Cheng Shi's Death

It was strange, but there was no grief in Cheng Shi's eyes.

Or rather, he didn't care about Bailing's death at all.

He kept accelerating his metabolism, trying to use the magic of time to smooth over the control effects brought by negative status.

But unfortunately, the real world wasn't a turn-based game. While Cheng Shi struggled, the guard wasn't idle either.

As a singer, inflicting negative status on enemies was his specialty. He continuously unleashed his tricks, squeezing Cheng Shi's meager survival space.

Before long, Cheng Shi felt his strength failing. He lost the struggle on the edge of death and was completely defeated, left with nothing but to wait for Death.

The guard walked up to Cheng Shi. Seeing that he was no longer moving and his eyes were vacant, the guard shook his head and sighed:

"Bugs from underground should stay underground. But sometimes, bugs have their uses. I both like you and hate you. Ah, it's truly contradictory."

But before he could finish speaking, the guard suddenly raised his sword and thrust it down, piercing Cheng Shi's chest with lightning speed.

He didn't give Cheng Shi any chance to turn the tables.

"Sss!"

The sword tip pierced his heart.

Cheng Shi's eyes snapped open, his pupils constricting. He didn't last a few seconds before the light in his eyes completely faded.

In the last second before his vision plunged into darkness, he saw the door opposite him suddenly kicked open with a "bang," and a familiar face appeared before him.

"Brother Cheng!?"

It was A'ming.

But it was too late.

Cheng Shi smiled with unwillingness and closed his eyes completely.

As soon as A'ming entered, he felt the dense power of Order. He looked at his two fallen teammates and charged at the terrified guard with a frenzied expression.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!"

"How is this possible? This is the domain of Order, how can you be unrestrained!?"

"Order? I am Order!"

This was clearly a blasphemous statement, but A'ming did not suffer divine punishment!

He muttered something frantically, his expression twisted and fierce. With a flash, he appeared behind the guard.

The guard didn't react in time, his face contorting in even greater terror. He seemed to want to shout something, but before he could, a blood-stained dagger pierced through his back.

Then, it went straight through his chest.

A murky yellow light flashed on the dagger and then disappeared. The guard looked at the blade tip in front of him, spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm, and died with his eyes wide open.

"Brother Cheng! I avenged you!"

A'ming's voice was distorted and choked with sobs. He kicked the corpse in front of him away and collapsed powerlessly onto the ground, his eyes vacant.

Just then, Fang Shiqing, with Xu Lu, rushed in from outside the door.

A'ming looked up at them, tears welling in his eyes.

Seeing the tragic scene, Xu Lu's face paled by a third, and she tightly clutched Fang Shiqing's sleeve.

Even though she didn't like Cheng Shi, her identity as a Player made her feel a sense of shared misfortune.

Fang Shiqing looked at everything before her, at the dead Bailing and Cheng Shi, and bit her lip tightly.

Her lips were almost bloodless.

"How could this happen..."

But she quickly regained her composure, immediately turned back, closed the door, and said with a serious expression:

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I was a bit late. I was exploring on the second floor when I heard a commotion from this room, so I rushed over. When I entered, Brother Cheng and Niao Niao..."

A'ming seemed very self-reproachful. He ran his hands through his hair and buried his head on the ground.

"Who is on the bed?"

As soon as she asked, Xu Lu's expression changed, and she pointed at the person on the bed, exclaiming:

"It's him! The person who died in the prophecy is him!"

Fang Shiqing trembled all over and looked back at Xu Lu in disbelief.

She suddenly realized that the dead person on the bed was likely the Duke, who had been missing.

Seeing that the scene was exactly like the vague images in the prophecy, Xu Lu muttered distractedly:

"So it wasn't us who were supposed to die, but... the Duke died. Then that guy named Cheng..."

Although no Players were supposed to die in the prophecy, two Players had indeed died now.

Looking at the scene, there were only two possibilities:

Either Cheng Shi broke through the guards and killed someone, and the guards silenced him.

Or the guards broke through Cheng Shi killing someone, and Cheng Shi failed to fight back.

As for which one it was...

As soon as Fang Shiqing finished stating her guess, Xu Lu, standing beside her, lowered her head and said:

"I think... it should be the guards who saw Cheng Shi kill someone..."

Fang Shiqing's expression turned serious, a flicker of contempt in her eyes, and she asked coldly:

"Why?"

"He might have wanted to impersonate the Duke... He, he's like... like that kind of person."

Even though she knew it wasn't good to say these things now, Xu Lu, for some reason, mustered her courage and voiced her guess.

Fang Shiqing frowned upon hearing this but managed to hold back from lashing out.

"Sister Fang... what do we do now?"

Fang Shiqing glanced at her watch; nearly 7 hours had passed, leaving only a little over 5 hours.

"You two go out first and find a way to guard the door. As companions, you should see them off."

A'ming looked at Fang Shiqing in confusion, seemingly remembering that this powerful ally was also a Singer.

Singers recorded stories, and the protagonists of stories were often people from all walks of life.

Of course, this included the deceased from all walks of life.

Therefore, they were skilled at singing funeral dirges and reciting eulogies for people.

Xu Lu felt that this ritual might be a waste of time, but seeing Fang Shiqing's firm expression, she bit her lip and walked towards the exit.

A'ming followed closely, his head bowed, making it impossible to see his expression.

As Fang Shiqing passed him, she patted his shoulder as a gesture of comfort.

After the two left the room and closed the door, the sadness on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a surge of anger.

She opened her book, tore off a page, and tossed it lightly. The entire room instantly fell into a standstill; even the curtains stirred by a gentle breeze froze in place.

There was no sound in the room anymore; even breathing had ceased.

Then she paced over to Cheng Shi's side, looking at him, impaled through the heart, and laughed in exasperation.

Fang Shiqing remembered waking up in Cheng Shi's arms in the thick fog and feeling a piece of paper in her chest.

At the time, she had secretly read the note when no one was paying attention.

It read:

"Respected Fire Keeper, I write to you as if we were face to face, even though I am right beside you.

But please do not look at me, nor laugh.

This is a plea for help, from my future self.

If I die, and you happen to find me, please save my life.

Any healing spell can pull me back from hell. I implore you, in consideration of my past moment as a Fire Keeper candidate, to lend your aid.

Your humble subordinate is immensely grateful.

Also, when three walk together, be cautious."

Now, looking at Cheng Shi at her feet, he was indeed dead.

How could this scoundrel have predicted his own death?

"How dare you trust me so much?

How could you be so sure I could save you?

You rejected me, don't you fear I'll reject you too?

Scoundrel!"

Fang Shiqing's eyebrows shot up as she berated Cheng Shi at length.

The space was silenced; no one could hear, like a silent trial.

But in the end, she resigned herself to it with a sigh. She tore another page from her book, crumpled it into a ball, and placed it on Cheng Shi's wound.

As soon as the page touched the wound, it transformed into a green light imbued with the essence of Life, piercing into Cheng Shi's body.

Cheng Shi, who had no signs of life, instantly opened his eyes under the nourishment of the light of life.

"Ugh—huff—ugh—huff—"

Heavy gasping sounds arose, but no one could hear them.

Looking at Cheng Shi's comical appearance, Fang Shiqing couldn't help but chuckle.

Streams of fresh air filled his lungs, and the long-lost feeling of the living world surged through his limbs, causing Cheng Shi to greedily take several deep breaths.

He's alive!

He's alive!

His first action was to look up, not at Fang Shiqing, but to pull out the pocket watch to see how much time had passed.

Seeing that it had only been twenty-odd minutes since his death, he exhaled a breath of relief.

Releasing all the pressure in his heart.

Then he looked at the dead Bailing beside him, and the guard whose eyes were wide open in death, and suddenly started laughing.

He laughed silently, like a clown in a mime show.

His thigh was indeed reliable.

Or rather, the City Defender was indeed reliable!

Seeing Cheng Shi laughing happily by himself and ignoring his savior, Fang Shiqing stomped on him twice in annoyance.

Cheng Shi quickly got up, clasped his hands together in thanks, and then pointed at Bailing beside him.

Fang Shiqing's expression darkened. She pointed at the book in her hand and mouthed:

"Wasting pages. You're a Priest, save her yourself."

Cheng Shi helplessly snapped his fingers.

As the silent snap echoed, Bailing's crushed body slowly plumped up. In just a few breaths, her eyes reopened.

A rewind heal, a gift from [Time]!

As soon as her clear eyes opened, they were filled with shock. She stared blankly at Cheng Shi and murmured:

"It's actually... real..."

Fang Shiqing understood her lip movements and turned to look at Cheng Shi in confusion, as if asking, "What's real?"

Cheng Shi shrugged, indicating he didn't know either.

Seeing the great one still playing dumb, Bailing giggled along with him.

The bloodstains on her body wouldn't disappear because of the rewind, but the blood-stained dress added a bit more color to Bailing.

Having "received rebirth," she seemed to have become even more... alluring.

Fang Shiqing frowned, feeling that things were not that simple.

The scent of [Filth Fall] had grown stronger.

Her gaze flickered back and forth between Cheng Shi and Bailing, trying to figure out what had happened between them.

But Cheng Shi was too well-hidden; she couldn't see anything.

Bailing, however, wasn't good at hiding her emotions, and her eyes, like drawn-out silk, couldn't leave Cheng Shi, which was disgusting to watch...

She didn't know what she was thinking.

Fang Shiqing naturally didn't know what Bailing was thinking, because her own mind was filled with the scene between her and Cheng Shi in the closet earlier.