The Learned Liar and the Steady Teammate

(6000 today! Warriors, hands on hips!)

"If the Wood Elf no longer commands plants, then what can he do?"

"It can still eat, drink, urinate, and defecate. It can do many things. What, is there a problem?"

"... That's all."

The two exchanged a strange look, tacitly stopping their probing conversation, and then each began to look around at their surroundings.

From the outside, Cheng Shi thought it was a well-maintained religious institution, but once inside, he discovered that this so-called Evil Infant Tribunal seemed to have been neglected for a long time.

The lawn in the outer courtyard was overgrown with weeds, the water in the pond in the courtyard had long since dried up, and even the two pregnant Idol of Worship, a man and a woman, in front of the main hall had lost their paint and color, and were no longer sacred.

At first glance, one might think this place has been taken over by the followers of "Decay".

"Judging from how these weeds are growing, it seems like no one has been here for a long time; it's like it's been abandoned." Zhang Jizu frowned, somewhat puzzled. "Where did you learn about the history of this place? Does it say that Dolgo D once abolished the Inquisition?"

Cheng Shi curled his lip, thinking to himself, "If I had known this place was shut down, why would I have brought you guys here?"

He shook his head and said, "Let's look for clues first. If the Evil Infant Tribunal is really gone, then our Trials will be in big trouble!"

Indeed, if the concept of the evil infant had long since disappeared in Dolgo D's time, then where would they have found that so-called the Life That Should Not Be Born?

Cheng Shi was about to walk into the inner hall, but he stopped as soon as he took a step.

"That's strange. Weren't our three teammates moving too fast? Where did they go?"

Zhang Jizu was following behind him, narrowed his eyes. "They have been silent since just now. The footprints are pointing towards the inner hall, but there are only Gou Feng's footprints."

Be careful, there might be something strange going on here.

Cheng Shi frowned and continued walking in silence.

As he walked, he discovered some clues. He noticed that there were a few stones on the main road outside the main hall with unusually few weeds growing in the gaps between them. Connecting these sparse areas, it was not difficult to find that this was a path worn down by people over the years, and on the other side was the tightly closed gate of the courthouse.

It seems that people still come here often, although not many, but this also means that the Evil Infant Tribunal indeed in trouble.

He raised an eyebrow and then turned and walked into the hall.

The three teammates still hadn't seen anyone. Cheng Shi cautiously stepped into the hall and immediately saw a huge round conference table.

However, the round table was covered in dust, and the chairs around it were broken and fragmented. Only the first chair facing the door was intact, and its tabletop was polished to a shine, clearly indicating that it was a frequently used seat.

Behind this round table is a huge stone carving depicting countless men and women, naked, gathered before a massive Idol of Worship, devoutly sharing the Divine Authority [Birth].

The two people who had just entered were clearly unfazed by the murals depicting fertility worship. After observing the murals for a moment at the round table, they walked around the stone wall to investigate what was behind it.

Behind the massive stone wall were a few sparse bookshelves, probably the cleanest place in the courthouse. Each bookshelf was spotless and densely packed with identically packaged books. Judging from the symbols marked on the bookshelves, Cheng Shi guessed that these were probably courthouse archives arranged by year.

The information you're looking for might be in these files.

He walked to the bookshelf, casually picked up a file and started flipping through it. Seeing him looking so intently, Zhang Jizu stepped forward and asked in surprise:

"You understand the language of the Life Era?"

Cheng Shi curled the corners of his mouth, saying "I know a little" aloud, but secretly laughed to himself.

I don't know anything, but I have Mouth Brother.

This time, Squinty Eyes was Cheng Shi astonished by Civilization Era, especially among the old Mage who loved studying the game's background. There were even some truly learned individuals among them. Of course, this was also related to the fact that the vast majority of Trials took place in the Civilization Era.

However, there are too few Trials in the Life Era, and the research directions related to it are even more niche, only slightly more than the research on the underground.

Therefore, being able to recognize the language and script of this era is truly an impressive feat in the Faith Game. Zhang Jizu is even unsure how many casual players outside of the History School are fluent in the script of the Dol Empire.

No wonder this "honest" player was favored by [Deception]; truly, every expert has their own strengths.

This seems to be a Learned Liar.

I wonder what kind of interesting person his other personality, Zhen Yi's new love, the Fate Weaver, is.

Intrigued, Zhang Jizu moved closer to Cheng Shi and asked with a hint of admiration:

What does it say in here?

On Cheng Shi surface, Cheng Shi appeared calm and collected, but inside he was extremely anxious. From the moment he picked up the book, he had been constantly begging for help—no, begging for words.

The usually helpful guy, Mouth Brother, was completely unresponsive today, which made him so anxious that he almost wore out the soles of his shoes.

Even if the Lips of Foolish Play didn't help, this little situation was perfectly manageable for a conman. Cheng Shi hesitated for a few more seconds, and after confirming that the Mouth Brother didn't want to help, he pretended to flip through a couple of pages, then frowned slightly and said:

"This should contain records of the court's past handling of evil infants."

Zhang Jizu clearly didn't see anything wrong with it. He nodded in agreement and said, "Oh? Just as I expected, what's written on it?"

"..."

Cheng Shi scratched his toe, coughed lightly, and continued:

"These pages describe how the court staff dealt with a certain evil infant. After finding the citizen who was pregnant with the evil infant, they used a palace saw to cut open her stomach, splitting her and the evil infant in two, and then burned them to ashes."

"So... simple and crude? There wasn't even any purification or ritual to beg for His forgiveness?"

Cheng Shi shook his head stiffly. "It's not written on it."

Zhang Jizu narrowed his eyes slightly, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "I saw you flip through four or five pages and only recorded this much?"

"Well... work reports, you know, they're all long and tedious, filled with a lot of weird rhetoric to pad the word count, there's nothing to read about them."

"That makes sense, but in what year did this happen?"

"..."

Why are you so persistent?

You're asking me? Who should I ask?

Cheng Shi's face darkened, and he immediately put the book back.

"That's old news from decades ago. I don't see any recent records here. Let's look for clues elsewhere."

As he spoke, Cheng Shi lifted his foot and walked away, squinting at the bookshelf with a puzzled look. Despite his confusion, he followed.

The two continued walking into the inner hall and soon came to a long spiral staircase. The steps were covered in dust, just like the rest of the staircase, but there were a few fresh footprints on them.

Judging from the outline of these footprints, it should be...

"Gou Feng." Zhang Jizu recognized the footprint immediately, then frowned and said, "The edges of the footprint are blurry, the sole is solid above the heel, and he was walking upstairs in a hurry, like..."

"Someone is chasing him."

Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened, and a Scalpel emerged from his sleeve.

At the same time, Zhang Jizu also pulled a Scalpel out of his sleeve.

The two men stared at each other, both taken aback by the Scalpel in the other's hand, and then smiled knowingly at the same time.

"What, even Wood Elf like using Scalpel?"

"It's for cutting hair when it grows long, but I'd like to ask, why do Gravekeeper also like using Scalpel?"

"There are always homeless people who come to the Cemetery to steal food. They carry a knife to embolden themselves."

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow. "Graveyard Management, so it really is you."

"And you, Cheng Shi, should I continue to call you Wood Elf, or should I call you Master of Trickery? Or perhaps... Fate Weaver?"

?

Cheng Shi was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, "What the hell is this Master of Trickery '?"

Did he really think I was a Mage?

Interesting, whose friend is this person?

Cheng Shi had many questions in his mind, but he didn't dwell on them and quickly responded, "I don't know what you're talking about. After all, I'm just a Wood Elf who joined the Plant Protection Association."

"..."

"Fine, you seem like a good person. No matter who you found out about me through, a friend of a friend is still a friend, so I'll be honest with you."

"Yes, I am indeed Master of Trickery. But for that the Great One's sake, can I trust you?"

"..."

Zhang Jizu had genuinely believed that Cheng Shi was a Master of Trickery, but the man's frankness made him lose confidence. He sized up the conman for a moment and said irritably, "Shouldn't I be asking you that? Believer in [Deception]."

"Of course you can trust me, because I Never Lie."

Zhang Jizu's eye twitched, thinking to himself, "If I hadn't watched you lie the whole time, I almost would have believed you."

Just as the two were still struggling with the issue of their identities, a terrifying scream suddenly came from upstairs.

"Ah!!!"

The sound was so loud and the surrounding area so open that it quickly echoed eerily between the two floors.

Upon hearing the scream, both of them paled simultaneously, exchanged a glance, and then made a decisive choice...

They left.

At this moment, Steady Cheng finally met another cautious player who could resonate with him: Steady Zhang.

"It's Gou Feng's voice!"

"I understand. Let's move further away and wait until he calms down before we go in to check on him. After all, we're teammates, and it's not good to just leave him there. As for cleaning up the body, I... oh wait, you should be better at it than me."

Steady Zhang glanced at Steady Cheng, squinted, and nodded in approval.