The Deal with the Puppetmaster

"You should know that the Sighing Tide didn't appear out of thin air. Deep within the Sighing Forest lies a pilgrimage site for the Believer of [Decay], where stands a colossal tombstone that constantly overflows with rotten blood, named..."

Blood Rot Tomb.

Whenever the rotting blood on the tombstone traces the word "Decay," a new wave of Sighing Tide begins.

Every Believer who has heard of its "Decay" desires to witness this great creation of God with their own eyes, but unfortunately, no one knows where it stands.

But there are always some fearless madmen willing to take the risk, and over time, someone actually found its approximate location.

An organization called 'The Man in the Coffin' shared their deductions for the first time in the [Decay] channel. They painstakingly collected a great deal of information about the range of the Sighing Tide and tried to delineate a general area in the Sighing Forest using the overlapping method.

At first, no one thought they could succeed because there was so little information about the Sighing Tide, let alone marking the area.

So when they shared this theory, no one thought it was correct, until a madman believed it and actually saw the "Decay" tombstone within that area and walked out alive. After that, all the "Decay" Believer were ecstatic.

That person is now the Chosen of God of [Decay], the "Rotten Wood" that weighs down our [prosperity] on the Ladder of Audience, Lin Xi.

But after that, the Man in the Coffin organization never appeared again.

Ah, the saying "a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime" is self-evident.

And I just so happened to be matched with a member of the Man in the Coffin team before they disappeared. After some... cough cough, friendly communication, we exchanged some information, including the approximate location of this area!

I didn't kill that stinky bird; I just showed it a path to its death.

!!

So Feathered Brother went deep into the Sighing Forest?

It seems the bald guy really is collaborating with this person.

Hearing this, Cheng Shi understood. He looked at An Jing with some shock, frowned, and asked:

"So you plan to go to the Blood Rot Tomb to find traces of [Him]?"

It's ridiculous that a 2400-point "silent" Believer would break his vows just to get closer to them.

Am I wrong, Puppeteer?

After a moment of An Jing, Zuo Qiu nodded.

"Yes, this world should belong to them, and we should be their subordinates."

I've heard that some players have already begun to pay homage to the god. Since He hasn't summoned me yet, I will strive to see Him!

"Ha, even if it's another Him?" Cheng Shi said with a mocking expression.

"Yes, even if it's another Him!" The Puppeteer and her three puppets turned to look at Cheng Shi, their faces all showing a strange fanaticism, completely different from the quiet An Jing they had been before.

Indeed, madness often lies hidden beneath calm.

"So the so-called recycling isn't about preserving our fighting strength at all, but rather about increasing your own combat power for your deeper plans, right?"

Cheng Shi frowned, then asked with some doubt:

"But why would you kill a Historian who knows about underground history? Wouldn't it be easier to find what you're looking for here with his help?"

"I also wanted a win-win situation, but he rejected my deal, so in order to pave the way for my future, I had no choice but to cut off his path."

"Oh? Then I'm a little curious, Baldy, what did she promise us?"

The word "we" made Hong Lin laugh out loud. She looked at the Puppeteer and raised her chin.

"Let her say it herself."

The Puppeteer's fanatical expression softened slightly, and she once again controlled Zuo Qiu to speak:

"Divinity! The Divinity of [prosperity]!"

I am about to leave this place and head to the depths of the Sighing Forest. In order to get closer to Him, I can choose to relinquish the [Prosperity] Divinity sealed within me. If you wish, the deal can be struck, since the two dead have nothing to do with you.

All you have to do is let me go during the Trials.

It's a sure-fire way to make money, isn't it?

Divinity?

Or is it the Divinity [prosperity]?

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and looked at Hong Lin Hong Lin, who nodded slightly without changing her expression.

Therefore, the Divinity that can make even the Chosen of God of "Prosperity" nod must be either of high quality or abundant in quantity.

A sure-fire way to make money? No, it sounds like a risk-free way to make a fortune.

Just as the Puppeteer said, Cheng Shi was initially only worried that she might have designs on him, but now she was not lying and was determined to leave the group to go deep into the Sighing Forest. Although this would reduce the number of participants in this Trials from "5" to 2, it seemed that there was no other way.

It's clearly not in anyone's interest to fight to the death with the Puppeteer, so this deal is probably going to be finalized.

However, the price... perhaps we can negotiate it further.

Cheng Shi's eyes darted around, and he looked intently into the Puppeteer's eyes, saying:

"I'm starting to believe you, but there are some things you still need to explain to me."

"Explain what?"

Why do you know so much about baldness?

Hearing this, the bald woman raised an eyebrow. Although her situation was not a secret among the Peak Player, 2400 points seemed to be a little short of the position of the Chosen of God. So she looked at the Puppeteer with interest.

The Puppeteer remained silent for a moment, then controlled Zuo Qiu to speak:

"I have a [Memory] artifact that can read other people's Memory. So, I absorbed some of Zuo Qiu's Memory. The matter of baldness is the result of this part of the Memory."

Of course, so does history related to prosperity.

"Oh, I see. Then I have another question. Since you killed Zuo Qiu so early, it means that Zuo Qiu's probing yesterday was all your doing. If that's the case, how did you come to know me?"

You are testing my identity in a practiced way, but I am not some Chosen of God, not worth this Historian's careful investigation, and he probably doesn't have any information about me in his Memory.

As for Jiang Wu Mei, that's even more impossible, because he died in my dream before you could control him.

"So, Puppeteer, give me an answer. If the answer is reasonable, I will consider making this deal."

Puppeteer was about to speak, Cheng Shi suddenly raised his hand to stop her, pointing at Jiang Wu Mei and saying:

"This time, let's not let the Historian speak, let the wandering knight puppet speak."

Cheng Shi noticed that when the Puppeteer spoke, she always seemed to use the Zuo Qiu puppet to speak. This wasn't too strange, since she had used it for a long time, but Cheng Shi still felt something was off.

An Jing paused for a moment, stared at Cheng Shi for a while, and then controlled the Ranger to speak:

"I know Zhen Yi."

????

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shi and Hong Lin's faces both fell.

Damn, what bad luck!

The worst part is that this isn't a lie!

Although somewhat unexpected, it is also reasonable. After all, birds of a feather flock together, and it is not surprising that madmen meet madmen.

But Cheng Shi was still amused by the situation.

Alright, alright. My biggest weakness so far is that this Crazy Woman has read enough of my Memory, but considering that she really is a Crazy Woman and that others don't really believe what she says, I've been relatively at ease all this time.

There's nothing I can do about it; I have no way to deal with her.

But now that I look at him, this person's mouth is perhaps even bigger than my good older brother Hu Wei's, who was so easily offended!

Cheng Shi gritted his teeth in hatred and stared at An Jing, asking:

"She said you believe it too, just because the Crazy Woman mentioned me to you, you came to test me?"

What did she say to you?

"He didn't say anything, just some anecdotes about the [Gods] that he learned from you, and that you are a very interesting person, so I wanted to see just how interesting Zhen Yi was."

Cheng Shi's face darkened. "Then what did you figure out?"

The Puppeteer's puppets all pursed their lips, then the wandering knight fell silent, Zuo Qiu spoke up:

"I didn't see anything special, but it's probably just interesting."

"?"

Damn, I'm even angrier!