So You're the Executioner

The mist had yet to dissipate, making it impossible to see anything.

Cheng Shi had only taken a couple of steps while holding someone when he heard A'ming's anxious shout from ahead:

"Sister Fang, Brother Cheng, where are you?"

Cheng Shi pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a moment. He noticed that the surrounding clamor of voices seemed to have disappeared. He looked in the direction of A'ming's voice with surprise, thinking that the little assassin's methods were truly efficient.

In such a short time, he had killed them all.

Fortunately, the few unfortunate souls he had never met were not the core of the memory.

"Here."

Cheng Shi shouted, then crouched down and quietly moved away from his original spot.

A'ming felt his way over, following the sound. Not seeing anyone, his internal alarm bells began to ring. Just as he was about to leave, Cheng Shi grabbed his arm.

"Who!? Huh? Brother Cheng?"

"Yeah, I was afraid you might have been replaced, so I decided to test you. I didn't expect, comrade assassin, that you'd be so agile."

A'ming sheepishly rubbed his head and looked at the unconscious Fang Shiqing, asking:

"What happened to Sister Fang?"

"Nothing, just a minor issue. I brought her back. Where are the others?"

"They might be behind me. As soon as I woke up, I found several berserk dwarves. They attacked with lethal force, and I didn't have time to retreat, so I could only... fight back with all my might.

Fortunately, they weren't very tough, just possessed some divine power from the [Filth Fall]."

The people were dead, but the memories had not collapsed. The players were lucky; these dwarves were not the true bodies of the memory.

Cheng Shi glanced at A'ming thoughtfully.

"Are you injured?"

"By luck, no."

"Good, then we'll wait for the fog to clear. The war fog won't last much longer."

"Oh, okay. Do you need my help?" A'ming extended his hand, wanting to help Cheng Shi support Fang Shiqing.

Cheng Shi smiled and refused him.

The two sat in a corner, chatting idly about this and that.

"How many people were there on the other side?"

"Six."

"You dealt with six people in such a short time? Amazing." Cheng Shi didn't hold back his praise, which left A'ming stunned.

"After all... I'm an assassin, and the misty environment is advantageous to me."

"Yeah, if you could do it so quickly, why were you so late when we went to the second act, the circus?"

Cheng Shi asked casually, holding the unconscious Fang Shiqing, as if it were an offhand question.

This question stumped A'ming.

A'ming's expression suddenly froze. Before he could speak, Cheng Shi casually added:

"Why hasn't that Uncle Huang arrived yet?"

A'ming's face grew even worse. He stammered in response:

"It's not like we're missing him. Isn't it good that he hasn't come?"

"You're afraid he'll cause trouble too?"

"Yeah."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"You know he's the Maestro of Lost Rhythms too? Oh~ I see, so you're the Executioner."

The Maestro of Lost Rhythms, the Singer of [Chaos].

The Executioner, the Assassin of [Order].

[Order] and [Chaos] are mortal enemies in Faith Opposition.

A'ming's movements paused for a moment. His gaze quickly swept over Cheng Shi, his eyes sharp and agitated, but it only lasted for a moment before he resumed his awkward, stammering demeanor, rubbing his head and not knowing what to say.

The mist remained, and Cheng Shi couldn't quite make out his facial expression, but he had a good idea in his mind.

"It's fine, if you're opposed, you're opposed. It's not a big deal. An ancient person once said that Faith Opposition isn't something we created, so there's no need to carry such a heavy burden."

Cheng Shi smiled indifferently, and as he spoke, his hand reached towards Fang Shiqing in his arms.

A'ming's perception in the mist was clearly stronger than Cheng Shi's. He clearly saw Cheng Shi's hand reaching towards Fang Shiqing's bulging chest, but he merely frowned and remained silent.

Not long after, new sounds emerged from the mist.

"Sis... Sister Fang?"

"Ah~ Big shot, save me!"

One voice trembled, one voice was charming.

It clearly sounded like nothing had happened.

As soon as these two female voices came through, the awkward atmosphere between Cheng Shi and A'ming was instantly shattered. He stood up, patted his backside, and chuckled:

"Everyone's here, let's regroup."

Just then, the mist slowly dissipated.

A'ming also stood up and looked to the side, only to see Fang Shiqing, who had been in Cheng Shi's arms, had already opened her eyes at some unknown time.

"Sister Fang, are you okay?"

"..."

A flash of anger crossed Fang Shiqing's eyes, but she immediately nodded with a smile:

"I'm fine, thanks to Cheng Shi, he saved me in time."

She said nice words, but her tone carried a hint of gritted teeth.

The matter of the Flame Bearer couldn't be discussed in front of others, so even though Fang Shiqing had many complaints about Cheng Shi's refusal methods, she couldn't lash out at this moment.

Fighters crawling in the darkness were cautious; any slight spark of accident could illuminate their tracks and render all their efforts in vain.

Cheng Shi clearly knew this, so he immediately turned back and said with a smile:

"Don't you still owe me a thank you?"

"You..."

Fang Shiqing almost lost her composure. She gritted her teeth fiercely, quickly tidied up her facial expression, and then forced a very reluctant smile.

"Thank you, I will remember you."

"It's nothing, just a small effort."

It was indeed a small effort; a hand chop only required raising a hand.

As the mist gradually cleared, the two groups, not far apart, immediately spotted each other.

They walked together, and halfway there, they saw the scene of a brutal massacre all around.

Six dwarves, each with their heads severed on the spot, blood pooling on the ground, forming a vague pattern of a guillotine.

If Cheng Shi didn't know A'ming was the Executioner, he wouldn't have been able to figure out what this pattern represented.

This was a common cruel quirk of the Executioners of the "Grand Inquisition," using the blood of executed criminals to depict the tools that killed them.

However, the blood guillotine drawn on the ground was crooked and uneven, clearly indicating a lack of skill.

"Tsk, what brutal methods."

Xu Lu and Bailing shivered at the sight, while Fang Shiqing glanced thoughtfully at A'ming and said nothing more.

"Where are we?"

The place where everyone was located was a very large room. On the left were over a dozen beds lined up side by side, on the right were various tool tables, on the long racks in front hung clothes of different sizes, and behind them were several separate small rooms.

The place where Cheng Shi and Fang Shiqing met was clearly in one of them.

Fang Shiqing glanced at Cheng Shi a few times. Seeing that he was still playing dumb, she decided to let the matter drop. Frowning, she pondered:

"It looks like a servant's quarters, but it's a bit too large. This is enough to house over a dozen servants, and I've never seen such large servant quarters before. To ensure our safety, let's change into some clothes first and then go out to explore, to avoid conflict with people outside."

No one had any objections. They each chose an outfit, changed, and followed the leader out of the room.

After confirming the surroundings were safe and encountering a few actual servants, they figured out that this was indeed servant quarters.

And there was more than one servant quarter this large.

This was because it was Duke Brooks's manor, and the Duke was currently hosting a grand banquet.

"A banquet?"

The hypnotized servant replied excitedly:

"Yes, the Duke has invited all the nobles from town and plans to announce the new refugee bill at the banquet. All refugees from Gasmella will be expelled, and our food supply will no longer be tight, and there will be no fewer jobs!"

"So, the memory entity from the previous scene was a servant in the Duke's manor?"

"Huh? You guys don't know? Yorke is the Duke's stableman," Cheng Shi added helpfully.

Hearing this, Xu Lu frowned and complained:

"Why are you only telling me useful information now?"

Cheng Shi was taken aback and retorted, "Did you ask?"

"I..."

Xu Lu was furious but remained silent. She simply shifted her steps and moved closer to Fang Shiqing.

"Then why were the dwarves, who are refugees, at the Duke's manor?" A'ming interrupted their confrontation in a timely manner and asked.

"The Duke wants to expel the refugees, and the refugees naturally don't want to be driven out. So, their purpose for coming here is obvious, isn't it, Leader?"

Cheng Shi said, looking at Fang Shiqing, but Fang Shiqing had no intention of talking to Cheng Shi at the moment.

She had a feeling, a certainty, that Cheng Shi wouldn't reveal anything about the Fire Bearer. But she still couldn't understand why he had refused so readily.

After all, the talent "Moving Heartstrings" didn't just allow one to hear the melodies of hearts; it could even vaguely sense the other party's intentions and inclinations.

Cheng Shi's inner voice clearly leaned towards acceptance, yet he had still refused.

What was this person thinking? How could he go against his own instincts?

She didn't understand, nor did she have the time to figure it out.

Nearly 5 hours had passed, and only 7:14 remained on the countdown. They had to hurry, as there were still several scenes left in the memories to go through, and they had no idea what awaited them.

"Personal territories are different from public places. Acting recklessly will quickly cause a disturbance, especially on a Duke's estate.

We need to have appropriate identities. While the identity of a servant is convenient, there are still many areas we won't be able to access.

From now on, everyone will split up, conceal yourselves, and see if you can acquire new identities. We'll meet up in an hour at the latest. I'll point the way."

Saying this, Fang Shiqing raised her hand and pointed towards a small porch.

"Remember, stay away from the servant quarters. We haven't dealt with the bodies in there, and they could easily cause a chain reaction. The closer you are, the more likely you are to be discovered. Let's move out. Wish us luck."

Everyone dispersed. As she turned to leave, Fang Shiqing glanced at Cheng Shi.

Unfortunately, Cheng Shi wasn't looking at her; he was looking at A'ming.

He watched A'ming walk in the direction away from the servant quarters.

After a while, when no teammates were in sight, a playful smile spread across Cheng Shi's face. He then casually walked back to where they had just arrived.

The place everyone had avoided...

The servant quarters.