Clown and Wind

Cheng Shi had very little conscious awareness left.

He was gradually losing his ability to think, only feeling the Scalpel penetrating deeper and deeper into his chest. Even though it had avoided his heart, if he didn't receive treatment now, he might die from excessive blood loss.

He managed to catch a glimpse of Qin Chaoge's location out of the corner of his eye, and as he watched her stagger toward him, he smiled with relief.

The moment has finally arrived for sincerity to be reciprocated.

Cheng Shi this Trials, Cheng Shi maintained an open and cooperative attitude and sincerely shared everything, all for this moment.

In order to gain the trust of law-abiding players and make them willing to lend a hand at the most crucial moment.

He'd used this trick many times—no, he'd gambled countless times—and hadn't lost a single time.

This is not only because he has good luck in gambling, but also because he has seen through human nature.

Just like in this game, he saw through Qin Chaoge, and he also saw through Li Boli.

Both of them are very trustworthy partners.

If you put in the effort, you will definitely reap the rewards.

However, Cheng Shi, who had been excessively consumed by his bloodlust, overlooked a fatal problem:

Why wasn't Qin Chaoge affected by the blinding red light?

From the moment she entered, she disregarded all restrictions, and even though she stumbled, she still walked step by step into the room.

But as she got closer to Cheng Shi, her hunched body straightened up and her steps became more and more steady.

When Qin Chaoge reached Cheng Shi, she was almost back to her peak condition, her rosy face radiating confidence, and her eyes becoming increasingly playful.

Cheng Shi watched, his vision blurred, as she walked past him with a calm smile on her face...

Beyond oneself, beyond the wandering knight, and then...

It stopped next to Ji Ran.

She leaned down and whispered a few words in Ji Ran's ear. Ji Ran instantly broke free from the control of the crimson light, roared, and drew the greatsword from his chest with a heavy breath. He then lay down on the ground with a bitter laugh.

"Clang—"

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

You're later than agreed...

I thought our collaboration... was over.

Qin Chaoge chuckled Ji Ran.

"Let's go. How much we can gain depends on the secrets hidden behind this door."

"What about them...? Why didn't you kill them...?"

"Not saving them is tantamount to killing them; there's no need to waste our energy."

After saying that, she pulled Ji Ran and pushed open the door at the end of the room without looking back.

Cheng Shi heard the door close and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"I'm such a... Clown..."

They misjudged the person.

But why did I misread it?

The sound closed not only the door to the room, but also the door to their hope of survival.

As the sound of the door closing faded into the air, the sound of a corpse falling to the ground came from inside the room.

"Thump—"

"Thump—"

The Clown is tired, and the wind is weary.

And so the Clown died, and the wind stopped.

I don't know how much time has passed, nor where I am.

The moment consciousness returned, Cheng Shi opened his eyes in disbelief.

He felt a vibrant life force within him repairing all Vitality.

He was familiar with this power because he had used it before.

The power of [Birth].

He looked at his hand, at the "Pregnancy Law" planted by Hu Xuan. The strange bulge on his arm was slowly drying up, and as it dried up, it overflowed with a power that seemed to be reborn!

"This is..."

He heard a cry of surprise, turned around, and saw the wandering knight struggling to raise his head. The two bewildered people met a pair of equally bewildered eyes.

Cheng Shi suddenly laughed.

Sincerity did not win the Singer's favor, but it earned the Sage's gratitude!

This Believer who Birth, this Sage of life, this reborn old friend!

In this way, Cheng Shi was given a new life.

He laughed heartily, and as he laughed, tears streamed down his face.

Li Boli was also deeply moved. She shook her head and chuckled as she pulled her own bow from her stomach.

Cheng Shi shared his Healing Art with her, and then asked a question that was both funny and absurd:

"Do I... have another mother?"

Li Boli was taken aback, then burst into laughter:

"If that's the case, then you have an extra older sister."

"Hahaha—hahaha—"

The Clown laughed, and the wind blew along with him.

Then the Clown woke up, and the wind rose.

Cheng Shi picked up all the Scalpel that had been left on the ground and hid them in his newly changed clothes.

He and the ranger had finished getting everything ready, preparing for another battle.

One hunts, one herds; against one battle, one sings; the outcome is perhaps fifty-fifty.

However, considering that Qin Chaoge is likely hiding something, it's hard to say who will emerge victorious.

Why would she do this? What benefits would she gain from cooperating with Ji Ran?

Cheng Shi was completely baffled.

Not only him, Li Boli was also deeply puzzled.

She prided herself on her ability to judge people accurately, even though she was constantly betrayed, almost every betrayal was foreshadowed.

This time, however, the betrayal came far too suddenly.

The two looked at each other again and decided to focus on the present.

Judging by the time, only half an hour had passed since they "just died," and the black-robed man at the door, who was fighting against his bloodlust, still had a pair of terrifying claws stuck in his chest.

The crimson light in his eyes had disappeared, but he seemed to be trapped in a strange state from which he could not extricate himself, whimpering and clutching his heart, neither dying nor waking up.

The two watched this scene, feeling puzzled.

"Is this the price for inducing [Filth and Decay]?"

The wandering swordsman asked aloud, Cheng Shi shook his head.

He didn't think so; he felt that the man in the black robe was currently trapped in a self-perpetuating bug.

After all, he was a puppet!

A puppet made of flesh and blood!

Cheng Shi cautiously reached out and removed the hood from the man in the black robe, revealing an ugly face covered in scars that instantly made both of them frown.

The numerous scars on his scalp, like the self-mutilation of an ascetic, were striking and glaring.

"[Decay]!?"

"No," Cheng Shi shook his head again, "It's an obsession. People who are refined into flesh and blood puppets cannot act exactly according to the plan they designed in life, because their flesh and blood contain obsessions, and they will always do some things outside the rules."

"A puppet? He's a puppet?"

The wandering knight looked at Cheng Shi in shock, seemingly wondering if Cheng Shi was just making Cheng Shi up.

During the battle just now, she did notice that the man in black robes acted somewhat decisively, but she never considered the possibility that "he was not a person"!

"Let me reintroduce myself, Cheng Shi, a lover of creation and alchemy."

These words were not made up by Cheng Shi; he had read them in Ados's Alchemy Notes.

While turning oneself into a puppet may seem cool, over time, a series of unexpected "malfunctions" will occur.

Obsession is one of them.

The puppets were originally human beings, and humans have obsessions. However, in order to achieve a certain goal, they must abandon their obsessions, so they have transformed themselves into puppets that only act according to the rules.

In the design rules, all behaviors related to obsession are prohibited.

However, as the puppet ages over time, the rules within it begin to loosen, and the obsessions from its previous life become increasingly uncontrollable due to the accumulation of time.

Therefore, under certain circumstances, once it breaks through the rules of its design and begins to satisfy its own obsession, the puppet is very likely to fall into a cycle of self-confrontation and be unable to wake up.

This is from Ados's Alchemy Notes, a conjecture he made while studying at the Tower of Reason.

Because at that time, he, or rather, the Creation Alchemy Department at that time, had not yet found a way to turn himself into a puppet; everything was based on their assumptions about "the Truth of creation."

Currently, this hypothesis seems to have been confirmed.

And Ados's notes also contain a footnote he wrote after he found a way to refine himself, in which he recorded how to make the puppet exit this state:

Set a "restart word".

Whenever the flesh puppets hear the word "reboot," the rules within their bodies will temporarily refresh their obsessions, but this is only a temporary solution and not a cure.

The obsession will continue to accumulate, waiting for the next opportunity to arrive.

Thinking about this, a bold idea sprouted in Cheng Shi's mind.

He leaned down and whispered in the black-robed man's ear.

The swordsman was startled by his actions and realized his intentions, so he quickly grabbed him and said in a deep voice:

"There's another fierce battle ahead, Cheng Shi. Think it over carefully."

Cheng Shi stared intently at the wandering knight, then suddenly smiled.

"Ranger, if you were the guardian of a secret, and you couldn't be sure how many more people would come to explore it, would you choose a suicidal attack simply to eliminate the enemy in front of you?"