The players, of course, had never heard of "Shi Zhen."
Among this group of Chosen Ones, the only player who had known about Shi Zhen was already dead—and had died at Shi Zhen's own hands.
The identity Cheng Shi had fabricated was likely known only to the Fun God, since the Universal Clock Platform at the ti had been the Fun God's incarnation. Even Ti itself probably had no idea that one of its "devout servants" was still wandering around out there.
Cheng Shi hadn't revealed this identity because he was confident he could find Ti's true Temple and impersonate Shi Zhen within it. He simply wanted to probe whether he could extract the sa treatnt from Ti that he'd gotten as the Chaos Envoy Ultraman.
After all, Ti didn't have a ti-managent "corporation," so finding an "outsourced heir" wasn't entirely unreasonable, right?
This opportunistic probe might not succeed, but Cheng Shi knew that if you never tried, you'd definitely never succeed.
Fate above—what if it worked?
Change was sothing no one could predict. He was gambling on a no-risk, all-reward probability!
The other players present had already been led astray by Cheng Shi's little script. They began pondering why Yu Xi had suddenly appeared and why he'd agreed to Long Jing's request to guide an Acrobat closer to Ti.
The scene looked more like the mysterious Yu Xi had taken a liking to Long Jing and tossed this sole "devout" follower in the performance a piece of candy. Beyond that, only Zhen Xin's thinking was bold enough to guess that Lord Yu Xi might be using Long Jing to probe Ti.
The relationships between gods were far too complex—especially when the Fun God was involved, doubling the complexity. So after thinking it over for a long ti without reaching any conclusions, everyone simply gave up and turned their attention to the current situation.
The trial had entered its countdown. Once each person was certain they understood the secret of this trial, they could leave at any ti. Yet none of the four made a move.
They studied one another. The Dragon King in particular was not only sparring with Zhen Xin through glances, but also observing Zhang Jizu with keen interest while watching Cheng Shi's reactions. Before long, he confird sothing:
Everyone present was a Joker.
It was a guess with zero evidence, but Li Jingming trusted his instincts.
And if this guess was correct, it ant that these people's little charade just now had been an open sche to undermine Long Jing—only to have their plan disrupted by the arrival of the real Yu Xi.
Now that was interesting. A Joker performing plays for Void hadn't recruited the "devout" Acrobat, but had instead enlisted a follower of Death who had nothing to do with Void. By that logic, this squinty-eyed Gravekeeper must have... rged with Deceit?
The eyes of clever people speak volus. Despite the silence in the room, four gazes swept back and forth as though a heated debate were raging.
Before long, Zhen Xin let out a soft laugh. "Why so serious? Shouldn't this be a ti for internal discussion?"
She'd noticed the Dragon King's curiosity about Mi Laozhang's presence and guessed that the Dragon King was a relatively recent addition himself. So when she spoke, she deliberately concealed her own newcor status and broke the silence with an attitude of "I know we're all on the sa side."
The mont the Dragon King heard this, he imdiately realized why, when he'd asked who was in the Joker Society in front of Cheng Shi, the other man had dodged the question and refused to give a straight answer.
Because everyone knew that Zhen Xin and he didn't get along.
Indeed—he should have guessed. How could a troupe of tricksters performing for Void possibly not include the long-reigning number one on the Deceit rankings?
Li Jingming figured Cheng Shi probably hadn't wanted him to refuse the organization because of Zhen Xin, but that was an unnecessary worry.
Honestly, while he was at odds with Zhen Yi, it was limited to Zhen Yi alone. Toward Zhen Xin, curiosity had always outweighed antagonism. He was deeply interested in how Zhen Yi had co into being and wanted to collect mories related to the Zhen sisters.
Unfortunately, Zhen Xin had always been sowhat guarded around him because of her sister.
This attitude puzzled the Dragon King. After all, by everyone's account, Zhen Xin was soone who excelled at cooperation and wasn't excessively influenced by her sister's emotions. So was her wariness because the sisters harbored mories they didn't want him to record?
Li Jingming pondered for a mont, regarded the people before him, and responded with a smile:
"An unexpected encounter, but not unexpected people—that makes for an interesting mory.
"I've gained quite a lot from this trial. Although in the end I still lost to a certain soone, I'll keep my promise.
"This isn't the place for conversation. Silence's influence is still in effect. I look forward to our next eting.
"I hope that when that ti cos, we can exchange so more interesting experiences."
With that, he looked at Zhen Xin and Cheng Shi in turn, then nodded to Zhang Jizu before his figure slowly faded and he departed the trial.
Zhen Xin let out a soft laugh and glanced at Cheng Shi. "What Li Jingming said doesn't sound like a veteran Joker. Hmph—now I'm wondering if the only real Jokers here are just you two."
"Cheng Shi, is there a single honest word in that mouth of yours?"
Cheng Shi blinked, then pouted. "How are the things Cheng Shi says not honest?"
"Besides, Miss Magician, when you ask that question, don't you wonder if there's any honesty in your own mouth?"
"..."
That wasn't an easy question to answer. Zhen Xin shook her head with a wry smile, then waved to the two remaining people and prepared to leave. She could tell these two still had things to discuss.
"You know how to reach . Wait for my ssage—I'll co find you with the results of my audience, Cheng Shi. I hope by then there'll be a few genuinely honest words in that mouth of yours."
With that, Zhen Xin departed as well.
In an instant, only Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu remained in the theater, facing each other.
Cheng Shi knew Mi Laozhang must have noticed sothing, but he couldn't be sure how much the other man had figured out. Yet Zhang Jizu didn't interrogate Cheng Shi about anything. Instead, he asked a baffling question:
"Do you have an item that can erase mories?"
"?"
Cheng Shi had no idea what Zhang Jizu was planning, but he still nodded with a strange expression and produced the Rembrance Needle he had swiped from Qin Xin of another world.
"Got sothing weighing on your mind?"
Zhang Jizu's eyes narrowed as he studied Cheng Shi for a mont, then took the syringe from his hand. His tone carried a hint of gravity. "I've figured it out."
Cheng Shi's heart lurched, but his expression remained unchanged. "Figured what out?"
"Hold on—Mi Laozhang, in this little ti you've already rged with Fate again?
"Why do you love speaking in riddles so much?"
Zhang Jizu's eyes narrowed even further. It wasn't that he didn't want to speak—he didn't dare!
He believed he'd uncovered Yu Xi's secret, but he wasn't sure whether bringing it up directly would cause trouble for Cheng Shi. So he couldn't bring himself to say it. He even wanted to forget the whole thing, lest he blurt sothing out and drag the person in question into dangerous depths.
Cheng Shi felt his skin prickle under Mi Laozhang's gaze, but soon he realized the other man's ambiguous attitude wasn't him playing a guessing ga. There was simply sothing he couldn't say.
Connecting the dots—the only issue between them right now was the question of Yu Xi's authenticity—it suddenly dawned on Cheng Shi that Mi Laozhang's concern likely stemd from "the real Yu Xi."
Good news: he apparently didn't need to rack his brain explaining Yu Xi's authenticity anymore, because Mi Laozhang's reaction already showed he believed such a Servant God existed.
Bad news: the man seed to have jumped to the wrong conclusion—who knew where his thoughts had wandered.
Cheng Shi was conflicted. He felt there was no need for Mi Laozhang to worry this much, but his own web of lies made it difficult to speak up. Yet the ever-steady Zhang Jizu ultimately took a small risk for the sake of his friend. He produced another slip of paper and placed it in Cheng Shi's hand, then said with a solemn expression:
"Drawing close is a risk. Embracing is a risk. Devotion is an even greater risk.
"There's truly nothing absolutely steady in this world, but Cheng Shi... be yourself.
"Being yourself is the steadiest course through these countless dangers."
With that, Zhang Jizu used the Rembrance Needle in his hand.
Cheng Shi had absolutely no idea what Mi Laozhang ant—until he read the words Deceit had spoken to Mi Laozhang about "Yu Xi," written on that slip of paper:
"He never appeared, nor did He ever vanish.
"When you learn of Him, you do not truly know Him.
"When you understand Him, you do not truly understand Him.
"Only He knows and understands Himself. And once an outsider truly knows Him, truly understands Him, then He...
"...ceases to be Himself."
After reading it, he imdiately understood what Zhang Jizu had been wary of.
Consider everything Cheng Shi had told Mi Laozhang about Yu Xi:
Yu Xi had sought him out → he'd split off a second personality → the second personality was Deceit → he'd acquired a creation of Deceit, a fragnt of Yu Xi → he'd attempted to impersonate Yu Xi → Yu Xi had descended upon him...
This chain of revelations, combined with Deceit's deliberately ambiguous "guidance," had likely led Mi Laozhang to a terrifying possibility: the long-vanished Yu Xi seed to be resurrecting itself through a thod akin to "seizing a body."
And the thod of resurrection was to find the shell most suited to Deceit's divinity, have that shell voluntarily collect every fragnt of Yu Xi, and then, once all the pieces were united...
...Yu Xi might truly be reborn.
As for what would happen to that shell afterward... no one could foresee the ending. No one could say for certain.
This was Zhang Jizu's greatest fear. He suspected that what Yu Xi had guided Cheng Shi to split off wasn't Cheng Shi's own personality at all, but a Yu Xi personality that was slowly restoring itself!
Mi Laozhang had gotten it entirely wrong, misled by Cheng Shi's own fabrications—Cheng Shi had no second personality, and the na "Yu Xi" was sothing he'd made up on the spot. But Mi Laozhang's line of thinking still sparked a realization:
Even without a second personality, wouldn't the real "Yu Xi" still descend?
Once all the fragnts were gathered and that possibly-existing mask was restored, would he still be himself when that mont ca?
Were so-called "Collections" nothing more than shells prepared for other "beings"?
How else could he explain why Fool's Lips had bound itself to him through fusion?
Was Brother Mouth the beginning of everything—the starting point of this resurrection plan?
At this thought, Cheng Shi's heart clenched. Honestly, he didn't want to believe it was a conspiracy.
Though his stance with the Fear Faction made him feel sufficiently close to his Benefactor, he had to rember that when he'd first acquired Brother Mouth, he hadn't been a mber of the Fear Faction at all.
At that early crossroads of fate—when his "devotion" was yet unblossod and his fear still shallow—had the Clown's role truly been nothing more than that of a clown?
Cheng Shi was no longer certain. After a long internal struggle, he decided to ask Brother Mouth in the most direct way possible—even though that mouth had never spoken a single honest word.
"Brother Mouth, if all the fragnts are gathered, what happens?"
Fool's Lips stayed silent for a long ti. Cheng Shi's heart sank slowly, but eventually it replied—though the answer sent his heart plumting to rock bottom.
"You finally figured it out..."
"!" Cheng Shi clenched his fists, every nerve taut. But he still feigned nonchalance, allowing a light laugh to cross his mind, as though the matter were nothing but a passing breeze. "I'm just a shell?"
"Yes..."
"...A shell ant to contain Yu Xi? He truly exists?"
"No, this has nothing to do with Yu Xi."
"Nothing to do with Yu Xi? Then what does it have to do with?" The words burst from Cheng Shi's mind, but his expression shifted an instant later as realization hit. It was too late, though—Fool's Lips had already finished speaking.
"It has to do with an idiot, because inside this stinking hide of yours dwells the soul of a brainless clown.
"A clown and a fool."
"..."
Ha. Ha.
I, Cheng Shi, am the clown.
Though Brother Mouth had just roasted him with dripping sarcasm, Cheng Shi actually found himself smiling with genuine amusent.
He knew Brother Mouth was using mockery to dissolve his doubts. Still, he didn't discard his unease entirely. A sliver of wariness remained buried in his heart. Until he understood the true purpose of the "Mask," caution was still necessary.
anwhile, Zhang Jizu erged from the Rembrance Needle's effects. He looked at Cheng Shi and slowly narrowed his eyes.
"What did I just forget?"
Cheng Shi's grin widened, even more radiant than before. Behind his back, his hand crumpled the slip of paper to dust. Since Mi Laozhang hadn't wanted to cause him trouble, he might as well let the man forget completely.
"Laozhang, you said you owe
a hundred S-rank items. Rember?"
"?"
Zhang Jizu's eyes narrowed to slits, his eyelids twitching wildly. "Good thing I forgot."
"Forgetting ans you don't have to pay up?"
"How am I supposed to pay for sothing I don't rember? If you really want to cash in, I'll settle the debt with grave plots.
"I'll reserve a hundred burial sites for you in the Cetery."
"???" Cheng Shi laughed despite his indignation. "What, I die and then have to relocate ninety-nine tis?"
"You don't have to relocate. Just put a little piece in each one."
The mont those words left his mouth, both n froze and stared at each other before sinking into silence.
This ti, even Fool's Lips went quiet.
"..."
'Sohow it feels like I was just insulted by proxy... what do I do?'
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