Foolish Game of the Chapter 922: Was It Worth It?

Of course, Chun wasn't actually a child.

She was simply blunt in every situation that didn't involve Lin Xi. Perhaps because the pursuit of Lin Xi consud every ounce of her ntal energy, she refused to waste any on anything else.

But so things still had to be done. Like right now:

Finding allies — and, while she was at it, saring Lin Xi's na.

When matched with Lin Xi, she united every available force against him. When not matched with him, she impersonated him to make enemies everywhere. This was what Chun had been doing all along.

Cheng Shi had evidently guessed her intentions. Recalling what Sun Miao had told him about the couple's past, he sighed with a complicated expression.

"So that was your probe?

First you impersonate Lin Xi and attack soone. If they fight back in fury, they beco your ally. If they rush to explain themselves, they're your enemy.

The thod is crude, but effective.

However, Crown of Thorns — what happens when your probe lands on soone reasonable? That works out. But what about soone unreasonable, soone who insists on settling the score?

Stubbornness pushes them into Lin Xi's camp. The enemies you make beco your own bitter fruit.

Have you considered — swallow too much bitter fruit, and it kills you."

Chun paused for a mont. A flicker of gratitude crossed her eyes. She understood: this player she'd just probed was kindly warning her to be more careful with her thods. Sure enough — Hong Lin was right. He was a good person.

But since she dared to do this, she naturally had a way to deal with the fallout.

And so, in the next instant, Cheng Shi — still frowning — and Sun Miao — hurrying over — witnessed a sight that left them dumbstruck. Chun ripped open her shirt, revealing a waist and abdon bristling with daggers.

Her smooth abdominal muscles were riddled with wounds. Every scar had a dagger with a broken handle lodged into it. Dozens of shattered blades had all but torn her midsection apart. Any onlooker would wince — yet this woman hadn't so much as furrowed her brow. She'd been running through trials in this agonizing state, all for the sake of killing a forr lover.

'Sss—'

'She really is ruthless with herself.'

Cheng Shi's pupils shrank. He sucked in a sharp breath, his own abdon twinging in sympathetic pain.

Sun Miao stared blankly for a mont, then picked up her electronic beeper: "You're still making offerings to Decay?"

Chun shook her head.

"No. Decay and I are done.

This isn't an offering to Him. And it's not atonent either. It's compensation for the probing.

My life still serves a purpose. That filthy rat doesn't die, I don't die.

So I can't repay you with a life. But I can let you vent the anger of being probed."

As she spoke, Chun drew a dagger, held it blade-out in her grip, and walked toward Cheng Shi with a steely expression. The ssage was clear: if Cheng Shi was angry, he could plunge this dagger into her. Let bone-deep pain substitute for death as her punishnt.

"..."

'Sure enough — peak players are insane. Has there ever been a single normal person among those who've topped the rankings?'

"Doesn't it hurt?" Cheng Shi's eyelid twitched.

Chun's ashen face twisted into a cold, hate-filled smile.

"How can flesh wounds compare to heartbreak?

Cheng Shi, I'm asking you for help."

Cheng Shi went quiet. He knew exactly what the favor was. But he didn't rush to agree. Brow furrowed, he sank into thought. A long while passed before he nodded.

"All right. But one dagger..." He glanced at the dagger in Chun's hand and shook his head. "...isn't enough."

Chun smiled. It was her first genuine smile in this trial. She didn't resent that Cheng Shi wanted more. She simply felt, once again, that Hong Lin was right — he really was a good person.

She never feared paying a price. She only feared getting nothing in return.

So she drew a second dagger.

Bearing two shares of pain. Representing double her sincerity.

"..."

"..."

Dead silence.

Even Sun Miao, the Silence follower, was struggling to keep a straight face.

'Call her a child, and she has a resilience that would make the toughest warrior feel ashad. Call her an adult, and... is this a transaction that a ntally sound grown person would co up with?'

'Girl — do I need your dagger? Or do I need an opportunity to stab you a second ti?'

'I'm asking for a win-win. But you...'

'You haven't embraced so suffering-desire, have you?'

Cheng Shi's gaze toward Chun suddenly carried a note of scrutiny.

Corruption was no joke. Even re observation shouldn't be done at this close a range.

Fortunately, he confird she harbored no leanings toward Corruption. But her obsessive killing intent toward Lin Xi was undeniably walking the path of embracing one's own desire.

Seeing Chun hesitate over whether to pull out a third dagger, Cheng Shi had enough. He decided to be blunt and stop wasting ti.

"I'm curious about how you faked the Oblivion aura. That was genuine Oblivion.

Did you... fuse Oblivion, like Lin Xi?"

Chun blinked, seeming to finally grasp what Cheng Shi actually wanted. She shook her head. After careful deliberation, she pulled a palm-sized banner from inside her clothes.

"This. An SS-class divine artifact of Oblivion: the World-Destroyer's Banner.

After that filthy rat fused Oblivion, I wanted to fuse it too. I knew that only by knowing my enemy could I kill him. But...

Oblivion rejected . No matter how I prayed, no matter how I offered — He never gave

a single chance."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow.

'Oblivion didn't want to fuse with Prosperity?'

He didn't know what Oblivion was thinking, but he suspected that Prosperity having "obliterated" Oblivion had created so... resentnt.

Who knew what authority Prosperity had left with Oblivion? It probably disgusted Him.

"So to understand Oblivion, I targeted His servants."

Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened. He was about to speak when the electronic beeper beside him cut in: "Herobos!"

Chun's face shifted, as though recalling sothing unforgettably painful.

"Yes. I found Herobos. And I took this banner from the World-Destroyer."

"?"

Impressive.

Only Carving Rotten Wood's strength was beyond question. But Cheng Shi still couldn't believe she'd single-handedly held her own against a World-Destroyer, let alone seized a divine-class artifact from an Envoy.

That was borderline unthinkable.

"So — the price?"

Chun said nothing. After a mont, she tore the already-shredded remains of her top completely off — revealing a ribcage stripped of flesh, and a heart wrapped in ashen Oblivion aura.

The heart, barely retaining a faint pinkish hue, was still beating. But with each pulse, it pumped a small amount of Oblivion essence into her limbs and body.

"!!??"

"I'm dying. As the price for wielding Oblivion's power, I've shouldered another curse that was never part of my own faith.

That's why I can't put any more daggers in my right chest. As you can see — ribs can't hold a dagger in place...

I'll give up anything. But I have one demand:

I will land the final blow myself!"

"You..." For the first ti, a trace of emotion cracked Sun Miao's perpetually blank face. Her fingers typed stiffly: "Was it worth it?"

"No."

A shadow dimd Chun's eyes. But in the next instant, they blazed with unwavering resolve.

"But I hate him."

Hearing all this, Cheng Shi nodded. He asked nothing more.

"I've heard about what happened to you. But that's not the reason I'd cooperate with you.

Everyone has their own misfortune. Misfortunes can't be quantified by severity — outsiders can empathize, but they've never lived it. Those who haven't been through it have no right to judge.

At most, I can offer you my sympathy. But Crown of Thorns — you should count yourself lucky that this ti, Fate stood on your side. No — it's more like Oblivion pushed the opportunity your way.

I do, in fact, have a bone to pick with Him.

So yes, I agree. Whether it's out of support for the Prosperity camp or disdain for the Oblivion camp — I see no reason to refuse.

But let

be clear: I won't follow your lead. I'll act only when I deem it necessary. Rest assured, though — when it cos to threats, I'm always more 'fearful' than anyone.

If he truly poses a threat, I'll do my best to 'obliterate' that threat within this trial. But if he has so ans of resurrection..."

"He doesn't. I'm certain." Chun's tone was absolute. Her hatred surged.

'So you've both cut off each other's escape routes.'

"Good. Then for now, let's return to the trial. I doubt you'd want to tag along and dig into Order's stories with us.

In that case, go handle your own affairs.

Relax. The mont will co soon. Every last drop of hatred will find its resolution. Of that... I'm quite confident."

...