"?"
The instant he heard those words, Du Qiyu didn't even question Yu Xi's authenticity. He was simply wondering where this Envoy had just lied to him.
'Surely not the second test opportunity?'
'Did my foul language kill his desire to keep testing !?'
'No, absolutely not! It was [Deceit]'s enticent that made
this way. As His Envoy, you should answer for it!'
'You can't strip
of my right to be tested!'
Du Qiyu erupted. Rage boiling over, he could no longer contain his fury. He commanded the tad-beast Xiao Qi to grab Yu Xi by the collar and snarled at the mask, spraying spittle:
"Test! ! Now! Imdiately!"
"?"
'Has this man lost his mind?'
Cheng Shi blinked, his smile growing ever more enigmatic as he nodded.
"Very well. Since you insist, then I shall..."
In one fluid motion, he drew a blade and — with the tad beast completely off-guard — slit its throat. At the sa ti, he shed Yu Xi's guise, looked toward the dense forest with naked mockery, and scoffed:
"...have to burst your beautiful dream.
Like I said. I was lying. There is no Yu Xi in this world.
Thanks for returning my container.
Getting sothing back after losing it feels great. I wonder how 'losing sothing after getting it' feels, hmm, Xiao Qi?"
"!!!???"
'He's... Xiao Shi!!?'
'No!'
'Impossible!'
'This can't be!'
When Du Qiyu realized his last tad beast had just been killed, the fury that had nearly peaked suddenly froze for a single second. Then boundless terror detonated inside him, blanking his mind with a piercing ring.
His fingers dug into the dirt. His entire body went rigid. Refusing to believe, unable to believe, he scread at Cheng Shi in the clearing:
"THIS is the real trick!
Yu Xi, you can't fool !
There was never any Xiao Shi in this trial! This is your test! Your second test!
I've seen through you! I've passed! You can't fool ! You CAN'T fool !!!"
Du Qiyu had truly gone mad.
Cheng Shi pouted, annoyed by the volu, and briefly covered his ears. Then he shook his head and sighed:
"The greatest deception in this world is deceiving yourself.
I've always felt you weren't worthy of being His believer. But now I see I underestimated you.
You think all of this is fake?
Why? Because of the containers?"
As he spoke, Cheng Shi produced two more containers and tossed them between his hands like a juggling clown, continuing to taunt:
"You think the containers can't be forged, so my identity can't be fake either?
But...
Who told you the containers were fake?
Of course the containers are real. And I wasn't lying. They really are essential for becoming one of Them. I just happen to have quite a few.
So, do you understand now? The containers are very, very real. It's just that I was deceiving you."
"!!!"
The instant those words landed, Du Qiyu — his dream shattered — shot out of his hiding place like an arrow loosed from a bow, sprinting for the forest's edge. His earlier roaring had partly been an attempt to find an opening, but there was also a genuine sliver of hope that this truly was Lord Yu Xi's second test.
But... with emotions boiling over, he couldn't trust a single word from soone who looked like Xiao Shi. Even if this were the second test, he no longer wanted to continue.
All he wanted now was to survive. Find another opportunity. Pay back every deception and humiliation inflicted today, paid to Xiao Shi's account. Whether Yu Xi existed or not, Xiao Shi should not!
But tragically, Du Qiyu's proudly honed escape skills finally failed him today. Because Cheng Shi didn't need to know where he was.
"Looks like the second test is a failure too."
Cheng Shi scoffed, lazily raised his hand, snapped his fingers, and four bolts of lightning scread from between his fingers. Like a plasma torrent, they tore through the forest with devastating ease, obliterating the fleeing, cursing Beast Tar into flying ash.
BOOM— BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—
The violent explosions shook the entire river valley. The last thunderbolt, finding no target, slamd viciously into the surrounding trees.
In an instant, a vast swath of forest was plowed by lightning, leaving nothing but charred remains.
Surveying this hellish corridor, Cheng Shi didn't rush to confirm whether Xiao Qi had truly been reduced to ash. Instead, he strolled at a asured pace to the dead tad beast's side and casually nudged the corpse with his foot.
He'd never forgotten Sun Miao's words: the Beast Tar was a cunning hunter who'd disguised many tad beasts for decoys and ambushes. So who could be certain the one just blasted to oblivion was really Xiao Qi's true body!?
The most dangerous place was the safest. A puppet could also be the real thing. That was experience Wei Mu — the unchallenged number one on the Road to Ascension — had shared. Cheng Shi had taken it to heart.
So he wouldn't overlook any potential threat.
But what had enabled him to react so quickly — to notice the body at his feet the instant Xiao Qi's fleeing form disintegrated — wasn't rely prudence. It was the Death Fun Ring, still hard at work.
Because the ring, which he'd deliberately kept one charge in reserve, had suddenly been fully recharged.
With only himself and a corpse present, the question was: where was the fear coming from?
Real brain teaser.
So Cheng Shi looked down at the corpse with undisguised mockery:
"Stop pretending. I know you're alive.
But you should also know: every second you stay alive adds another layer to your fear. Because you can't escape.
These are the rules of this ga. While ordinary players like yourselves are still groping for the gods' attention, I've long since sat at the sa table as Them. I'm one of the rule-makers."
At this, the corpse's hand twitched slightly.
Cheng Shi regarded his stubborn old friend with a half-smile, pulled out his container, and tossed it back and forth like a juggling clown, then continued hamring at the other's ntal defenses:
"Perhaps you're curious how I've accomplished all this. I'll tell you. It's because I was never human to begin with."
"!!!"
The tad beast snapped its eyes open, staring in disbelief and horror at this familiar stranger before it, and at the container being tossed and caught in his hand.
"Decided to wake up?
Heh."
Cheng Shi spared Xiao Qi a glance, then — just as Yu Xi had — stopped caring about Xiao Qi's life or death altogether and began pacing leisurely.
"We're living through era after era. Mortal lives repeat their own destruction with each era without knowing it. Only we can transcend everything, standing at the crest of the era's tide, admiring a view that belongs exclusively to the gods.
So you should understand now. Your best chance to kill
was in the era when I had not yet beco a god. And now, sorry, I lied to you again.
I'm indeed not Yu Xi. But only for now. Because soon I'll beco Him again, and when the era crumbles, I'll watch with my own eyes as this world marches toward true void.
You'll never have the chance to make
pay for your obsession. Painful, isn't it, Xiao Qi.
I felt that sa despair in the era when I had not yet ascended, and you were the one who created it. That was the era when you ca closest to godhood. But in the end, the one who succeeded was .
Originally, the gap between man and god ant I'd grown weary of this endlessly repeating drama and had no desire to bother with you. But every ti, your death-seeking eagerness compels
to oblige my old friend's wish.
So farewell, old friend. See you next era.
And sincere advice: though we'll inevitably et again, abandon your delusions. Don't pin your hopes on the next era. I will never allow you to beco one of us."
When he finished, Cheng Shi didn't forget to add a cold laugh as a parting jab.
But the instant his words fell, a muffled groan of bone-deep agony ca from behind him.
Cheng Shi seed to have anticipated what happened. He turned slowly, unsurprised, and saw a bone knife driven straight into Xiao Qi's own heart. The expression on his face was one of utter resolve.
Xiao Qi had killed himself.
Unable to bear the humiliation, he chose to end it.
But Du Qiyu hadn't found release. His eyes were venomous as he glared at Cheng Shi, blood foaming from his lips, and with his last breath bellowed his defiant howl:
"Next... era... I'll... beat you!"
His obsession was still growing.
Clearly, Du Qiyu — unable to make sense of any of this — had believed every word Cheng Shi said. Otherwise, he couldn't explain why Cheng Shi held all the cards yet refused to deliver the killing blow. This disgusting Xiao Shi was obviously using an Envoy's authority to humiliate him!
So better to die. In that so-called "next era," he'd start over!
If everyone had a chance at godhood, then next era, he would repay today's sha a hundredfold, a thousandfold!
But a next era?
Heh. Even the Fun God didn't know if there would be a next era. And you do?
You believed my ghost story?
Then sorry. I lied to you again.
As for the reason for repeatedly lying to you... I was simply testing a theory. If a person loses all motivation to live in the present, they probably won't bother leaving any resurrection contingency behind, right?
Du Qiyu breathed his last. Even in death, he refused to close his eyes.
Cheng Shi gazed down at Xiao Qi's body, his expression complicated. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
'You started my life with a lie. So I end yours with one.'
'There's nothing more to say. After all, you and I are nothing but passersby. You're the road beneath my feet. And I... am the one walking.'
Cheng Shi huffed a cold laugh and stepped over the corpse.
Monts later, several thunderclaps rumbled through the forest.
Because the steady never forget to double-tap.
...
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