The other two present froze, turning to Sun Miao with startled expressions.
Chun was utterly baffled, though her eyes already blazed with fierce battle lust. Cheng Shi, on the other hand, reacted quickly. He briefly recalled the locations and route of their pursuit, then suddenly laughed.
"As expected of a [Folly] wise man. Quick on the uptake.
But I'm curious, which organization's cipher are those symbols made from corpse positions?"
"[Folly]?" Chun looked at Sun Miao, confused. "Isn't she a [Silence] believer?"
Then she looked down at the tad beast's corpse at her feet, frowning in thought. "Cipher? What cipher?"
Cheng Shi chuckled lightly and said nothing more. Sun Miao didn't address Chun's confusion either, rely facing Cheng Shi with her ever-expressionless face as she typed:
"Your mind isn't slow either, but I must correct you, Cheng Shi. The lines connecting the corpse positions don't spell out so cipher. They spell... Grand Tribunal script.
The Beast Tar wrote the characters for 'mountain ravine' in the river valley forest, pointing away from the actual ravine. This ans he's deliberately avoiding Lin Xi's line of sight to pass us information.
I don't know what your old friend is thinking. All I know is I've gained another piece of trivia:
Apparently, certain famous Fate Weavers... are illiterate.
That's quite rare among peak players. You really ought to work harder at fitting in, Vice President Cheng."
"..."
Cheng Shi stood dumbstruck for a mont, then burst out laughing.
'See? This is what [Folly] believers are like. They always find so bizarre angle to hit you with disdain.'
'But so what if I can't read?'
"Vice President Sun, you seem to have overlooked sothing. Fitting in isn't determined by literacy. It's determined by numbers.
Of the three people present, who do you think there are more of: the literate, or the illiterate?"
The mont those words fell, the two History School Vice Presidents, suddenly locked in a bout of one-upmanship, both turned to look at Chun. Chun blinked, sowhat bewildered.
"I can read. I recognize the characters for 'mountain ravine.' I just didn't realize the corpse positions ford writing..."
But before she could finish, a look of sudden realization crossed Chun's face. She pressed her lips together and looked at Cheng Shi. "Should I... have pretended I couldn't read?"
"???"
'Wait, sis???'
'You can actually read?!'
Cheng Shi was floored. Of all the things he'd calculated, he never imagined the Crown of Thorns, whose behavior so closely mirrored Big Cat's, would actually know Grand Tribunal script.
'Is that also the power of hatred?'
'Great. So I'm the only illiterate one here?!'
'Heh.'
'This is like the clown's mother opening the door for the clown. The clown has finally co ho.'
Even Sun Miao, expressionless as she was, could barely keep her composure. She fought down the urge to look down her nose at him and, instead of pressing her advantage, "helpfully" pointed toward the ravine.
"On our way here, I surveyed the area. There are three ravines ahead of the left flank. Two have gentle terrain and simple topography, poor for concealnt. The third has complex features, dense vegetation, and lies in the direction we ca from. It doesn't resemble a decayed zone, but there's a high probability that's where Lin Xi is.
However, if we want to deal with him before the full battle erupts, we'll need to drive him out first.
His current position is at the heart of the battlefield. Even if we successfully eliminate the Plague Cardinal, the plague sources he leaves behind upon death will beco a nightmare for the entire battlefront and will certainly alter the left flank's outco.
That's not good for faithfully recreating history, and it's an even greater obstacle to the truth you're trying to uncover, as it would obscure and overwrite the real facts.
So, have you figured out what to do, Vice President Cheng?"
Sotis things worked out this way: people with different amounts of information reached entirely different conclusions about the sa situation. Cheng Shi wasn't the least bit worried about Lin Xi leaving behind plague sources after death, because he could guarantee that Lin Xi would no longer be a Plague Cardinal before he died.
His only two concerns right now were, first, whether the "tip-off" from Xiao Qi concealed goodwill or malice, and second, when Lin Xi unleashed the power of [Oblivion], would the [Oblivion] deity hiding in so disintegrating world co swooping in again for another undignified ambush?
What Cheng Shi feared was never power on his own level. It was the higher-dinsional force he couldn't hope to resist.
After a mont of thought, he looked up with a smile. "How about a deal, Vice President Sun?"
Sun Miao paused, then nodded. "It seems the value of a Mi Master is finally being acknowledged."
"Not exactly." Cheng Shi waved his hand with a smile. "I don't need you to fight Lin Xi with . I just need you to watch the periter. Keep an eye on that Beast Tar who could show up at any mont.
Based on my understanding of Xiao Qi's personality, he's probably not extending an olive branch to smooth things over. In all likelihood, he's setting the tiger against the wolf, watching from the sidelines, waiting for my battle with Lin Xi to produce a result before swooping in as the oriole behind the mantis, the fisherman who profits.
I don't want this straightforward faith conflict contaminated by too many outside agendas. So all I need from you is to pin down the Beast Tar, make sure he contributes nothing in this trial. Even chasing him off to find that giant bow he's after would be fine. Just keep him away from ."
"Xiao Qi. Is that his real na?
He's that Du Qiyu he was talking about, correct?"
The wise man was sharp indeed, but Cheng Shi had no desire to explain, and even less intention of satisfying Sun Miao's curiosity.
"Never mind who he is. Are you taking this deal or not, Vice President Sun?"
"Taking it. Of course I'm taking it." Sun Miao's fingers flew across her beeper, resembling nothing so much as a shrewd rchant who never turned down business. "But if it's just surveillance, I feel the deal is too limited. How about... I take him out for you? That might earn
sothing more interesting in return. What do you say?"
Hearing this proposal, Cheng Shi smiled.
Taking out Xiao Qi wasn't necessarily a gain for Cheng Shi, but leaking intelligence to others was definitely a loss. So soone as calculating as Cheng the penny-pincher would never agree to such terms.
But he didn't refuse, either.
"If you feel like going for it, by all ans. But the intelligence cap stays where it is. Anything beyond that is volunteer work on your part.
Past, present, or future: overti never cos with overti pay."
Cheng Shi chuckled softly and beckoned Chun to follow, darting off toward Lin Xi's location. Seeing his attitude, Sun Miao nodded thoughtfully.
'So this Fate Weaver doesn't want to discuss his past. But the lead is already in hand. Perhaps soone else will find this more interesting than I do.'
'I wonder, when Zhen Xin learns about Cheng Shi's past, will she be willing to trade more secrets for it? And if she's not interested, then...'
'What about Zhen Yi?'
With that thought, the Mi Master vanished from the spot as well.
...
anwhile, on the other side.
Although Du Qiyu and Lin Xi were allies, aside from the initial eting at the start of the trial where everyone had seen his true body, he had operated exclusively through tad beasts.
He had volunteered to be Lin Xi's eyes, keeping ticulous watch for the [Decay] Chosen, who was singularly focused on luring Cheng Shi into his trap.
Lin Xi could guess that Du Qiyu harbored his own petty sches, but he didn't care. That was the nature of this ga. There could never be true, sincere friends. Aligned interests brought allies together; conflicting interests tore so-called friends apart through betrayal.
Lin Xi had never had friends. From the mont he lost the person he loved, he knew there was no such thing as love or goodwill in this world.
Faith and survival. Those were everything.
Right now, he was pondering how to handle a [Void] practitioner and his troubleso "ex-wife." And if it ca to it, possibly a Mi Master on top of that.
The Beast Tar was useless. Based on his impression, the man was a paper tiger, the kind you couldn't prop up even if you tried.
His only option now was to overwhelm the Beast Tar with sheer intimidation, ensuring that at least he wouldn't beco an additional asset for the other side. As for whether he served as Lin Xi's own asset, it didn't matter. He didn't need that sliver of combat power.
Of course, what gave Lin Xi such confidence wasn't the talent bestowed upon him by [Oblivion]. No matter how good a talent from faith fusion might be, it couldn't let him single-handedly fight three opponents in a peak-level match, especially when one of them was a Fate Weaver who had once slain a Pseudo God.
But the thing was, a Pseudo God was still a Pseudo God. Even if Cheng Shi's track record was impressive, could he really handle a true god?
Lin Xi was very much looking forward to finding the answer to that question in this trial.
And just as he was contemplating his layouts and designs, a bird circling overhead dove toward him, calling out with a note of urgency:
"They're coming. Northeast."
Lin Xi's brow darkened. While he didn't mind accelerating the tiline for battle, the problem was they were approaching far too quickly. He hadn't had ti to set most of his traps.
"How many?"
"Two. Xiao... Cheng Shi and that long-haired man."
Long-haired man? Who? Chun?!
Her hair grew back?!
'That's impossible!'
...
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