Regardless of whether the tidal wave of tentacle sli had managed to disgust Brother Mouth, it had undeniably disgusted Cheng Shi — disgusted him so thoroughly that he couldn't eat for the rest of the day.
Of course, the sli drink's surprisingly filling nature might have contributed, but the bottom line was that the Clown had endured a decidedly un-rry afternoon.
It wasn't until sunset gave way to moonrise and night drew near that he finally clawed his way out of that nauseating state.
What pulled him out, however, wasn't his iron stomach — it was a call. A summons from the stars!
Kataro's signal had co again. This ti, the voice emanating from that star trailing chaotic yellow mist sounded slightly anxious:
"Sir, another visitor has co seeking an audience. But the situation is sowhat complicated this ti. Would you... have ti to handle it?"
Cheng Shi blinked. Last ti, Kataro had asked whether the visitor should be received. This ti, he'd jumped straight to assuming it was Cheng Shi's job.
Had the Fun God briefed Kataro?
So the current arrangent was... the crown prince governing on behalf of the king?
Cheng Shi grinned. He could even guess who the visitor was. The number of players significant enough for Kataro to personally summon him could be counted on one hand. Hu Wei and Da Yi would never dare make a scene in the Chaos Temple, so whoever was causing Kataro "trouble" had to be — no question — Zhen Xin.
What had she done this ti?
Curious, Cheng Shi hooked a smile and stepped onto the stairway winding through the yellow mist, vanishing from reality in an instant.
At the other end of the stairway lay the familiar platform rolling with infinite chaotic yellow mist. Before Cheng Shi even fully erged from the dense fog, he heard the bell-like laughter ringing across the platform.
"Hee~
It was I who begged the Benefactor to bring
here, so the audience afterward is naturally mine to claim!"
"Zhen Yi! I didn't want an audience—" This voice was grinding its teeth, but out of respect, it ultimately swallowed the final word "Him."
"You don't want one, but I do! How about this — today I'll be the big sister, I'll attend the audience, and you go take a nap?"
"No! Absolutely not!
Running wild in the void is one thing, but before this deity's temple — how dare you act out?!"
"Why can't I? Chaos is Chaos. Maybe the more chaotic I am, the more He'll like !
What if He takes a shine to ...
Hee~
I, Zhen Xin, will have a second faith!"
"You. Are. Zhen. Yi!"
"La la la, I can't hear you. You're Zhen Yi, and I'm Zhen Xin."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Not just Zhen Xin — even Kataro hiding in the mist and Cheng Shi on the verge of stepping out were rendered speechless by Zhen Yi's antics.
Who could possibly handle this lunatic?
Other people went crazy just to go crazy. But when she went crazy... the infuriating thing was that she actually made sense.
Chaos did champion chaos. Zhen Yi's behavior was, theoretically, entirely correct. Whether her "chaos" was genuine or fake, though — that was another matter.
If Cheng Shi hadn't known Zhen Xin's past, hadn't known the Zhen sisters' story, he might have been fooled by this scene too.
But having witnessed just how formidable Zhen Xin could be, looking at this situation now, he was certain: Zhen Xin had dug a pit for Zhen Yi and then tricked her into leaping headfirst into it.
Rember — Cheng Shi's original plan had been to use Zhen Xin to probe the Fun God's authority within the Chaos Temple. Yet now Zhen Xin was putting on a show of reluctance to cooperate with Chaos. This was obviously a ploy to bait her own sister.
'So it's like that, huh? Fine — deceiving yourself is one thing, but deceiving another version of yourself too?'
'Look at you — you've practically hooked your sister like a bass fish, and you're still reeling her in.'
'Do you have no conscience? No familial love? No video evidence?'
No.
Da Yi wasn't here. There really was no recording this ti.
But the probing had already gotten its answer. Cheng Shi hadn't expected the Fun God to hand him the answer directly before Zhen Xin even launched her investigation. So was the reason He'd dumped Zhen Xin here again just to mock how clumsy Cheng Shi's probing thods were?
'I foresaw my follower's little sche, so I spoiled the answer in advance and then laughed at him...'
Yeah, that sounded exactly like sothing the Fun God would do.
Cheng Shi's eye twitched as he began pondering how to handle the two sisters.
eting Zhen Xin alone wouldn't be a problem. Her personality was stable and she always considered the bigger picture. In the Chaos Temple's atmosphere, as long as his performance was convincing and his words were well-chosen, he'd never blow his cover.
eting Zhen Yi alone would also be manageable. No matter how many tricks she had, whipping out the container would be enough to silence all suspicion.
But if these two sisters showed up together in their split-personality mode...
Cheng Shi wasn't actually afraid of Zhen Yi. He was afraid of Zhen Xin — that master scher whose depths were bottomless — using Zhen Yi's madness as cover to relentlessly probe the Chaos Envoy Ultraman's reactions.
After all, she'd co here with the express purpose of probing. Cheng Shi had absolutely no doubt that Deceit's darling would be willing to create a spectacular fall-guy scenario for her own sister — one big enough to trap an Envoy.
And so, seeing the two of them argue with mounting fervor, Cheng Shi decided not to reveal himself just yet. Instead, he had Kataro push the mist inward. He blended into its form and slowly drew closer, observing them, thinking about how to shut down their split-personality act.
But the Zhen sisters' vigilance was extraordinarily sharp. The mont they sensed the yellow mist beginning to roll toward the platform's center, Zhen Yi abruptly halted her argunt with her sister. Her eyes darted suspiciously.
"Strange — how co no one's shown up yet?
Sis, did you offend Chaos at so point? Is that why they're snubbing you?"
"Ha — since when am I the sister? I'm Zhen Yi now. You're the big sister."
"Really? Wonderful!" Zhen Yi's grin stretched wide, and without warning, she shouted toward the space beyond the platform: "Hey, Chaos, are You there?
If You're not, does that an You're dead?
If You're dead, can I have this stairway and the temple up there? My na is Zhen Xin, and I—"
"ZHEN YI!!!"
Zhen Xin clapped a hand over her own mouth — but that was all she could do, because she couldn't stifle her own snickering.
Watching this unfold, Kataro, hidden in the yellow mist, was left deeply shaken.
Standing behind Cheng Shi, he was so stunned he started stamring.
"This... is what the Benefactor called... His 'collection'...?"
"Yes. That's His first collectible." Cheng Shi was equally at a loss for words.
'I an, I did send you here to probe, but your guts are sothing else. You really think having Zhen Yi as a scapegoat gives you free rein to run your mouth?'
'How certain are you that the Fun God will protect your sister, to dare play it this way?'
Kataro nodded, face full of genuine admiration. "Truly worthy of soone the Benefactor has His eye on."
"?" Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, nearly choking on a laugh.
'She's getting praise now? Kataro, whose side are you on?'
Standing behind Cheng Shi, Kataro regretted the words the instant they left his mouth. He quickly noticed the shift in Cheng Shi's expression, his face stiffening. He hurriedly added:
"With rely three-tenths of your grace, sir, she could comfortably claim the top spot on the audience rankings. Clearly, this player has her own rits."
"..."
Cheng Shi blinked and glanced back at Kataro, thinking — 'You've got your own rits too, kid.'
Catching the appraising look, Kataro hastily lowered his head and asked: "Sir, how would you like to receive these... two?
If it's inconvenient, I could... expel them on your behalf."
'They can be kicked out?'
Cheng Shi paused, then shook his head.
"Not yet. Let
figure out how to disarm Zhen Xin first."
He thought in silence for a mont. Then his brow quirked, and he snapped his fingers toward the Zhen sisters beyond the mist, activating a Chaos talent — Order Horn.
He wasn't even sure whether their current state counted as "disorder," since Zhen Xin was probably doing it deliberately. So he hadn't held out much hope.
But to his surprise, the instant the snap rang out, the split-personality Zhen Xin went montarily blank. She shook her head, and then her entire expression and deanor settled completely into the poised, steady Magician — Zhen Xin.
Even Zhen Xin herself was startled. This was the first ti an external force had managed to push Zhen Yi back. She stared at the yellow mist before her with alarm, sensing soone's presence within.
And in that very mont, Cheng Shi chuckled softly. He shifted his form into a near-perfect likeness of Kataro, donned the ceremonial robe, pulled up the hood, bowed his head with a mysterious smile, and stepped out of the mist.
When Zhen Xin noticed a figure draped in a murky yellow robe erging into her field of view, Deceit's darling quietly clenched the hands hidden in her sleeves. She bowed with composure and poise, showing respect.
"Praise be to Chaos. Zhen Xin, follower of Deceit, greets Your Excellency."
Seeing her dignified, neither cringing nor arrogant, Cheng Shi was instantly reminded of the Joy Theater in San Dales — when Long Jing had been desperately fawning over Yu Xi, and she had silently mouthed that question: "Is that how you act during an audience too?"
'Huh?'
'Wait, sis — so you really don't act like that?'
...
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