"What?"
Bailing behind him was startled by his shout.
Cheng Shi said excitedly:
"Bailing, he mentioned a broker!
Is it possible that the guards didn't know who those dwarves were, but only recognized this ring?"
Bailing wasn't stupid. She immediately understood what Cheng Shi meant.
If the guards had hired the dwarves through a broker, they shouldn't have known exactly what the dwarves looked like or who they were. At the very least, they shouldn't have known all the details.
And the dwarves in the servants' quarters clearly hadn't made any logical mistake.
They had even known to kill the invading players to silence them.
Bailing's eyes suddenly widened. She said incredulously, "But... but the answer has already revealed itself..."
Fang Shiqing echoed her:
"Cheng Shi, the maze of Memory has never had a second answer."
Heh. Forbidden arts had never appeared in the Trial of War either, yet hadn't they encountered them last time?
"I remember that the result of the Edict of Passage for the clip... was 5?"
Xu Lu was furious when she heard Cheng Shi call her "clip," but she didn't dare say anything.
Fang Shiqing pondered. "Yes."
"So is it possible that this prophecy is telling us we still have another 50% choice?"
Cheng Shi looked at Xu Lu and said each word clearly:
"She has 1,600 points, and the Dice has ten sides. Five is exactly half."
"!!!"
Everyone was stunned, but no one refuted him, because what Cheng Shi had said really did make sense.
Besides, no one could know what the prophecy of Destiny meant until the very end.
"But we don't have any other evidence or clues to find the second answer. Cheng Shi, there are too many people in the manor, and too many have died. We're in a very passive situation."
"But at least we have time, don't we?"
Cheng Shi smiled and started walking.
"I've thought of someone. Perhaps she's one of the answers."
"Who?"
Bailing hurried after him. After hesitating for a moment, Fang Shiqing also pulled Xu Lu along.
Xu Lu was extremely unwilling to go, but Fang Shiqing held on too tightly for her to break free.
Clearly, Fang Shiqing still trusted Cheng Shi. She didn't want Xu Lu to walk to her death.
But Xu Lu clearly didn't think the same way. Her eyes held anger and mockery as she looked at Fang Shiqing.
The former powerhouse seemed to have lost her mind.
A believer of time was deluding people!
Cheng Shi led everyone off the second floor and quickly began searching the manor.
The guests at the banquet truly hadn't left. They were still laughing and chatting as usual, as though the duke being late was already routine.
He ignored those brainless nobles, quickly led everyone away from the center of the banquet, and arrived at the original servants' quarters.
Just as everyone was confused about why he had returned, Cheng Shi looked at the ground by the doorway and smiled.
Fang Shiqing followed his gaze and found some fine sand beneath the threshold. Someone had stepped on it, leaving behind a shallow footprint.
"What's this?"
Cheng Shi pointed at the ground and smiled.
"Mud from the courtyard.
I realized long ago that no matter who had invited these dwarves or for what reason, once they discovered that the dwarves hadn't appeared at the right place and time, they would definitely come to investigate and see what had happened to them.
So I scattered a handful of fine sand by the door.
And now, as you can see, there's a footprint from a noblewoman's high heel."
Bailing finally caught on this time. Whether she was deliberately playing along or genuinely hadn't figured it out, she asked:
"What does this prove? Uh, that the Duchess came here? That the Duchess is connected to that broker?"
Cheng Shi looked at her as though she were an idiot. Before he could speak, Fang Shiqing beside him mused:
"It proves that the Duchess isn't as simple as we thought.
Cheng Shi said she reacted strongly to the duke's death, but since these dwarves were hired to assassinate the duke, she shouldn't have appeared here.
If we have to put it simply, there's only one possibility: she knew the dwarves were coming long ago!"
"Exactly!"
Cheng Shi nodded. "As the Duchess, she has recently taken an unusual interest in the dwarf circus performers from the refugee camp. That alone shows that something is wrong."
"What problem?"
"I have a guess, but I won't dare say for certain until we find the Duchess."
Fang Shiqing immediately nodded. "Split up and search!"
She pulled the furious Xu Lu away quickly. Bailing secretly sidled over and whispered:
"Boss, you're really not hiding it this time?"
Cheng Shi clicked his tongue and said disdainfully:
"If I keep hiding things, we won't be able to get out. I can't count on you, can I?"
Bailing smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry, Boss. I'm too weak."
That sentence sounded so familiar.
Cheng Shi suddenly froze. Looking at Bailing's slightly apologetic face, his gaze softened considerably.
"It's fine. As the boss, I can carry you to victory."
With that, he strode out of the room and began searching for the Duchess.
Bailing hurried after him, lifting her skirt.
Only half an hour later did they find the "departing" Duchess on a path in the hills behind the manor.
Seeing that the Duchess was trying to leave in a hurry, the players decisively knocked down the guards around her and stopped her.
The Duchess looked at the strangers and angrily demanded:
"Who are you? What are you trying to do?
On Brooks's land, in the outskirts of the duke's manor, you actually intend to attack the duke's wife. Are you insane?"
Cheng Shi sauntered up to the Duchess and asked with a grin:
"Are you really the Duchess?"
Dilar's expression stiffened. She flew into a rage.
"You'll pay the price for your stupidity!"
Cheng Shi ignored her and continued on his own:
"Sorry, Madam. I'd like to take up a little of your time. I want to tell you a story. Once it's over, you'll be free to leave.
I guarantee that my companions won't harm a single hair on your head."
Dilar was taken aback. "Really?"
"Really. But you can't hold us accountable for offending you afterward."
"You... you came here just to tell me a story?"
"Yes, respected Madam. May I begin?"
Dilar hesitated. But with the advantage of force on his side, she had no choice but to accept.
"Then go ahead."
Cheng Shi bowed and said leisurely:
"The story I'm going to tell is about a group of dwarves corrupted by faith from beneath the earth, who tried to steal the administrative authority of a town by imitating and impersonating others."
The moment he finished speaking, Dilar turned and ran without hesitation.
Fang Shiqing's expression changed. She quickly pulled out a page and flung it onto the Duchess's escape route. Countless vines sprang up, tripping her and sending her sprawling.
Bailing reacted swiftly and flashed to her side, preparing to tie her up.
But just as Bailing moved, she discovered that the rope had directly torn through the Duchess's waist, ripping open her skin.
And at the edges of the torn skin, a pair of enormous feet and a bald head were revealed.
"???"
"This..."
"A dwarf!?"
Everyone stared at Cheng Shi in disbelief. Cheng Shi exhaled heavily and smiled elegantly.
"You see? This is the story I was about to tell."
Fang Shiqing still couldn't believe it. She asked, shaken:
"When did you realize?"
Cheng Shi thought for a moment.
"Probably when I remembered hearing in the tavern that they had impersonated many people?"
Fang Shiqing once again felt regret that he had rejected Fire Keeper's invitation.
Cheng Shi was clearly a high-level player, a powerhouse skilled at observing details and understanding people's hearts.
Most importantly, his heartstrings had never darkened from beginning to end.
Not even when he killed Huang Bo.
"Why do you keep looking at me, powerhouse?"
Fang Shiqing sighed. "You know what I'm thinking!"
"That's not fair. I'm not a worm in your stomach."
Cheng Shi approached the "Duchess" and pulled out the two dwarves hidden beneath the Human Skin.
The two ugly dwarves covered their faces and wailed as soon as they saw the light of day:
"It was Sambos's idea! He had us impersonate the duke and Duchess and take control of the town! We were only following orders. Don't kill us!"
"I'm not interested in killing you. I only want to know who fell into the memories."
With that, two casts of Hypnosis struck the two of them.
This time, Xu Lu didn't say anything, and neither did Fang Shiqing. Cheng Shi had no choice but to do it himself.
After he finished questioning them, the dwarf who had been playing the lower half of the Duchess's body exploded with a "bang," scattering into countless points of light before condensing into another Final Gate.
The second Final Gate!
"This... there really is a second one."
"!!??"
Fang Shiqing looked at the second gate before her, her expression a complicated mix of emotions.
"Cheng Shi... are you really not going to reconsider what I said?"
Xu Lu and Bailing exchanged glances between the two of them. Cheng Shi smiled casually.
"No. Thank you."
After saying that, he bowed to everyone and cheerfully announced:
"The performance is over. Audience members, please exit in an orderly fashion."
It was clearly just a little interlude meant to lighten the mood, but not a single person present moved.
Cheng Shi looked at the awkward scene, the corner of his mouth twitching as he prepared to leave.
However, Bailing moved at that moment.
She grinned, hugged Cheng Shi's arm, quickly kissed him on the cheek, and then rushed toward the Final Gate like a fledgling returning to its nest.
Just as she was about to step through the gate, Cheng Shi suddenly called out:
"Why did you choose Him?"
Bailing's steps halted. She turned around, smiled like a flower in bloom, and shot Cheng Shi a flirtatious look.
"Wouldn't it be because I like Him?"
With that, she rushed into the gate without looking back.
Her answer was phrased as a question, but it was also an affirmation.
Cheng Shi was stunned for a moment, then began to laugh.
He wasn't laughing at Bailing's bluntness. He was laughing because she had lied.
As companions who had met by chance but lived and died together, he had never tried to dig too deeply into anything.
But knowing that Bailing had lied was already something worth being happy about.
Simply staying alive in this world was difficult enough. There was no reason to judge anyone else.
Besides, she had never hurt anyone.
Watching Bailing disappear behind the gate, Cheng Shi smiled brightly.
But Fang Shiqing's expression was unpleasant. She wanted to make another invitation, but she also knew that Cheng Shi probably wouldn't accept it.
Left with no choice, she walked toward the Final Gate.
Before entering, she pushed Xu Lu forward a little. Clearly, she still didn't want Xu Lu to end up alone with Cheng Shi at the very end.
However, what neither of them expected was this:
Just as Xu Lu was about to be pushed through the Final Gate, she suddenly struggled violently and ran away.
She sprinted dozens of meters away. Looking at the stunned Fang Shiqing and the puzzled Cheng Shi, who had tilted his head, she screamed hysterically:
"It's fake! It's all fake! He's lying!
Sister Fang, he's lying!
This whole thing is his scheme!
Don't believe him!
This gate is fake! We'll all die after we go in!"
Before you continue