By this point, the entire San Dales story was essentially clear to Cheng Shi.
The Tower of Logic's no-faith experint had failed. The scholars had "nurtured" this city behind the scenes for over a century, creating a "faithless god" for this place without faith.
Then the Erudition Presidium abandoned the city for reasons unknown to outsiders. The clown Crown, wanting to save his hotown, guided all citizens to convert to [Deceit]. And it was precisely this massive faith transfer that tainted the "faithless god" — born from collective belief — with [Deceit]'s color, gradually twisting its "faith."
So from the very beginning, this so-called "faithless god" was actually a container. A container dripping with "faithless" divinity. It only beca a container for [Deceit]'s divinity after the faith transfer — hidden in San Dales's past by the Fun God. It had to be the Fun God and no other deity.
He used [mory] as camouflage, the Secret Peeping Ear as cover, burying the true "essence" beneath San Dales's snow. Until this trial brought the player who could find it. Until Cheng Shi used a "Return of the Past" to summon the mories of this place — then it was "dug" from the frozen earth once more, returned to the world.
And this was the greatest secret of this [Silence] trial!
So aside from Cheng Shi, everyone had gotten it wrong.
The "death-fearing" War Supervisor only heard his teammates' secrets.
Long Jing thought he'd witnessed Lord Yu Xi's past.
Li Jingming confird that this so-called "Yu Xi" was collecting broken mask fragnts.
And Zhen Xin had verified Yu Xi's existence, believing she'd seen through the relationship between the Jokers and Yu Xi.
As for Squinty Zhang...
He seed to have seen more than the others, but was ultimately still confined to the "Yu Xi" perspective.
Only Cheng Shi — he didn't just uncover Brother Mouth and the others' past. He'd seized the one treasure buried beneath the Joy Theater.
So a visiting clown, on a stage where clowns once also perford, executed a breathtaking [Silence] trick — slipping the only secret into his own consciousness without anyone noticing.
And this was exactly why he could continue performing this drama on the Joy Theater's stage in San Dales's past.
When he pulled back the curtain, he'd activated the container's aura, fabricated eerie fluctuations, and made everyone believe this was a faithless god. He then wrote an ending that told the other players:
This deity, "fed" by "faithlessness," had already... "fallen" during the faith transfer.
He didn't dare gamble on whether other historical records ntioned it, so he couldn't fully hide the faithless god's traces. Instead, the clown used one small, clever trick to slip past every watchful eye — snuffing out the faithless god's traces within the mory of history.
The thod he used to fabricate the faithless god was equally simple — another tool from [mory]:
Past Reflection.
The Dragon King's generosity was still paying dividends!
Cheng Shi used Past Reflection to conjure a chanical, blank-faced copy of himself on stage, then let it slowly dissipate.
Since all of San Dales was one massive "Return of the Past," in this space where overwhelming [Deceit] and [mory] powers intertwined, Li Jingming didn't grow suspicious over minor [mory] fluctuations.
More importantly, the Dragon King's attention had been entirely commandeered by Cheng Shi's performance. He was puzzling over the cause and effect of this eerie deity's appearance, overlooking the most surface-level details.
Just like that, Cheng Shi manufactured a perfect excuse for the faithless god's dissolution — then swallowed whole that [Deceit]-tinted container.
As for the so-called "Yu Xi possession," he had rely activated every last drop of the container's aura, letting the divine pressure — one that only existed in actual deities — help him create a flawless deception.
Cheng Shi did this to leave himself an escape route for his guidance.
The existence of Shi Zhen, honestly speaking, was hard to explain given Cheng Shi's identity. But if it was the real Yu Xi speaking, that would spare him an entire chain of further lies.
Not that it was entirely hassle-free. At the very least, he'd need to hash things out with Squinty Zhang, who'd already grown suspicious.
This Steady Faction mber had definitely noticed sothing. The Fun God might have even confided sothing to him. Since Squinty Zhang could hide one passage, he could hide countless more.
After the real Crown's death, nobody could know what ssages he'd received from the Fun God. The only thing Cheng Shi was confident аbout: no matter what, with that gentleman's standing, Squinty Zhang was absolutely reliable. That's why he'd dared to perform so freely on stage, pursuing maximum advantage.
Whether guiding Zhen Xin toward [Chaos] or introducing Long Jing to Shi Zhen — every move Cheng Shi made was a probe against Them.
Before, he would never have been this aggressive. But now he'd obtained a container "of his own." Add to that his troubleso Benefactor apparently itching to test the [Origin] beyond sliced universes — Cheng Shi had no choice but to quicken his own pace.
On the small scale: he needed to secure the Chosen position before the Fun God made His move.
On the grand scale: on the path to exploring the universe's true nature, the things he'd seen and heard had genuinely sparked his curiosity. He wanted to know what this world actually was. On the Fun God's road of upward probing, could he — a re mortal — actually help?
And if not, then after the Fun God "t with trouble," could he leverage his cards to inherit His status and authority — just as Big Cat had done?
People change. Under [Deceit]'s influence, little greedy Cheng Shi's mindset had shifted from passive acceptance to active aggression. His opponents were no longer limited to fellow players. They'd beco the servant gods buried in history's past — and even those who sat upon the sixteen divine thrones, high above all!
These operations after picking up the container were his very first step.
The trial's remaining ti was winding down. After Lord Yu Xi "reasonably" rewarded everyone, He seed to depart from Cheng Shi's body.
A bewildered Cheng Shi jolted, eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at the Magician and Squinty Zhang before him. But he quickly masked his shock, turning his head away and acting as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Zhen Xin grew even more certain of her suspicions. She frowned slightly, using an illusion to cover Yu Xi's departing figure, then concealed herself and Zhang Jizu within the stage's false imagery — making it appear as though they'd left the trial directly.
Li Jingming smiled and cloaked himself similarly.
Long Jing had received a promise but not guidance on how to approach Lord Shi Zhen. He was anxious but knew urgency wouldn't help now. So with a shifting expression, he left — becoming the first to clear this trial as a... "clown."
Once they sensed Long Jing's departure, the four Jokers, as if sharing the sa thought, reappeared in the theater nad Joy. They exchanged glances, then turned — each with a different expression — toward Cheng Shi.
Cheng Shi's face was stiff and uncomfortable. After a long silence, he sighed with utmost resignation:
"I hate to admit it, but what happened just now really wasn't . It was Him.
I don't know when He ca. I don't know why He ca. I only know He didn't take the Secret Peeping Ear from
— but He rewrote my script.
I'd only planned to squeeze so useful intel out of Long Jing. But He... agreed to Long Jing's request and introduced him to that Shi Zhen.
So, everyone — this ignorant fool wants to ask: has any of you ever heard of an existence called Shi Zhen?"
As his words fell, silence reclaid the room once more.
...
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