"What's wrong with you?"
Cheng Shi rolled his eyes, his disdain plain for all to see.
Fang Shiqing hadn't expected Xu Lu to react so strongly. She asked in surprise:
"How did you determine that this was fake, Xu Lu? You watched Cheng Shi's entire reasoning process. If you have any doubts, say them. There's no need to act like this."
"I..."
Seeing Xu Lu hesitate, Fang Shiqing knew there really was something troubling her. She gently coaxed her:
"Say it. We still have enough time."
Xu Lu glanced at the time, gritted her teeth, and said firmly:
"My Lord of Grace gave me a new revelation earlier. It said:
Don't let the believer of time deceive you."
"!?"
Both Fang Shiqing and Cheng Shi were shocked.
What shocked Cheng Shi was that Xu Lu's Lord of Grace seemed to have developed a cognitive problem.
He wasn't actually a believer of time.
What shocked Fang Shiqing was the possibility that what Xu Lu had said might be true.
"You..."
"Sister Fang, I know you look down on me. You think I'm stupid, weak, and a burden.
But I can tell that you're protecting me.
So I'm telling you this:
Cheng Shi is a huge liar. He wants to kill everyone.
He killed A'ming and Huang Bo, then killed Bailing. Now it's your turn!
Sister Fang, come with me, okay? Don't believe him!
Everything he said is a lie!"
Fang Shiqing turned to look at Cheng Shi, only to see him suddenly relax.
"Oh, so the prophecy of Destiny is here. Big Sis, it's time for you to choose.
Hahaha, do you believe her or me? Pick one."
After saying that, Cheng Shi walked to the side of the Final Gate with a laugh and silently began to wait.
"Even you..."
Fang Shiqing tightened her grip on the book in her hands, her gaze wavering.
"Cheng Shi, what revelation did it give you?"
Cheng Shi froze, then said with a smile:
"You figured it out?
I did receive a revelation too. When we entered the third act, time gave me an instruction.
It said: Kill the believer of Destiny."
"..."
"It's you! So it really was you!
Sister Fang, I was right, wasn't I? He wants to kill me!
But he's lying! He wants to kill everyone!
He's already started! Only the two of us are left.
Sister Fang, I'm saving you! I'm saving you! Believe me, please! He wants to kill you!
Why aren't you coming over!?
Fang Shiqing! Do you think you're so impressive?
Do you think every choice you make is correct?
You idiot! And you call yourself a believer of Truth? You still can't see that he's harming you! I'm the only one saving you!
You!!!
Fang Shiqing, what are you doing!
Come back!
He wants to kill you! Come back!"
Seeing Fang Shiqing choose Cheng Shi, Xu Lu completely broke down. She glared at the two of them as they drew closer, then turned and ran.
"Go to hell, all of you! Go to hell! All you idiots, go to hell!"
Cheng Shi watched Fang Shiqing approach with great interest and joked:
"Why didn't Big Sis choose her little follower?"
Fang Shiqing sighed helplessly.
"To borrow Xu Lu's words, if you wanted to kill her, you wouldn't need to go to such lengths."
Cheng Shi burst out laughing.
"You're not going to save her?"
Fang Shiqing glanced back and shook her head.
"The Fire Keeper passes on the fire of continuation. Someone like that...
Forget it. I'll put aside my impulse to help others and respect their fate."
Cheng Shi curled his lips. "Yes, respect their fate."
He emphasized the words "their fate."
Fang Shiqing knew what he meant and didn't mention the invitation again. Instead, she held out her hand and looked at Cheng Shi.
Cheng Shi froze, utterly bewildered. Without even knowing what he was thinking, he placed his hand on hers.
Two warm hands clasped tightly together.
Of course, their fingers weren't interlocked. They were shaking hands.
Fang Shiqing's flatly extended hand had been forcibly turned into a handshake by him.
"..."
A rare trace of awkwardness crossed Fang Shiqing's face before she quickly returned to her natural expression and reminded him with a smile:
"Where's my compensation?"
Only then did Cheng Shi remember that she was asking for the payment for the page of Eternal Prison.
Damn, this is so awkward. My toes are cramping.
"Ahaha, I remember, I remember."
Cheng Shi hurriedly withdrew his hand and pulled something from his personal space...
The Mask of All Beings.
It was a golden mask with a brilliant smile. It had considerable weight.
The moment Fang Shiqing took it, an introduction to the mask appeared in her mind:
Mask of Mirth (S): When you put on this mask, your mood will be forcibly changed to mirth. When you consume this mask to perform a summoning spell, the summoned creature will be replaced by the individual who gave you this mask.
"?"
Fang Shiqing blinked and took a long time to understand what "replaced by the individual who gave you this mask" meant.
Wasn't that Cheng Shi?
She looked at Cheng Shi and found an awkward expression on his face.
Indeed, giving a lady an item like this wasn't exactly praiseworthy.
But it was very useful.
This meant Fang Shiqing would have one chance to summon a Doctor of Forgetfulness. She just didn't know whether the Cheng Shi summoned out would possess such monstrous abilities to break through predicaments.
She gently stroked the mask, smiling happily.
"Thank you. I accept it."
Cheng Shi awkwardly withdrew his hand, unsure what to say.
*Well, I just wanted you to help me see what this thing was useful for...
*Actually, I wanted to imprint a Healing Art with the Shared Divine Grace effect for you...
*But you kept holding on to it and even pulled it over to stroke it...
Big Sis, can I still get it back?
"..."
Ah, forget it.
After all, she had saved his life. He would treat this mask, which had neither an introduction nor any practical use, as a parting gift.
"This... counts as an extra gift. I'll imprint a Healing Art for you. Remember it."
"There's more?"
"Huh?"
"Oh, all right." Fang Shiqing smiled as she took out her book and began imprinting Cheng Shi's skill.
After everything was finished, she closed the book and stepped cleanly into the Final Gate.
"Cheng Shi, goodbye."
Cheng Shi watched Fang Shiqing disappear and shook his head with a smile.
There would be no next meeting.
After Fang Shiqing had completely vanished into the gate, Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened again. He looked in the direction Xu Lu had fled and strode after her.
"You took my knockout drug and still thought you could run? What are you thinking, clip monster!"
Xu Lu really hadn't gotten far. She had run until she collapsed in a small garden near the outer edge of the banquet center.
Cheng Shi had drugged her when he pulled her away from the first Final Gate.
Even at that critical moment when he was "saving someone," he hadn't forgotten to smear some potion on his hand before pulling her along.
Of course, he hadn't planned this against Xu Lu in advance.
He had merely left himself one move, preparing for the unexpected.
He hadn't expected to use it so soon.
Originally, Cheng Shi's claim to Fang Shiqing that "time had given him a revelation" had been complete nonsense. After all, he wasn't a believer of time at all.
But unexpectedly, after Fang Shiqing left the trial, Cheng Shi really did receive a revelation from a god.
But that god wasn't time. It was Deception, the one he believed in.
Kill the believer of Destiny.
It was exactly the same revelation.
It was as though Deception had watched his performance just now and repeated his words.
"?"
The problem is, aren't you and Destiny gods of the same path?
What is the meaning of this?
"..."
Cheng Shi was somewhat speechless.
When he reached the place, Xu Lu was still lying unconscious on the ground.
He grabbed Xu Lu by the collar and dragged her toward the Final Gate.
Along the way, quite a few servants watched from the sidelines, but under his sharp gaze, none dared to interfere.
Cheng Shi walked the entire way. Xu Lu bumped along the entire way.
When they reached the Final Gate, Xu Lu slowly woke from the pain in her back.
When she saw Cheng Shi's face, she screamed and curled up.
"Don't come over!! Ah!!!
Don't kill me!!
Please, I was wrong! Don't kill me!!"
Cheng Shi looked at her coldly and let out a mocking laugh.
"You? You think you're worthy?"
He grabbed Xu Lu by the throat and lifted her entire body, then said with a smile:
"I've killed plenty of people and witnessed countless deaths.
But I still feel that sometimes, death is too direct.
It lacks a certain beauty.
Miss Prophet, don't you agree?"
Without waiting for Xu Lu to react, he pressed down on her head and threw her into the Memory Gate.
After doing all that, he took out the die in his hand and said with a grin:
"Compared to killing the believer of Destiny, disrupting her fate might be more entertaining."
Cheng Shi gazed at the die with hopeful anticipation.
Unfortunately, the die remained completely still and unresponsive.
"Tch. How boring."
Cheng Shi put away the die and strode out of the trial.
Special Trial (Eternal Night Maze: Memory) challenge successful Calculating score and settling rewards... Player: Cheng Shi, performance rating: S Item obtained: Mask of Hope (S) x1 Item obtained: Mask of Regret (A) x1 Item acquired: Mask of Disdain (B) ×1 Item acquired: Mask of Relief (A) ×1 Path to Godhood +9 Ladder of Audience +3 Current Path to Godhood score: 2125, global ranking: Current Ladder of Audience score: 161, Path ranking: 64 Trial cleared. Exiting soon.
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