Foolish Game of the Chapter 901: He Has Arrived

The Void — she was back in the Void!

If the Fun God hadn't been the one to fling him here, if he weren't still perfectly alive and unhard, Cheng Shi would have thought Oblivion had intercepted him.

Because the Void before him was just so... void. Pitch-black, boundless, eternally silent.

Honestly, when the Void returned to its truest essence, even the most devoted Void walker felt a bit uneasy.

The Void was supposed to be like this, sure. But knowing that this was the Fun God's headquarters, the idea that this pitch-black infinite space contained no shenanigans or entertainnt whatsoever was simply un-Him.

While thinking this, Cheng Shi kept his senses taut, scanning the surroundings and trying to figure out who wanted to grant him an audience this ti.

He reviewed his relationships with the various gods. After a good while of deliberation, a vague guess began to form — but before he could gather more evidence for his theory, Brother Mouth abruptly chid in:

"He has arrived."

"Who?" Cheng Shi flinched instinctively. Then he watched as the Void around him plunged downward, dragging him along into a freefall collapse.

The maddening sensation of weightlessness made Cheng Shi clench his teeth. The seemingly brief fall distorted his senses, birthing the illusion that he was traversing eternity itself.

Before long, he found himself plumting into a wholly new starry sky — one so familiar that it took him exactly one second to confirm his guess.

The "He" on Brother Mouth's lips was none other than... Ti!

But!

It was the Fun God playing the role of Ti!

Because Cheng Shi had once again arrived at the platform of the Universal Clock, where Lord Shi Zhen had been "born." The enormous jade-like dial hanging overhead and the towering pointer festooned with rings — nothing had changed. Ti still lingered here, bending and flowing in gentle currents.

Moreover, the mont Cheng Shi landed, the great pointer swept across the center of the dial again with a crisp "click" — as if tolling the hour for the universe, and also as a reminder to a certain visitor who was currently bowing, head lowered, eyes sneaking peeks in every direction.

Reminding him: the one who had summoned him had arrived!

By that logic, the "summoner" was Cheng Shi. As for who the visitor was...

Cheng Shi could barely keep the corners of his mouth from curving up.

When he recognized the figure on the platform — an Acrobat with an extraordinarily familiar build — he shifted his form, reshaping himself into a clock hand.

He hadn't expected Long Jing's audience to co this quickly. Even less had he expected the Fun God to pull him in for a cao appearance. It seed that recently, the god had indeed been accelerating His faith deploynt, rapidly opening up second faiths for His followers.

Then again, other gods' followers needed the second faith's deity to consent to the fusion. But the Fun God's approach... no matter how you looked at it, this was a hard sell.

'Hard sell works for . As long as I'm always the one with the leverage, I will forever support hard sells.'

Shortly after, Cheng Shi touched down. Like a star falling from the heavens, he crashed onto the dial in an explosion of ti-bending brilliance. The spectacular entrance stunned Long Jing, who — even during his audience with the other Envoy, Lord Yu Xi — had never witnessed such a dazzling arrival or a divine domain with this much visual impact.

Long Jing glanced upward. When he saw the fallen star transform into a clock hand, he finally understood just how fitting the title "Shi Zhen" was. The figure hadn't assud human form at all — He was literally a clock hand!

At the sight, the Acrobat snapped to attention. A respectful smile forced its way onto his face. His posture grew increasingly deferential as he praised at full volu:

"Praise be to Ti! May the universe fall into eternity, may the years flow in cycles, may the future beco the past, and may all living things bask in the light of ti!

Void walker, beloved of Deceit, one who reveres Ti — Long Jing sends his greetings to the great Lord Shi Zhen, and brings warm regards from your old friend, Lord Yu Xi.

He is doing well, and hopes the sa for You."

Having delivered his lines, Long Jing suppressed his excitent, composing himself as he awaited the response.

He gave his own performance a 9 out of 10. The remaining point was held back to prevent arrogance.

But the very next second, Shi Zhen's reply hit like a bucket of ice water, thoroughly dousing this internally blazing Acrobat. It was then that Long Jing realized the greeting system wasn't scored out of 10...

It was out of 1,000.

"A lineage of falsehood. Lip service dressed up as piety.

So — that sly con artist sent you here to steal another second hand from ?"

"???"

'Wait — what?!'

'Second hand?'

'Lord Yu Xi stole Lord Shi Zhen's second hand?'

Long Jing blinked in bewildernt. Cold sweat instantly drenched his forehead and back.

'This is bad! My lord, you can't do this to ! You call this an "old friend"?'

'A five-finger-discount buddy, more like!'

'Shouldn't you have given

a heads-up before I ca? All that bootlicking just went straight onto a horse's hoof!'

'Then again — Yu Xi, Yu Xi... if he didn't play fools for fools, what kind of Fool's Play would he be?'

'Fine, fine — your guidance truly lives up to the na "Yu Xi"!'

In that mont, Long Jing gained a far deeper understanding of the Envoy known as "Yu Xi." Unfortunately, this epiphany did absolutely nothing to save him right now. So he was terrified.

His single, consuming thought was: 'Please, let whatever "second hand" Lord Yu Xi stole not be this Shi Zhen's child...'

'Even if it's just an artifact, there's still hope of surviving this!'

'But if it involves divine bloodlines...'

'Then this platform, painted with the wonders of ti, would probably be his burial ground.'

For a mont, Long Jing — normally brimming with tricks — froze like a jamd gear, mind blank, ears buzzing, with no idea how to respond.

Watching the hilarious scene unfold, Cheng Shi fought with every ounce of his being to keep from laughing out loud. But the curl of his lips had already matched the curve of any Deceit mask.

The second hand was, of course, complete nonsense he'd made up on the spot.

He'd said it for only two reasons. First, to flesh out Yu Xi's persona and make the false identity feel more real. Second, naturally, to deliver a thoughtful little intimidation to this clever colleague of his.

Only by making smart people afraid could subsequent conversations go smoothly. This had been thoroughly validated in his previous audiences.

Even Zhen Xin had to take a hit first. Long Jing, who ranked behind her, couldn't expect any better.

Cheng Shi actually wanted to comfort him — to say that Zhen Xin, for all the Fun God's favor, received the exact sa treatnt here. She'd even perford a number for the privilege. At least the clown cody show Long Jing put on was simpler than dancing, right? Wait — no — what did clowns have to do with—

But he had no standing to say any of that. So the great Lord Shi Zhen stifled his laughter, affected a cold snort, and offered the panicked Long Jing a way out.

"It seems you were played for a fool by him too. Hmph — that does sound like sothing he'd do.

Deceit followers are liars through and through. Utterly untrustworthy.

Speak — aside from stealing my second hand on his behalf, what else brings you here?"

"..."

At this point, Long Jing didn't dare utter a single word, because he'd realized every line was a trap. One wrong response and he'd be confirming himself as a thief.

'But I'm innocent!'

'Lord Yu Xi, oh Lord Yu Xi — you've really done

in this ti!'

...