactly what I suspected — His way of tempering them all!'
The realization made Long Jing even angrier. The Lord had been right here, and he'd failed right under His gaze!
'Does that an my "rating" in Lord Yu Xi's eyes just dropped?'
'Are these three ugly clowns on stage about to receive the Lord's rewards?'
'NO!'
'This can't stand!'
Panic set in. His only thought: even without a reward, he had to account for the "one ear" he'd found. Otherwise, San Dales' biggest clown wouldn't be Crown — it'd be him!
He bowed from the aisle between seats, face radiating devotion.
"To behold Your esteed visage once more is the greatest reward for today's piety.
Praise the Benefactor. Praise Lord Yu Xi.
Bathed in Your radiance, I sense the universe's unreality. Pressing forward under Your guidance, I draw ever closer to fundantal falsehood.
Your follower Long Jing — from San Dales' past, from the Joy Theater's present — sends his regards."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The entire theater went silent.
Li Jingming had been considering whether this sudden Yu Xi was a hoax staged by the three vanished players. But seeing Long Jing's utter conviction, even he wavered.
Yet Long Jing's words were so... absurd that Li Jingming couldn't follow up with his own greeting. He wanted to suppress a laugh but feared seeming disrespectful. So he could only smile, nod, and acknowledge the figure on stage as neutrally as possible.
The two beside Yu Xi had it worse.
Yes — on stage there were only two. "Zhen Yi" was Zhen Xin in disguise. "Cheng Shi" was a conjured illusion. Only Mi Laozhang was playing himself. Hearing Long Jing's flattery, one was thunderstruck; the other squeezed his eyes shut even tighter.
For a split second, Zhang Jizu even suspected that Long Jing down there was Cheng Shi, and the Yu Xi up here was the real deal — because a faint whiff of Deceit's divinity emanated from Him.
This wasn't sothing you could fake just by holding a piece of divinity. In the past, Zhang Jizu had only barely sensed this from Them.
So how had Cheng Shi made his Yu Xi impersonation this convincing?
'Does He... really exist?'
Mi Laozhang sank into thought.
Cheng Shi — playing Yu Xi — wasn't having a great ti either. He'd thought their first eting was already peak shalessness from Long Jing. Yet after a brief absence, the acrobat's bootlicking had leveled up.
Zhen Xin was witnessing this flavor of "audience" among Deceit followers for the first ti. She discreetly glanced at Long Jing, then at the towering "Yu Xi" before her. Silently, she mouthed:
"Is this how you act during your own audiences?"
'?'
'Absolutely not.'
'I'm famously tough-boned. I'd never do anything this shaless before a god.'
Lord Yu Xi — no, Cheng Shi — snorted with disdain. It served as both a reply to Zhen Xin and a warning to Long Jing that the fawning was excessive and needed to dial back.
But Long Jing didn't think so.
He thought it wasn't enough — he hadn't even gotten to his main point!
The acrobat was utterly indifferent to the bizarre atmosphere. He promptly wove his "one ear" achievent into his praise with surgical precision, then declared that although his trial performance had been slightly inferior, his devotion was second to none.
Cheng Shi's face nearly went black. Even Brother Mouth couldn't take it anymore. The instant Long Jing finished speaking, the Lips' half-laughing voice cut in:
"Does the Lord know I got played by that pest? If He does — He won't favor that pest because of it, right? Even His inspection target Cheng Shi got played. Doesn't that make the Zhen family the real winners of this trial!?"
Total silence.
Long Jing's smile froze on his face.
Though his "little secret" had also ntioned himself, Cheng Shi nearly burst out laughing.
'Well, well — this world has no shortage of clowns!'
But within two seconds, Long Jing panicked. Ignoring the low laughter from surrounding players, he shook his head frantically, desperate to clarify:
"My Lord, that's not what I ant—"
The Fool's Lips continued — courtesy of Yu Xi's mouth:
"Oh no — the Lord's power can read my inner thoughts? What do I do!?"
"My Lord — please see clearly! My devotion is beyond question!"
"I an, even if I have a few selfish thoughts, that's only human, right?"
"My Lord, I—"
Long Jing went quiet. Not because he didn't dare continue — but because Dragon King, unable to watch any longer, had finally clamped a hand over his mouth.
Good thing Dragon King acted when he did. Otherwise the three Jokers on stage would have broken character entirely and died laughing right there.
Consider: if even Mi Laozhang was clenching his jaw to suppress laughter, the scene had to be terrifying. Even the perpetually composed Zhen Xin's expression had warped beyond recognition.
Soundless hysteria — practically the finest tribute to Silence the present Jokers could offer.
...
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