The Death of Cheng Shi

It was strange. There was no grief in Cheng Shi's eyes.

Or rather, he simply hadn't cared about Bailing's death.

He kept casting Accelerated Metabolism on himself, trying to use the magic of time to erase the control effects caused by his negative status.

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

As a Singer, inflicting negative statuses on enemies was his specialty. He kept releasing his tricks, squeezing Cheng Shi's already limited space to survive.

Before long, Cheng Shi felt his strength failing. He lost the struggle at death's edge, was utterly defeated, and could only wait for death.

The guard walked up to Cheng Shi. Seeing that he no longer moved, with his eyes dull and vacant, he shook his head and sighed:

"Underground bugs belong underground. But sometimes, bugs have their uses. I both like you and hate you. Ah, what a contradiction."

But before he could finish, the guard suddenly raised his sword and thrust downward, piercing Cheng Shi's chest with the force of thunder.

He gave him no chance to turn the tables.

"Shhk!"

The sword tip pierced his heart.

Cheng Shi's eyes flew open, his pupils contracting sharply. He didn't last more than a few seconds before the light in his eyes suddenly collapsed.

In the instant before his vision sank completely into darkness, he saw the door directly across from him suddenly kicked open with a bang, and a familiar face appeared before his eyes.

"Brother Cheng!!?"

It was A'ming.

But he was too late.

Cheng Shi smiled bitterly, then closed his eyes for good.

The moment A'ming entered the room, he sensed the dense power of Order. Seeing his two fallen teammates, he charged madly at the horrified guard.

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

"How is this possible? This is the domain of Order! How could you possibly be unaffected by its restraints!?"

"Order? I am Order!"

That was clearly blasphemy, yet A'ming didn't receive divine punishment!

He frantically muttered something under his breath. His expression twisted into something vicious, and with a flash, he appeared behind the guard.

The guard failed to react in time. The terror on his face grew even more exaggerated. He seemed to want to shout something, but before he could, a bloodstained dagger pierced in through his back.

Then it came straight out through his chest.

A filthy yellow light flashed across the dagger and vanished. The guard looked at the blade tip protruding from his chest, spat out a mouthful of foul blood, and died with his eyes wide open.

"Brother Cheng! I avenged you!"

A'ming's voice was distorted and choked. He kicked away the corpse in front of him, then collapsed helplessly onto the floor, his eyes vacant.

Just then, Fang Shiqing brought Xu Lu rushing in from outside.

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

Seeing the gruesome scene, Xu Lu's face paled further. She tightly gripped Fang Shiqing's clothes.

Although she hadn't liked Cheng Shi, the fact that they were both players still made her feel the sorrow of a fox mourning the death of a rabbit.

Fang Shiqing looked at everything before her—the dead Bailing and Cheng Shi—and bit down hard on her lips.

They were nearly bloodless.

"How could this happen..."

But she quickly recovered and immediately turned around to shut the door. With a solemn expression, she asked:

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I arrived a little late. I was exploring the second floor when I heard a disturbance from this room, so I hurried over. By the time I entered, Brother Cheng and Niao Niao..."

A'ming seemed deeply remorseful. He rubbed his hair, lowered his head, and struck the floor with his fist.

"Who's on the bed?"

The moment she asked, Xu Lu's expression changed. Pointing at the person on the bed, she cried out:

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

Fang Shiqing's entire body shook. She turned back toward Xu Lu in disbelief.

She suddenly realized that the dead person on the bed was very likely the duke who had been missing all this time.

Seeing that the scene was exactly like the blurry image in the prophecy, Xu Lu murmured in a daze:

"So it wasn't us who were going to die. It was... the duke who died, and that Cheng fellow..."

Although no player had died in the prophecy, two players had indeed died now.

Judging from the scene, there were only two possibilities:

Either Cheng Shi had caught the guard murdering someone, and the guard had killed him to silence him.

Or the guard had caught Cheng Shi murdering someone, and Cheng Shi had failed to kill him in return.

As for which one it was...

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

"I think... the guard probably saw Cheng Shi killing someone..."

Fang Shiqing's expression turned stern. A flash of contempt crossed her eyes as she asked coldly:

"Why?"

"Maybe he wanted to steal the duke's identity... He seems... seems like the kind of person who would do that."

Although she knew that saying such things now was inappropriate, Xu Lu somehow still summoned the courage to voice her guess.

Fang Shiqing's brows furrowed deeply, but she still restrained herself and didn't lash out.

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

Fang Shiqing glanced at her watch. Nearly seven hours had passed, leaving only a little over five hours.

"You two go outside first and find a way to guard the entrance. As their companions, we should at least see them off."

A'ming looked at Fang Shiqing blankly, seemingly remembering that this powerhouse was also a Singer.

Singers recorded stories, and the protagonists of those stories were often all kinds of people.

Of course, that included all kinds of dead people.

That was why they were skilled at singing funeral songs and reciting eulogies.

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

A'ming followed closely behind, his head lowered so that no one could see his expression.

As Fang Shiqing passed him, she patted his shoulder in consolation.

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

She opened her book, tore off a page, and gently waved it. The entire room instantly fell still. Even the curtains stirred by the breeze froze in place.

Not another sound remained in the room. Even the sound of breathing disappeared.

Then she walked over to Cheng Shi and looked at him, dead from having his heart pierced. She laughed in exasperation.

Fang Shiqing remembered waking up in Cheng Shi's arms in the dense fog and sensing an extra note against her chest.

At the time, while no one was paying attention, she had secretly looked at the note.

It read:

"Dear Lady Fire Keeper,

"Greetings, even though I am right beside you.

"But please don't look at me, and don't smile.

"This is a request for help from my future self.

"If I die and happen to be found by you, sorry for the trouble, but please save my life.

"Any Healing Art can pull me back from hell. I humbly ask that, for the sake of the fact that I was once a Fire Keeper candidate for a brief moment, you lend me a hand.

"Your humble brother will be eternally grateful.

"Also, be especially careful when there are three of you."

Now, looking at Cheng Shi beneath her feet, wasn't he dead?

How had this bastard predicted his own death?

"How dare you trust me so much?

"How could you be certain I'd come to save you?

"You rejected me. Weren't you afraid that I'd reject you too?

"Bastard!"

Fang Shiqing's brows rose sharply as she scolded Cheng Shi for quite some time.

The space had been muted, so no one could hear her. It was like a silent trial.

But in the end, she resigned herself helplessly, tore another page from the book, crumpled it into a ball, and pressed it against Cheng Shi's wound.

The instant the page touched the wound, it transformed into a green light filled with vitality and poured into Cheng Shi's body.

Under the nourishment of the light of life, Cheng Shi, who had been completely lifeless, instantly opened his eyes.

"Ghh—haa—ghh—haa—"

A violent, ragged gasp rang out, but no one could hear it.

Seeing Cheng Shi's comical appearance, Fang Shiqing couldn't help laughing.

Fresh air flooded into his lungs. The long-lost sensation of being alive spread through his limbs, and Cheng Shi greedily inhaled several more breaths.

He was alive!

He had come back to life!

The first thing he did was raise his head. He didn't look toward Fang Shiqing, but instead took out the watch in his clothes and checked how much time had passed.

When he saw that only a little over twenty minutes had passed since his death, he exhaled a long breath of relief.

All the pressure in his heart was released.

Then he looked toward the dead Bailing beside him and the guard, whose eyes were wide open in death, and suddenly began to laugh.

He laughed without a sound, like a clown in a silent film.

The powerhouse really was reliable.

Or rather, the City Defender really was reliable!

Seeing Cheng Shi laughing happily by himself while completely ignoring his savior, Fang Shiqing angrily kicked him twice.

Cheng Shi hurriedly climbed to his feet, clasped his hands, and bowed to show his thanks. Then he pointed at Bailing beside him.

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

"Wasting book pages. You're a Priest. Save her yourself."

Cheng Shi had no choice but to snap his fingers.

As the silent snap fell, Bailing's crushed body slowly filled out. In the span of a few breaths, her eyes opened once more.

Rewound Healing, a gift from time!

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

"It really was... real..."

Fang Shiqing read her lips and turned toward Cheng Shi in confusion, seemingly asking, What was real?

Cheng Shi spread his hands, indicating that he didn't know either.

Seeing that the great expert was still pretending to be foolish, Bailing followed along and laughed foolishly too.

The bloodstains on her body hadn't disappeared with the rewind, but the bloodstained dress added even more color to Bailing's appearance.

After being "reborn," she seemed even more... alluring.

Fang Shiqing frowned. She felt that something wasn't right.

The scent of corruption had grown stronger.

Her gaze shifted back and forth between Cheng Shi and Bailing, trying to determine what had happened between them.

But Cheng Shi had hidden it well. There was no way to see through him.

Bailing wasn't good at disguising herself, but her eyes clung to Cheng Shi as if they were connected by threads. The sight made people sick...

Who knew what she was thinking?

Fang Shiqing naturally had no idea what Bailing was thinking, because her mind was filled with the scene between herself and Cheng Shi inside the cabinet.