...
The Fool's Lips stayed silent for a long while, but Cheng Shi's relentless badgering finally forced a sigh out of it:
"I'm not the omniscient, omnipotent one — how would I know?"
"Then you must know sothing at least?"
"All I know is that the Clown who just barely escaped with his life is still a clown.
"Have you ever considered what would've happened to
if you'd died inside the Sea of Desire? What about Tongue? What about Ears?
"We don't want to turn into so bizarre Lips of Fear, Tongue of Ecstasy, and Ears of Anguish."
"..."
In that mont, Cheng Shi hadn't had the ntal bandwidth to think about any of that — desire had seized total control.
But now that he'd regained his composure and heard those words, a strange expression crept over his face as he shot back:
"Brother Mouth, Le Le'er was Prosperity's Envoy before becoming the Mother Tree of Fear. Since you're saying you could beco sothing akin to her — Lips of Fear — doesn't that an you're tacitly admitting sothing? Naly:
"Even if the Fun God hasn't officially given you the title, you're effectively already his Envoy?"
"You're wrong." The Fool's Lips responded instantly.
"?"
"The true Envoy is you, Lord Yu Xi.
"Although, judging by today's performance, we might as well drop 'Yu Xi' and just call you the Greed Lord instead. After all, the only thing connecting you to the Sea of Desire is greed."
"..."
'Got roasted again — but this ti it actually felt... kind of nice?'
Cheng Shi smiled. A grin split across his ashen face, though it wasn't because he'd collected so masochistic pleasure from verbal jabs at the edge of the Sea of Desire. He smiled because being roasted ant he was still alive.
'How wonderful. Survived another day — and in the absurdly dangerous Sinking Land at the edge of the Sea of Desire, no less.'
Cheng Shi quickened his retreat, breathing with utmost caution, even covering his ears to block out the distant tidal sounds.
He was convinced it was the fog and the tides that had hijacked his reason, and Le Le'er's unwitting assist had sealed the deal.
But with fear restored, Cheng Shi was back to his steady, prudent self. At least on the way back, he could feel his condition steadily improving.
"Brother Mouth, if even I couldn't resist the Sea of Desire's call, how did Keinlaur manage to hold himself back at the foot of the Mother Tree of Fear — profiting from it and walking away?"
The Fool's Lips hadn't intended to humor Cheng Shi any further, but the rare chance was too good to pass up. It let out a derisive snort:
"The Supre Inquisitor has a Benefactor's protection."
"?" Cheng Shi stopped mid-step and furrowed his brow. "That's so comnt. As if I don't have a Benefactor? I've got four... no, three... two Benefactors. Isn't that more than his?"
"Quantity aside, I said he has a Benefactor's protection. You just have Benefactors — what good does that do?"
"???"
Cheng Shi froze. He was already wondering the sa thing. If the Fun God had sent him to probe Corruption, why wasn't it the Fun God who'd pulled him back from the brink of the Sea of Desire? Why was it Death?
His expression turned peculiar, but before he could even voice the question, the Fool's Lips helpfully answered for him.
"If He dared co here to fish soone out, why do you think He needed a little clown to scout the way for Him?
"Is it because clowns run faster than fun?"
"..."
'Well... that's actually a fair point...'
'But hold on, Brother Mouth — are you blaspheming the Fun God right now?'
"Oh, so people toss around blasphemy every other sentence without blinking, yet I grumble once and suddenly I'm being judged?
"Lord Clown Inquisitor, might I inquire — whose divine law does your judgnt follow?
"Surely not the God of Deceit's — the one who didn't bother to save you?"
"..." 'Brother Mouth's especially combative today.'
'Maybe he felt the fear too?'
Cheng Shi fell silent.
Sure, losing control to desire was his own fault. But in all honesty, shouldn't the absent Fun God bear at least three... no, seventy percent of the bla?
And what about Fate?
The other Benefactor who claid to guide him toward his Fixed Destiny — why hadn't He shown up either? Was his Fixed Destiny supposed to lie in the depths of the Sea of Desire?
Absurd!
If he said that out loud, the entire universe would die laughing.
At least he'd made it out of the Sea of Desire's pull and salvaged his life. Now he truly owed that Lord a debt of survival.
Cheng Shi rallied his spirits, kept every nerve taut, and walked faster and faster. Before long, he was back at the foot of the Mother Tree of Fear — only now, Le Le'er had completely withered, drained of every last drop of vitality.
This Envoy of Corruption, who had dominated the Sea of Desire for an eternity, had finally perished alongside her fallen mother. Who knew whether, when they t again in so other dinsion, they'd still disagree about the will to prosper all of creation.
"Dead... An Envoy just... died, like that..."
The sight hit Cheng Shi with trendous force. He'd witnessed Prosperity's self-destruction, true enough — but that apocalyptic detonation, which shocked the universe into silence, had been earth-shattering and awe-inspiring. Le Le'er's death, though...
She was like a colossal tree with the fast-forward button pressed — dying as ordinarily as could be. Soundless, unremarkable, no different from a flower wilting on a roadside or a tree toppling in a forest.
That stark contrast was what truly shook Cheng Shi. It was beyond imagination that the fall of such a being could be so silent.
So even becoming a Servant God only made you a slightly bigger wave in the river of this era — utterly incomparable to Them, who had climbed out of the river and sat upon its banks.
Perhaps in the next era Le Le'er could start over. But the question was — could She wait that long? Could the universe?
And even if they could, would what arrived be another era...
Or another experint?
Cheng Shi's thoughts descended into turmoil. A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes, but fear jolted him awake, helping him find himself again.
He stood beneath the withered colossus, glancing left and right, when a puzzled look crossed his face:
"Brother Mouth, can ordinary living things wander into the Sinking Land?"
"Admitting you're an Envoy now?"
"..." Cheng Shi rolled his eyes. "I ca in as a drear, so I'm hardly an ordinary creature. But I distinctly rember seeing a sparrow on this branch earlier — how co it's gone now?"
"Isn't it right here? Chirping and squawking all day long — if that's not a sparrow, what is?"
"..."
'Definitely not a good day to chat with Brother Mouth. The sarcasm just won't stop.'
'But was that sparrow just an illusion created by the Sea of Desire's tidal disturbance?'
Cheng Shi frowned slightly but didn't dwell on it. His attention was quickly drawn to Le Le'er's "corpse."
'Think about it — Keinlaur picked up a single fallen branch from Le Le'er and fashioned it into a giant bow that could split the wind and slay a person. If I hauled off the entire dead tree...'
Hiss—
'The Sea of Desire's influencing
again!'
Even as the thought ford, Cheng Shi's hands had already fished a sharp axe from his personal storage, seemingly of their own accord.
Seeing this, soone let out a derisive snort:
"In ancient tis, a foolish old man tried to move a mountain. Today, a clown tries to chop a tree.
"But the old man had endless descendants to carry on his work. The clown has nothing but laughs.
"If laughter alone could fell a tree — the old man pales before you."
"..."
Cheng Shi's face crumbled, as if all his strength had been sapped.
'Great. The one episode where Brother Mouth decides to be literary.'
...
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