Chapter 33: Everything Is [Fate]'s Choice
"What's wrong with her?"
Cheng Shi rolled his eyes, his disgust plain to see.
Fang Shiqing hadn't expected such an extreme reaction from Xu Lu. She asked in bewilderment:
"How can you be so certain it's fake? Xu Lu, you watched Cheng Shi's entire reasoning process. If you have doubts, you can voice them. There's no need for this."
"I…"
Seeing Xu Lu's halting, evasive manner, Fang Shiqing knew she was genuinely hiding something. She coaxed gently:
"Tell us. We still have enough time."
Xu Lu glanced at the time, gritted her teeth, and declared:
"My Lord recently granted me a new decree. He said:
[Do not let the follower of [Time] deceive you.]"
"!?"
Both Fang Shiqing and Cheng Shi were startled.
What surprised Cheng Shi was that the decree from her patron seemed far too vague.
He wasn't actually a follower of [Time].
What surprised Fang Shiqing was: could what Xu Lu said possibly be true?
"You…"
"Sister Fang, I know you look down on me. You think I'm stupid, soft, a burden.
But I can tell that you've been trying to protect me.
So I'm telling you this:
Cheng Shi is a massive liar. He wants to kill everyone.
He killed A Ming and Huang Bo, he killed Bailing, and now it's your turn!
Sister Fang, come with me, please. Don't believe him!
Everything he says is a lie!"
Fang Shiqing turned to look at Cheng Shi, only to find that he had suddenly relaxed into acceptance.
"Oh, so this is where [Fate]'s prophecy lands. Big shot, it's your time to choose now.
Hahaha, believe her or believe me. Pick one."
With that, Cheng Shi ambled over to the edge of the Final Gate and silently began to wait.
"Even you…"
Fang Shiqing gripped the book in her hand tightly, her gaze shifting back and forth.
"Cheng Shi, what decree did your god give you?"
Cheng Shi blinked, then smiled:
"You figured it out?
I do have a decree, actually. Right when we entered the third act, [Time] gave me a directive.
He said: [Kill the follower of [Fate]]."
"…"
"It's you! I knew it was you!
Sister Fang, wasn't I right! He wants to kill me!
But he's lying. He wants to kill everyone!
He's already done it! It's just the two of us left!
Sister Fang, I'm saving you! I'm saving you! Believe me, I'm begging you, he wants to kill you!
Why won't you come over!?
Fang Shiqing! Do you think you're so remarkable?
Do you think every choice you make is right?
You idiot, and you call yourself a follower of Truth, you still can't see that he's hurting you, only I am 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 suffered a complete breakdown. She glared venomously at the two figures approaching each other, then turned and ran.
"Go die! All of you! Every last idiot, go die!"
Cheng Shi watched the approaching Fang Shiqing with amusement and chuckled:
"Why didn't the big shot choose the little sidekick?"
Fang Shiqing sighed helplessly:
"To borrow Xu Lu's own logic: if you wanted to kill her, you wouldn't need to go to such lengths."
Cheng Shi was thoroughly delighted.
"You're not going to save her?"
Fang Shiqing cast one backward glance, then shook her head:
"Firelight Bearers carry the fire of continuation. Someone like that…
Never mind. Drop the savior complex, respect others' fates."
Cheng Shi curled his lip: "Yes, respect others' fates."
He placed heavy emphasis on the word "fates."
Fang Shiqing knew exactly what he meant. She didn't bring up the invitation again. Instead, she extended her hand and looked at Cheng Shi.
Cheng Shi blinked, momentarily baffled. Not knowing what else to do, he placed his hand on hers.
Two warm hands clasped tightly together.
Of course, not with interlaced fingers, but in a handshake.
Fang Shiqing's flat, open hand was forcibly bent by him into a handshake position.
"…"
Fang Shiqing's face briefly flashed with rare awkwardness before she quickly recovered her composure. She smiled and reminded him:
"Where's my compensation?"
Only then did Cheng Shi remember she was asking for payment for that Eternal Prison page.
Holy shit, so awkward. My toes are cramping.
"Ahahaha, right, right. I remember."
Cheng Shi hastily withdrew his hand and fished out from his personal space a…
Visage Mask.
It was a golden mask with a brilliant smile, heavy in the hand.
The moment Fang Shiqing held it, the mask's description popped into her mind:
Joy Mask (S): When you wear this mask, your mood is forcibly converted to joy. When you consume this mask to perform a summoning spell, your summon will be replaced by the individual who gave you this mask.
"?"
Fang Shiqing blinked, taking a long time to process what "replaced by the individual who gave you this mask" meant.
Wasn't that just Cheng Shi?
She looked at Cheng Shi and found him wearing an expression of acute embarrassment.
Indeed, presenting a lady with this kind of item was not a particularly praiseworthy gesture.
However, it was very useful.
This essentially gave Fang Shiqing one chance to summon an Amnesia Doctor, though she didn't know whether the summoned Cheng Shi would possess the same monstrously sharp problem-solving ability.
She gently stroked the mask and smiled happily.
"Thank you. I accept."
Cheng Shi awkwardly withdrew his hand, not knowing what to say.
Um, you see, I just wanted you to help me figure out what this thing does…
What I actually wanted to imprint for you was a healing spell with the Shared Divine Grace effect…
But you just held onto it and wouldn't let go, and then at the end you snatched it away and rubbed it all over…
Big shot, can I have it back?
"…"
Ah, forget it.
She is my savior, after all. Let this mask, which has neither description nor practical use, serve as a parting gift.
"This… let's call it an extra gift. Let me imprint a healing spell for you. Memorize it."
"There's more?"
"Huh?"
"Oh, okay." Fang Shiqing smiled, produced her book, and began imprinting Cheng Shi's skill.
Once everything was settled, she closed her book and stepped cleanly through the Final Gate.
"Goodbye, Cheng Shi."
Cheng Shi watched Fang Shiqing vanish and smiled with a shake of his head.
As if there'd ever be a next time.
After Fang Shiqing disappeared completely through the gate, Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened once more. He looked in the direction Xu Lu had fled and strode after her in large, purposeful steps.
"Thinking you can run after I drugged you? What are you dreaming, cutesy freak!"
…
Xu Lu indeed hadn't gotten far. She had run only a short distance before collapsing in a small garden just outside the banquet hall.
The drug had been administered when Cheng Shi grabbed her to pull her away from the first Final Gate.
Even in that "life-saving" emergency, he hadn't forgotten to coat his hand with potion before grabbing hold of her.
Of course, this wasn't something he'd premeditated specifically against Xu Lu.
It was simply leaving one more piece on the board, a precaution for a rainy day.
He just hadn't expected to use it so soon.
Originally, what Cheng Shi had told Fang Shiqing about "[Time] giving him a decree" was pure fabrication, since he wasn't actually a follower of [Time].
But to his surprise, after Fang Shiqing left the trial, Cheng Shi genuinely received a decree from [God].
However, this [God] wasn't [Time]. It was [Deceit], the god he truly worshipped.
[Kill the follower of [Fate]]
The exact same decree.
It was as though [Deceit] had watched his performance just now and echoed his words back at him.
"?"
The question is, aren't You and [Fate] gods of the same Destiny?
What's the meaning of this?
"…"
Cheng Shi was somewhat speechless.
By the time he tracked her down, Xu Lu was still lying unconscious on the ground.
He grabbed her by the collar and dragged her toward the Final Gate.
Along the way, quite a few servants stopped to stare, but under the sweep of his razor-sharp glare, not a single soul dared to intervene.
Cheng Shi walked the entire way; Xu Lu bounced and scraped the entire way.
Upon arriving before the Final Gate, Xu Lu slowly stirred awake from the searing pain in her back.
When she saw Cheng Shi's face, she curled into a ball with a shriek.
"Stay away!! Ah!!!
Don't kill me!!
Please, I was wrong, don't kill me!!"
Cheng Shi regarded her with cold eyes and scoffed:
"You? You're worthy?"
He seized Xu Lu by the throat, lifted her entire body off the ground, and said with a smile:
"I have indeed killed many people, and witnessed countless deaths.
But I still believe that sometimes, death is too direct.
It lacks a certain aesthetic.
Don't you agree, Miss Prophet?"
Without waiting for Xu Lu to respond, he shoved her headfirst through the Memory Gate.
Having done all this, he produced the die from his hand and said with a grin:
"Compared to killing a follower of [Fate], derailing her fate sounds like far more fun."
Cheng Shi looked at the die, brimming with anticipation.
Unfortunately, the die didn't move an inch. Zero response.
"Tch. Boring."
Cheng Shi pocketed the die and strode out of the trial.
[Special Trial (Lost in Eternal Night [Memory]) Challenge Successful]
[Scoring and calculating rewards…]
[Player: Cheng Shi, Performance Rating: S]
[Item Obtained: Hope Mask (S) x1]
[Item Obtained: Regret Mask (A) x1]
[Item Obtained: Repulsion Mask (B) x1]
[Item Obtained: Relief Mask (A) x1]
[Path to Godhood +9]
[Ladder of Audience +3]
[Current Path to Godhood Score: 2125, Global Ranking: 464024]
[Current Ladder of Audience Score: 161, Destiny Ranking: 64]
[Trial Complete, Preparing to Exit]
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