Everything Was Ready, All That Remained Was for Nightfall

"Why are you so quiet? You've thought of all your plans. You're not going to be unable to change this contract at the last minute, are you?"

Hong Lin's words sounded sarcastic, but she was actually secretly relieved; she seemed to be hesitant.

But having come this far, Cheng Shi certainly couldn't let her back down, so he confidently said:

"Yes, but..."

"But what?" Hong Lin's heart skipped a beat for no reason, as if she had a premonition that something bad was about to happen.

Cheng Shi gave Hong Lin a strange look and said, "But you'll have to suffer a little."

"?"

As he spoke, Cheng Shi pointed to his tongue.

"I just spoke with the Tongue of Lies in my personal space. It said it can eat the signatures of both parties on this contract, but only if the unfinished Truth or Dare game is completed first!"

In other words, bald guy, you either get slapped, or... you have to answer one question for me.

Before she could finish speaking, Hong Lin stood up angrily, grabbed Cheng Shi, and stared at him intently, saying:

"Are you lying to me?"

This tongue was clearly given to you by the Puppeteer, so how do you know its functions so well?

When I first picked it up, I didn't realize it had this use!

I didn't find that it could talk!

"..."

Cheng Shi hadn't expected Hong Lin to react so strongly, and he chuckled awkwardly twice, saying:

"I don't have that kind of ability. It said it itself. When I picked up that contract, it suddenly spoke from its personal space and asked if I could feed it the contract. So I took the opportunity to chat with it for a bit..."

"Pah, you liar! I don't believe you. Show it to me. If it can talk, then I'll believe you!"

This suddenly caught Cheng Shi guard, because what he had just said was indeed a lie. He wanted to take the opportunity to trick Hong Lin out of her gossip, but he didn't expect that this move would directly get him into trouble.

But that's alright, admitting his mistake can be a lighthearted joke to ease the tension. However, unexpectedly, just as he was about to speak, his mouth spoke first:

"·good."

"..."

"..."

The two people present were stunned.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shi immediately realized that Mouth Brother was helping him rather than harming him. He suppressed a laugh and looked at Hong Lin, asking, "Then... should I take it out?"

Hong Lin's eyelids twitched, and after scanning Cheng Shi up and down with a look of surprise and suspicion for Cheng Shi, she said angrily, "Take it! I don't believe that a tongue can still speak!"

Without saying a word, Cheng Shi threw out the Tongue of Lies, and as soon as the tongue hit the ground, it let out a burp.

"Burp, I'm full."

"..."

That's fucking weird, a talking tongue!

Seeing the Tongue of Lies had indeed made a sound, Hong Lin was stunned. She was completely at a loss. Her expression changed repeatedly as she stared at the disgusting tongue. Finally, unable to delay any longer, she said fiercely:

"I can agree to let you join this bet, but I have conditions."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, almost guessing what Hong Lin wanted to say.

"Let this tongue change the contract first. When we win this bet, I will continue to finish this unfinished truth-or-dare game."

Otherwise, there's no point in discussing it!

"..."

Who says bald people are stupid? At least she knows she can't lose everything, and if she loses the bet, she doesn't want to be slapped on top of that.

Cheng Shi truly didn't know if the tongue would agree, but the entire plan now depended on the Tongue of Lies's ability to alter contracts. So, he nervously looked at the tongue, only to see it wriggle twice on the ground before lazily saying:

"Make a deal!"

"..."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shi laughed and quickly picked up his tongue, while Hong Lin's face looked as ugly as if he had eaten shit.

Indeed, one must reap what one sows; this is an eternal Truth.

Cheng Shi also thought of this phrase. He chuckled to himself, thinking that praising "truth" would be better than praising "Folly." He might have to fight with "Truth" in a bit.

Lost in thought, he touched his nose and said again:

"I know you don't believe in prosperity, but as long as you're in the game, you can't live without their protection."

This offering to Him may be optional for you, but you should consider the future.

Since you believe in Destiny, it means you are destined to be with us. When we join forces to win this gamble, your Lord of Grace [Prosperity] will stand with my Lord of Grace [Destiny] to fight against [Decay] that protects the Sighing Forest and [Truth] that watches over the Experiment of grafting Faith.

That's all I have to say. Think it over carefully.

At this point, Cheng Shi finally uttered the most informative sentence in this whole charade. Although he didn't explain anything, given Hong Lin's knowledge, she should have been able to understand something as long as she heard about the game between the "gods".

Hong Lin frowned and thought for a while, then asked somewhat uncertainly:

"Are you using a gamble to force Him to agree to let me embark on the path of 'Destiny'?"

"This isn't being forced, this is..."

The choice of Destiny.

Hong Lin looked at Cheng Shi with a complicated expression, feeling that this man's scheming was truly remarkable; no wonder he could...

Forget it, let's not talk about that unlucky thing.

"You really are a charlatan!"

"Thank you for the compliment. So, have you made up your mind? Can we begin?"

As he spoke, Cheng Shi raised his hands, one holding the Tombstone Stone and the other holding a lazy tongue.

Hong Lin frowned, as if she had thought of something, but soon her brows relaxed. A hint of helplessness flashed in her eyes, and then she glanced at the Tongue of Lies with a look of disgust before taking the stone overflowing with [Decay].

How to do it?

"Let it completely corrupt my power of 'Prosperity'? If that happens, I'll be powerless. Cheng Shi, are you sure you, a Priest, can protect me?"

Cheng Shi shook his head:

"No, we can't simply let the Tombstone Stone consume your [Prosperity] power. I was thinking if you could try using [Prosperity] to catalyze the [Decay] within this stone, just like with Eupusca's blood. There's no need to convert [Prosperity] into [Decay]; just let these powers 'evaporate'. In this way, the disguise will be more effective."

"Once we've accomplished this, then we can discuss whether I can keep you."

"If I had Eupusca's blood, I could try, but I didn't..."

Hong Lin shut up three times before she could finish speaking.

Even with our eyes wide open, it's still x3.

Because Cheng Shi took out a small jar of Eupusca's blood in front of her.

"You..."

"Don't get me wrong, I dismantled the abandoned lamp."

"..."

Hong Lin shut up completely.

She silently took the vial of Eupusca's blue blood and began to try to use the power of [Prosperity] to stimulate a more concentrated [Decay].

Cheng Shi wasn't idle either. He easily licked off the names of Eupusca and the Fungus-Footed People from the contract by pinching his tongue. Then, he took Hong Lin's hand, smeared it with blood, and pressed a handprint on the original spot where Eupusca's name was on the contract.

As for the other signature...

Hong Lin looked at Cheng Shi, her eye twitching. "Don't wait for me to speak, just take it out!"

Cheng Shi was overjoyed, and sure enough, he took out another branch of the Twisted Night Python from his personal space.

"..."

"Don't look at me like that. I picked it up at the very beginning of the Trials. One should always have a sense of crisis. This wood is alright. Even if it's useless, it can still be used to make a fire for warmth, right?"

"Yes, yes, okay, okay, fine, fine, I never thought I'd be lectured by a ragpicker." Hong Lin laughed in exasperation.

Cheng Shi was stunned for two seconds after hearing this.

"I hadn't thought about it either."

"?" Hong Lin didn't understand what Cheng Shi meant, but she didn't dwell on it too much. Instead, she said, "It's okay to pretend to Decay, but it's best not to reveal any flaws. There are many other Divinity sealed within my body. What should I do with these Divinity?"

Cheng Shi snapped out of his daze, his expression turning serious. He said earnestly, "If you don't mind, those Divinity... cough cough, we can..."

"Lend it to you?" Hong Lin scoffed disdainfully.

"That's right, let's store it temporarily. Otherwise it would be a waste to let it go to waste."

Hong Lin scrutinized Cheng Shi and, without saying a word, took out all the Divinity that was sealed within him.

Prosperity, Birth, Order, war, Memory, and even a few strands of Deception!

Cheng Shi was dumbfounded as he watched the colorful Divinity floating in the Void.

Ah?

Is this the power of Chosen of God?

How can there be Divinity of Deception?

"What, are you surprised?"

You guessed one thing right. I do enjoy sealing away Divinity, but the vessel is usually myself, not some weakling teammate who can escape from me!

"..."

Sister, stop whipping the corpse, you're already crushing it.

Cheng Shi chuckled twice, then awkwardly pointed to the Divinity in front of him and said:

"I might have to trouble you to... seal these things inside the body of this weakling teammate in front of you..."

Hong Lin was stunned as soon as he heard this.

Her face darkened. "You don't know how to seal away Divinity? No, don't you collect Divinity?"

"..."

That's true, I'd like to think that too, but Divinity isn't like a rabbit; it doesn't run into stakes...

So Cheng Shi honestly shook his head.

Hong Lin sized him up for a moment, frowned, and began to act, all the while muttering hatefully:

"Don't let me find out you're playing me, or else! Humph!"

Cheng Shi's expression tightened, and he sighed.

Sigh, what a mess this is.

Fortunately, the plan has finally begun.

In this way, all we need to do is wait.

Heavens, let it get dark soon.