Cheng Shi was Cheng Shi — a little mocking banter was never going to make him abandon his greed.
Even knowing that greed was the bait that stirred the Sea of Desire's tides, having treasure right in front of him yet being told not to take it — then why didn't they just kill him outright when he'd nearly stumbled into the Sea?
So at the very least, the Lord on the Bone Throne supported him taking Le Le'er's corpse.
Besides, was he taking this giant tree for himself?
The Fishbone Hall was so cold — he needed so firewood to start a fire. What if that Lord caught a chill? Who'd protect him then?
Could the unreliable Fun God handle it?
No!
So Cheng Shi got to work, burying his axe right into Le Le'er's "ankle."
Honestly, he hadn't even swung hard — he'd rely wanted to test whether an ordinary axe could breach an Envoy's shell. But to his surprise, this single chop not only split a gash in the withered tree wide enough for a person to lie in, it also shook loose sothing from the sparse canopy that Cheng Shi could never have anticipated.
A sphere of light shimring with every color imaginable descended from above, landing squarely before Cheng Shi's eyes. Up close, he saw that within the glow were two intertwined, inverse teardrops.
Their slender tails connected while their rounded bodies repelled each other. The light inside them stretched and warped ceaselessly, tangled and twisted, making the whole thing look like an alien hourglass.
Cheng Shi had only ever seen this peculiar, eldritch shape on one kind of object. Without a mont's hesitation, he pulled out his own container from within his consciousness.
A container!
When Le Le'er died, a container had fallen from her canopy!
Cheng Shi was stunned. He set the two containers side by side — one emanating the aura of Chaos, the other relentlessly tugging at his emotions. The unmistakable reaction confird it: the new container before him was a Corruption container!
"This..."
Cheng Shi's heart lurched. His first instinct was to glance toward the distant Sea of Desire. His second was to stow his own container and take a cautious step back.
No — half a step.
Because while his expression was guarded, his eyes blazed with hunger.
If this hadn't been a Corruption container, Cheng Shi wouldn't have let it sit before him for this long. Even if one person couldn't hold two containers at once, he'd have found a way to stash it in his personal storage space.
But it was precisely because it was a Corruption container that greedy little Cheng felt genuine, bone-deep fear.
Claiming he wasn't afraid would be a lie. The crisis of nearly stumbling into the Sea of Desire was still fresh in his mind. No matter how badly he wanted to be greedy, Cheng Shi had to ensure he'd live long enough to be greedy.
And at this mont...
'Seventeen seconds. Nothing dangerous seems to have appeared. The tides of the Sea of Desire haven't surged again. Does that an the container is safe?'
'No — steady, Cheng Shi, be more cautious. Wait at least twenty seconds.'
The instant twenty seconds passed, Cheng Shi snatched up the Corruption container and bolted, arms pumping wildly as he sprinted in the direction farthest from the Sea of Desire.
With this prize in hand, Le Le'er's corpse didn't matter anymore. As for the Fishbone Hall being too cold — well, that Lord was used to the environnt by now. A sudden change might not suit Him anyway, right?
Cheng Shi was already drowning his thoughts in random nonsense, terrified that his uncontrollable glee might stir the Sea of Desire's tides behind him.
Yet as he ran, he found himself gradually calming down. The chaotic thoughts in his head gave way to analysis about how this container had ended up in his hands. Moreover, the fear in his heart dissolved again, allowing him to assess his own shifting state and the "risks" that lay ahead.
He analyzed everything with cold rationality. Before long, a flash of insight struck and he stopped in his tracks, set the container on the ground, and backed away from it with a grave expression.
Sure enough — after Cheng Shi released the container, his greed and fear slowly returned.
He stared at the container again, eyes ablaze, and realized that the Corruption container didn't absorb faith from the universe like his own Dyeing Container — instead, it continuously devoured the desires of anyone who drew near!
This thing didn't even need an owner. Whoever found it could potentially beco Corruption's Envoy!
Because faith was finite, but desire... was endless.
'This is bad. The Fun God's joke turned out to be prophetic — the Greed Lord is literally waving
over!'
'But let's be honest — who could stand here and refuse a free container?'
'Besides, isn't picking up loot after a hero defeats the boss standard procedure? Even if the boss fell on its own, the hero did launch a verbal attack against it.'
'Wait — are verbal attacks not attacks now?'
Cheng Shi had nearly convinced himself, but before making the final decision to take the container, he decided to deceive himself one more ti. He shook out his arms and asked cautiously:
"Brother Mouth, this container... can I take it?"
The Fool's Lips let out a contemptuous snort, declining to comnt on the Clown's self-deception. In his panic, Cheng Shi pulled out his Tongue, which simply flipped over and went back to sleep.
Seeing that Tongue wouldn't engage either, an embarrassed Cheng Shi pulled out his Ears. Ears were reliable — they glanced at the container, then asked a puzzled question:
"He gave you this thing — what for? Wants you to go undercover in the Sea of Desire?"
"!?"
'He, Sea of Desire, undercover?'
'What does that an — this was given by the Fun God?'
'But isn't this Le Le'er's relic? The Fun God never showed up — how can this count as a "gift"?'
Cheng Shi stood frozen. He furrowed his brow, sensing sothing was off about this explanation. He tried to ask more, but Ears — realizing it had said too much — instantly muted itself. This anomalous change made Cheng Shi suspect the Fun God might have already arrived and was watching him from sowhere right now.
So he drew a deep breath and called out toward the sky of the Sinking Land — loudly... no, he didn't dare make it loud. He whispered:
"My Lord Benefactor, since this is your gift, it would be rude of
to refuse?"
The mont the words left his lips, the Fool's Lips scoffed: "You said that so quietly — were you hoping He wouldn't hear, so you could count His silence as consent?"
"?"
'Brother Mouth, whose side are you on!? Why do you keep blurting out the truth!'
Cheng Shi coughed awkwardly, then a gleam sparked in his eyes: "So He really is here?"
"Oh absolutely, He's totally here. He's everywhere, all the ti."
"..."
The Deceit follower who'd just straightened his spine thinking his Benefactor had arrived imdiately hunched over again.
'That tone doesn't sound like He's actually here at all.'
'Is Brother Mouth lying to
again?'
'But regardless of whether He's here or not, I can't just throw away a Corruption container, can I?'
'I've already carried it this far, so far from the Mother Tree of Fear — how can it still count as hers?'
'What if it's a wild, ownerless Corruption container? After all, a container that absorbs desire doesn't need a master. No master ans no owner. And if it has no owner — why can't it be mine?'
'Praise the Benefactor!'
Cheng Shi decisively tossed the container into his bag.
After standing still for a mont and confirming that nothing had changed — and that his desires and emotions were unaffected as long as he wasn't touching the container — Cheng Shi pursed his lips. His unsatisfied gaze drifted back toward the Mother Tree of Fear.
'You know...
'That Lord lives alone in the Fishbone Hall, and it's awfully desolate in there. Even if a bit of firelight can't warm His essential coldness, at least it could bring so warmth to the little skulls in the hall, right?
'That Lord cares so deeply for His followers — surely He'd support
doing this, wouldn't He?'
The thought had barely ford before Cheng Shi steeled his nerves, shook out his hands, and tentatively walked back.
...
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