The Dusk Drama Ringmaster Turned Hostile

Without a doubt, the "ending" of this Trials, at least on the surface, is a circus duel between Morning Cheer and Dusk Play.

The Trials's hint was "every performance has an ending," but now Morning Cheer's performance will inevitably have an ending. However, because Dusk Play lacks a Clown to anchor the show, it will likely miss that "ending" of competing against each other on the same day.

The way to pass the [Deception] Trials has always been "to do as He says," that is, to complete the tasks He assigns according to His hints. It seems that the players' task is to help Dusk Play find the Clown.

Is that really the case?

No!

Each Trials [Deception] has a very obvious hint, but since the advent of the [Faith Game], the hints given by [Deception] have never been correct!

It's all fake!

Even the Trials questions could be fake.

Once players are assigned to His Trials, many will scrutinize the wording to try and understand the purpose of the Trials, fearing they might be misled.

However, from a normal perspective of [Deception], the Trials's hints should actually be understood as:

No performance has an ending.

In other words, it's about breaking everything that's already in place, causing a complete Change of the Predestination development!

This hint is quite intriguing.

Cheng Shi and Zhen Xin are both Believer in [Deception]. They quickly figured out the key point, but instead of rushing to ruin Morning Cheer's "ending," they discussed it briefly and decided to go to the Dusk Drama Circus first.

They didn't believe this Trials concerning the "ending" would be so simple and wanted to confirm first whether what the Black Market King said was true.

Blackers was not lying, of course, but the world is not static, and no one is sure what Change will occur before the players see Fate, the Ringmaster Fait of the Dusk Play Troupe, in person.

After all, it's not hard to guess that if this really is a metaphor for certain endings in the context of [Deception], then the will of [Destiny] will definitely be involved, attempting to distort the ending of [Deception] and make its own interpretation.

Cheng Shi dragged Blackers up from the ground and, without a moment's hesitation, pulled him toward the Dusk Drama Circus. Zhen Xin, now disguised as An Mingyu, quickly followed.

Just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the Morning Cheer is stationed in the Kurd City, Dusk Play is stationed in the Kurd City.

The three of them hurried along and soon arrived at the Circus outside the city.

As a long-standing "national treasure" of Kanliwal, the scale of the Dusk Drama Circus far exceeded Cheng Shi's imagination.

He had assumed that even the largest Circus was nothing more than a large tent surrounded by a few performers' tents, with at most some supplies, horses, and vehicles.

Even during the day, this so-called Circus is still bustling with tourists and traffic.

The path between the tents is as wide as a main road in the city, and it seems to stretch on forever.

Cheng Shi shocked. Looking at the vast park before him, he could hardly believe his eyes:

"This isn't Circus, it's more like... a theme park!"

"They're open during the day too?"

Seeing Cheng Shi's surprised expression, Blackers quite proud.

"Of course, it's open all day and won't close because of wind or snow."

It's currently the best season in Kanliwal, so there are a lot of tourists.

"Um... sir, Ringmaster Fait's office is at the very back. If you could drop me off, I can guide you to avoid taking any detours."

Cheng Shi glanced at Blackers's in his hand, knowing that the other party didn't want to lead the way voluntarily, but only felt that being choked and pushed around would damage the image of the Black Market King and the Golden House in the eyes of the people, which was why he had become so "enthusiastic".

However, Cheng Shi wasn't as heartless as he thought. He could tell that although the black market king was cunning, he was also perceptive and knew what was important. Even if it weren't for his own life, he wouldn't run away and shout here for the sake of the reputation of the Golden House.

So he casually gave the other person a push, letting them lead the way.

He followed closely behind, looking around.

Zhen Xin wasn't that shocked. Having studied the History School thought, she had heard about everything. She only shook her head when she happened to pass by a few mediocre Magician performing, and then turned her attention back to Cheng Shi.

She said softly:

"After leaving Sandles, the History School continued to investigate the Fool's Game, tracing the history of the Joyful Theater back to its origins and discovering that Sandlais' ancestors were actually a branch of the Kanliwal immigrants."

Having had enough of the cold, they moved away from the north, hoping to join the Tower of Reason and receive the protection of the Scholarly Council and [Truth].

The Scholarly Council agreed to their request and sent Scholar to fully adopt their ideas, which led to the formation of Sandlais.

"?"

Cheng Shi was taken aback. "That's not right. I remember Sandlais was a Faith paradise created by Scholar, where everyone was Experiment subject. How could it be..."

He couldn't continue speaking halfway through, because he had already understood what Zhen Xin meant.

After receiving these immigrants, the Scholar of the Scholarly Council erased their Memory and placed them in the Sandlais Experiment Field, making them the first residents there.

How ironic!

A group of poor souls, who had fled the north due to the bitter cold, fell into another ice cave within the Tower of Reason.

The Scholarly Council truly treats people like dirt.

[Truth] is also true.

So they're all gone.

Blackers walked quickly, afraid that if he slowed down even a step, he would offend the two "big brothers" behind him. He led the two to Ringmaster Fait's office without stopping, and then, amidst the surprised gazes of many actors and tourists, he knocked on the office door in public.

Cheng Shi knew that this was Blackers's little scheme; he was trying to use the witnesses' reports as a threat to prevent himself from dying under mysterious circumstances. However, Cheng Shi didn't want to be distracted by these things at the moment; he only wanted to ensure that the Trials proceeded normally.

A moment later, someone pushed open the door, and inside was a man in a white formal suit—it was Fitt, the ringmaster of the Dusk Drama Circus.

The moment Ringmaster Fait realized that it was Blackers outside the door, his face turned incredibly ugly!

Who is Blackers? He is the king of the entire black market, the master of the Golden House. He represents the filth and darkness of the entire country of Kanliwal. He should not be here, nor should he be here before the war to defend the highest honor of the Dusk Play!

Associating with such a person will make everyone think that Dusk Play's victory was orchestrated, rather than a genuine performance!

Therefore, when he had no other choice but to find Blackers, he asked him to keep quiet and secretly search for the missing Lake.

But Blackers's appearance disrupted all of Ringmaster Fait's plans. Ringmaster Fait's expression changed drastically, and he said Indifference in a second:

"Blackers, if you're here for pre-sale tickets, I can only tell you that anyone, even Royal Family, has to go through official channels to get tickets."

I will not give you any back Golden House, nor will I allow you to resell your prime seats.

That's all I have to say. You may leave.

Ringmaster Fait was undoubtedly shrewd; with just a few words, he explained the whole story to the onlookers and distanced himself from the Golden House.

Blackers was a shrewd man; he was forced to use this method to protect himself, and he could understand Ringmaster Fait's position.

But he didn't come for himself this time, but for the two menacing figures behind him. So while he said "excuse me," he kept giving Ringmaster Fait meaningful glances.

Ringmaster Fait didn't want to escalate the situation, so after careful consideration, he decided to meet with the other party secretly again.

And so, after their charade ended badly, Blackers led Cheng Shi and Zhen Xin on a quiet detour, avoiding everyone, to the lawn behind the office.

Ringmaster Fait had been waiting there. When he saw someone behind Blackers, he immediately assumed it was one of Black's followers, and so he spoke up:

"Blackers, I've made myself clear, I don't have any tickets."

Blackers was taken aback, thinking to himself, "There's no one around, so why are you pretending? You weren't acting like this when you were begging for help this morning."

The way he looked, with tears in his eyes, vowing to revitalize the Dusk Play and not let the century-old Circus go bankrupt, was a hundred times warmer than his sour face now.

"Ringmaster Fait, you must have a bad memory. I'm not here to buy a ticket; I'm here to confirm your request, which is to find... that matter."

Blackers knew his place; he didn't reveal the name.

However, Fitt interrupted him coldly.

"Entrust?"

What commission?

"I don't remember you, Blackers. Are you still half asleep, or have you mistaken me for someone else?"

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! (This is a large cup of wine today!)