Foolish Game of the Gods Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Detective Cheng Shi

Time rewinds to inside the wardrobe.

Cheng Shi had mouthed silently, "Don't panic, get him!" and then patted Bailing's shoulder.

Just as Bailing assumed this was a form of reassurance, a tiny vial of potion slipped from Cheng Shi's fingertips onto her chest, landing perfectly nestled in her cleavage.

Bailing froze and looked down.

On the vial's exterior, a line of small text was clearly visible:

"Potion Name: The Dead's Contempt.

As long as this potion is consumed, you will not truly die during the effective duration."

Bailing looked up in shock, only to see that Cheng Shi was already counting down.

She didn't waste a single second. In the instant before bursting out, she downed the vial's contents.

Everyone knows the outcome of the battle: she did indeed die.

But now, she had indeed come back to life.

This wasn't some cruel joke to send her charging into the slaughter. Cheng Shi hadn't betrayed her trust.

As for why Bailing trusted Cheng Shi so completely.

Even she would probably struggle to answer that.

Perhaps it was because he had never once harbored any lascivious thoughts toward the "easy" version of herself.

Watching Bailing shakily rise to her feet, Cheng Shi finally put his last lingering worry to rest.

His silent thanks went out to his former teammates, scattered across the world, who had nonetheless contributed their acknowledgment to "The Dead's Contempt."

Cheng Shi's Faith Talent, Offering to the Void, couldn't store fabricated items for later use. It could only materialize them on the spot.

But this talent required a prerequisite: widespread acknowledgment by others.

"Widespread" was a fascinating word. Through repeated experiments, Cheng Shi had discovered that acknowledgment from just five people besides himself was enough to meet the requirement.

What a coincidence. The exact same number as a trial team.

Inside the wardrobe at that time, Cheng Shi hadn't possessed the conditions to make the others acknowledge a brand-new item. So he had no choice but to secretly mark a vial of the "old reliable" The Dead's Contempt.

Though this was a massive gamble, betting that his teammates wouldn't notice anything off about the vial, Cheng Shi wasn't entirely without confidence.

At least according to his calculations, there were 3 or 4 people who wouldn't look too deeply into this kind of thing.

Add Bailing on the scene, and that was enough.

The results proved it: Cheng Shi had won the bet again.

Even though he always rolled a 1 on his die, his gambling luck was fortunately decent.

Fang Shiqing, seeing both of them safe and sound, relaxed considerably. She looked at Cheng Shi with a grave expression, demanding an explanation.

Cheng Shi's face darkened as he looked toward the door.

Fang Shiqing immediately caught on, recalling the line from Cheng Shi's note: "When three travel together, be careful."

Given the situation in the fog at that time, aside from herself and Cheng Shi, the only "outsider" at that particular moment was…

A Ming!

"A Ming has a problem?"

Cheng Shi curled his lips and mouthed silently:

"A Ming might not have a problem, but whether A Ming is still A Ming, that's not certain."

"What!!??"

Both Fang Shiqing and Bailing's expressions changed dramatically. They shook their heads, faces full of disbelief.

Fang Shiqing frowned: "The melody of his heartstrings hasn't changed. Are you certain?"

Bailing was equally puzzled:

"Big shot, his attitude toward me has been the same as always, never changed…"

Even so, Bailing still trusted Cheng Shi's judgment.

If the problem was a person, the first priority was ensuring internal stability.

Cheng Shi shook his head, said nothing, and merely made a gesture signaling everyone to get ready and catch the man.

Whether A Ming was still A Ming or not, as an agile "Assassin," grabbing him quietly would be extremely difficult!

Relying on just Cheng Shi and Bailing, it might be very hard. But if you added Fang Shiqing to the mix…

The task became much easier.

Cheng Shi scooted toward Fang Shiqing like a man clinging to a lifeline. Fang Shiqing glared at him for ages, sighed deeply, and tore a golden page from her book.

S-Rank talent, Eternal Prison.

Seeing this, Cheng Shi's face bloomed with delight. He could feel the surging power of [Time] radiating from the page.

This was a skill left behind by a Time Walker.

Fang Shiqing, heart aching, carried the page toward the door. Before leaving, she looked back at Cheng Shi and mouthed:

"Compensate me."

Cheng Shi nodded solemnly.

Seeing him agree, Fang Shiqing crisply opened the door. With the two outside completely off guard, she slapped the page onto A Ming's shoulder.

"Boom…"

A burst of temporal power erupted. Before A Ming could make any response, he was frozen in place by the shackles of time.

His eyes went wide in shock as he cried out in terror:

"Sister Fang! You…"

Xu Lu was also startled. She stumbled back two steps, a small dagger materializing in her hand at some point, and looked toward her carry with a panicked expression.

"Sister Fang, what's going on?"

Before she could get Fang Shiqing's answer, something even more maddening appeared.

Cheng Shi and Bailing, who had just been dead in the room, walked out in perfectly fine condition.

Not perfectly fine, actually. Their clothes were a bit rumpled.

"You…!!??"

Xu Lu was utterly dumbfounded. For a moment, her mind cycled through one conspiracy theory after another.

The most absurd was that she actually started to believe Fang Shiqing might have agreed to some deal with Cheng Shi and was preparing to collude with this detestable follower of [Time] to kill her.

Seeing Xu Lu this terrified, Fang Shiqing shook her head apologetically, then gestured for her to listen to Cheng Shi's explanation.

The moment Cheng Shi stepped out of the room, he jammed a Desire arrow, taken from Bailing, into A Ming's shoulder.

"Ssk!"

"Brother Cheng!? You're not dead? What are you doing? Niao Niao, you're not dead either? What… exactly happened?"

A Ming stared at everyone in extreme shock, his eyes darting back and forth.

Cheng Shi observed his demeanor and smiled with loaded meaning.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not dead. I imagine that's quite a letdown for you."

A Ming froze for a beat, then darkened his face:

"Brother Cheng, what do you mean? Of course I don't want anything to happen to my teammates. But you seem to be implying that I killed you? I avenged you! I killed that guard!"

"Oh, you avenged me. Clap, clap, clap." Cheng Shi nodded and applauded with a smile. "True, you arrived one step too late. Otherwise you could've saved us both."

"Exactly! There must be some misunderstanding. Sister Fang, let me go first. We don't have much time."

Fang Shiqing acted as though she hadn't heard, simply remaining on quiet alert, watching for anyone approaching.

Cheng Shi shook his head. He had no intention of wasting more time with him.

"You're not A Ming, are you?"

A Ming stalled, then burst into laughter:

"Brother Cheng, what are you talking about? If I'm not A Ming, who am I?

Did you forget? I came with you through the foggy room. We split up to canvass on Sister Fang's orders. Then I came to this room and… avenged you.

Have you lost your memory?"

"I haven't lost my memory, and you can stop pretending. Old man Huang."

"!!??"

"Who? Huang Bo?" Fang Shiqing blurted out in shock, then immediately activated some talent to probe A Ming's identity. But the result came as no surprise: he was indeed A Ming.

"Cheng Shi, are you sure? He's Huang Bo?"

A Ming smiled bitterly:

"Brother Cheng, what are you saying? Huang Bo still hasn't caught up from behind. The Memory Gate is still there. How could I be Huang Bo?"

Cheng Shi smiled and continued:

"How do you know he hasn't caught up?"

"…" A Ming's expression shifted. He quickly explained, "I mean, when we arrived at the Duke's estate, he hadn't come yet."

"Right, exactly. If I'm not mistaken, the Memory Gate is indeed still open even now. Someone fell behind and hasn't come through.

But the one who fell behind isn't Huang Bo. It's A Ming.

The real Huang Bo is standing right in front of me."

As if provoked beyond endurance by this endless suspicion, A Ming snarled with a vicious expression:

"Cheng Shi, whatever you're plotting, why not just say it out loud? I've saved you time and again. Why are you suspecting me!! You say I'm Huang Bo, then show me the evidence. What gives you the right to call me Huang Bo."

Looking at the hysterical A Ming, Fang Shiqing's composure wavered slightly. She glanced at Cheng Shi, only to see him produce a small vial of potion in front of everyone. As he unscrewed the cap, he said:

"Actually, there's plenty of evidence.

For example, an Assassin claiming he couldn't retreat in the fog due to lack of space;

For example, the dwarves dead in the servants' quarters weren't killed by a single hand, but slaughtered each other. That doesn't look like an [Order] execution, but more like the handiwork of [Chaos];

For example, someone murdered the Duke, and that person was neither the adulterous guard, nor me, nor Bailing. Yet the killer has never been seen;

Or for example, someone who clearly possessed the faster talent Finger Key chose instead to kick down a door, which takes far longer, at a life-or-death moment…"

With each sentence Cheng Shi spoke, A Ming's face darkened another shade, and the surrounding teammates' mouths hung wider open.

By the time he finished unscrewing the vial, a grin had spread completely across Cheng Shi's face.

"But none of that matters now. The vial in my hand is called 'Confessing Truth,' a fine elixir used by the Executioners of the 'Grand Tribunal' to interrogate prisoners. Whoever you are, a single drop will make you answer anything and everything. As an Assassin of [Order], surely you know about this."

Saying this, Cheng Shi lifted the vial and tilted it toward A Ming's head.

But before the potion could even leave the bottle, A Ming erupted into maniacal laughter.

"Heh… hehe…

Hahahaha!!

Cheng Shi!

Wonderful!

You, are impressive."

That smile was exactly like Huang Bo's from their first meeting.

Exactly the same.