"So?"
Cheng Shi stifled his laughter and regarded Yu Go with amusent.
Yu Go clutched the container tightly, his expression turning solemn:
"So, to accelerate my Benefactor's plan, and also to prove my own devotion, I wish to...
...deposit this container with you for safekeeping, Mister Yu Xi. When the next era begins, you can return it to ..."
'What!!'
Cheng Shi was genuinely stunned. He'd imagined countless possible trades, but never that the container had been produced not for identity verification, but as a "transaction."
Still, was this really a trade?
Calling it a deposit sounded nice, but where was the cost to him?
Surely this Envoy wasn't eyeing the [Deceit] container in return?
Absolutely not. His container could be dyed. One of his was worth three of Yu Go's, and in the future possibly four or even sixteen...
But Cheng Shi didn't react hastily. He feigned composure and patiently waited for Yu Go to continue. Seeing "Mister Yu Xi" remain so unflappable seed to bolster Yu Go's courage, and He went on:
"Of course, to ensure you don't co out at a loss, I will pay a deposit fee.
Paynt will be in... divinity.
I am willing to voluntarily shed my [Decay] faith, temporarily transferring the container's ownership to you. During this transitional period between eras, all the divinity it produces will be entirely at your disposal. Consider this the paynt for this transaction.
What do you say?"
'Not a chance!'
When Yu Go had first ntioned depositing the container, Cheng Shi had been mildly interested. But the mont Yu Go said He'd also pay a fee, Cheng Shi rejected the deal outright without a second thought.
This wasn't a paid deposit. This was a pure giveaway!
True, the Sea of Desire had left him with so residual greed. But he was greedy, not stupid.
The way Yu Go was practically shoving this container into his hands was alarming. Could it be so kind of inescapable curse?
What was [Decay] up to?
Could He be planning to personally cleanse the universe of faith-based deadweight to accelerate the decay?
What else could terrify an Envoy so badly that He didn't even want His own [Decay] container?
Cheng Shi's mind was in chaos. There was too much to consider: [Decay]'s attitude, Yu Go's motives, how He'd learned of the Yu Xi identity, and why He wanted to hand the container to the [Void] camp.
Among the players who knew the na Yu Xi, those who could definitively confirm that Yu Xi was role-playing as himself — or rather, that Cheng Shi was Yu Xi — were likely limited to Bianse Long, Qu Yan, and the villain Poison. He'd openly admitted it in their presence.
But on closer examination, that could also be a false lead. After Zhen Xin learned the truth, he'd already covered his tracks.
So why could Yu Go be so certain that the player Cheng Shi was the Envoy Yu Xi?
Too strange. Strange enough that Cheng Shi suspected Yu Go's arrival might carry so god's will behind it.
Who had sent Him? [Deceit] or [Fate]?
It didn't seem like the latter. After all, the Yu Xi identity wasn't exactly welco in [Fate]'s court.
But if it was [Deceit], given the gods' collective impression of Him, why would Yu Go follow a "liar's" guidance?
Cheng Shi racked his brain but found no answer. He consulted Brother Mouth, but the Fool's Lips ignored him. With no other option, he asked Brother Mouth to activate the Secret Peeping Ear's trait so he could glean sothing from the conversation.
This ti, Brother Mouth didn't refuse. Overjoyed, Cheng Shi imdiately composed himself, put on a very interested expression for Yu Go, and asked with a smile:
"Interesting. It's been a long ti since I've seen such a fascinating trade.
Your asking price is reasonable. It falls right within my expected range. But I'm curious: who sent you, or rather, who taught you these things?
Don't give
platitudes about devotion. You can't fool , and I don't enjoy discussing devotion."
"..."
An Envoy who refused to discuss devotion — that was tantamount to publicly announcing his own blasphemy.
Yu Go broke into a sweat hearing this. But then He rembered the other party was [Deceit]'s Envoy, and suddenly it all made sense.
Being disloyal to [Deceit] was being loyal to Him...
With any further retreat threatening to send Him tumbling off the hillock, Yu Go smiled and wiped the sweat from His brow. After a long, agonizing deliberation, He chose honesty:
"It was [Fate] who guided
here."
[Fate]!? That couldn't be!
Cheng Shi startled and imdiately pressed Brother Mouth for confirmation. The Fool's Lips, pestered into reluctant compliance, relayed the Secret Peeping Ear's assessnt:
"Not [Fate]. [Deceit]."
That statent froze both parties in their tracks.
Cheng Shi's first thought wasn't about why it really was [Deceit], but whether Brother Mouth was lying to him again.
He'd been deceived often enough to develop expertise. Answers this seemingly reliable were rarely truthful, especially when the Fun God was involved.
Yu Go was equally shocked. Based on everything He'd done and verified, if [Fate] was behind this, He could at least gamble on it. But if the mastermind was [Deceit]...
Was the path He'd chosen even the right one?
Had He been deceived onto a dead end?
The hand that had been about to offer the container suddenly retracted. Seeing this, Cheng Shi finally confird the deposit plan was genuine. Yu Go had likely received real guidance from soone.
He wasn't here to harm Cheng Shi. He probably wanted to use the deposit to avoid so catastrophe at the era's end.
After all, the fact that the [Void] era would end in void was sothing players might not know, but Envoys who'd survived previous era transitions understood all too well.
What they didn't know was that this era's "void" might be completely different from what they imagined. So whoever had guided Yu Go here had to be an "insider" who knew what the void's curtain call truly ant!
And as far as Cheng Shi could tell, among the gods, the likely insiders numbered only four: [Birth], [Folly], [Ti], and [Deceit]. Plus the uncertain [Fate].
[Birth] kept to Himself, hardly the type to stir things up. And as an Envoy of an opposing Path, He had no reason to ddle with Yu Go's survival.
[Folly]... He'd sooner ridicule Yu Go than guide Him.
[Ti] had no ti for guidance. That left only the two Benefactors of [Void].
aning the answer had to be one of the two. But which?
Cheng Shi wasn't dwelling on this out of stubbornness. Receiving a container out of nowhere could be trivial or monuntal.
From his recent experiences, it was clear that containers of different faiths were converging on him in a discernible pattern. Cheng Shi had a theory forming.
Imagine: if his suspicion was correct, and he gathered enough containers — or to put it bluntly, collected all sixteen faiths' containers — what would happen next?
So cliche about summoning a dragon?
This world had no dragons. The only thing that ca close was the entity who had scattered authority across the universe to validate all the gods: [Origin]!
And so, naturally, Cheng Shi's thoughts turned to Him. Was the containers' convergence connected to Origin?
If so, then without question, [Fate] had to be assisting from behind the scenes!
Don't forget: when it ca to deceiving people, [Fate] was also a master. The Fun God Himself had said as much.
And recalling the [Corruption] and [Prosperity] containers he'd obtained from Le Le'er just days ago, if these containers were gathering to him because [Fate] was orchestrating it...
Then this wasn't a gift. It was a death warrant!
Could this be what He ant by "the fixed"?
Using sixteen faiths' containers to summon [Origin]'s attention, or perhaps to purchase the "Awakening" of that supre being!?
But half the containers in his possession had co from the Fun God. If [Fate] was driving this, why would the Fun God cooperate?
The Fear Faction's dread flooded back into his mind. Cheng Shi squeezed every drop of brainpower he had to connect everything he knew. The only conclusion he could reach was that the Fun God was probably piggybacking on [Fate]'s fixed plan to sche sothing of His own. What exactly, Cheng Shi couldn't guess. But it had to be an act that defied [Origin]'s will.
That was the only scenario that explained why, when Yu Go ntioned [Fate], Brother Mouth had answered with "[Deceit]"!
So from the Fear Faction's standpoint, he apparently needed to accept this [Decay] container.
But accepting it ant drawing one step closer to [Fate]'s fixed destiny, like personally picking up a rope that would eventually bind him to the sacrificial altar... When that ti ca, would the Fun God's sches truly be enough to save him?
Cheng Shi fell silent for a long while, thoughts churning endlessly. In the end, he steeled himself and took the step forward.
Because he knew he had no other choice.
If the Fear Faction bred fear within itself, it would suffer a complete and total defeat.
...
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