It really is you!! Huang Bo!!! Then where's the real A Ming?
How could this be?
Boss, this...
Cheng Shi smiled as he capped the vial in his hand, relief washing over him.
The 'Confession of Truth' was, of course, fake.
Apart from Cheng Shi, only four people were present; Offering to Nothingness couldn't possibly trigger.
That didn't stop it from coaxing out the 'truth'.
Truth within lies, lies within truth—only that brings victory.
His scheme successful, Cheng Shi clicked his tongue and kept speculating:
I'm guessing you used some delayed-Death trick or life-prolonging item to keep A Ming trapped in the tavern, right?
Huang Bo dropped the act. Wearing A Ming's face, he burst into wild laughter:
Exactly. My Lord granted me an S-rank gift: Shared Face, One Heart. Cheng Shi, you're clever, but you can't touch me.
His tone was unhinged and brimming with confidence.
If I live, that Little Assassin lives too.
But if I die—he dies with me!
So what if you found me?
Being played like a puppet doesn't feel good, does it?
Hahaha, frustrated, aren't you?
The only thing I underestimated was that this Singer could resurrect you.
But so what? I outwitted you, and you still can't...
—Shhk!
Cheng Shi!
Boss!
Cheng—?!
Before Huang Bo could finish, Cheng Shi whipped out a knife from nowhere and drove it into his heart.
Feeling the blade shred his heart, Huang Bo lifted his head in disbelief, gasping:
You... insane... he'll... die...
Cheng Shi sneered:
Whether he dies or not is none of my damn business. You stuck a knife in me—now taste what it feels like when your heart's skewered.
With that, he yanked the blade free and rammed it into Huang Bo's throat.
Only when he watched Huang Bo's last breath did he neatly sever the head, set the corpse ablaze, and snap his fingers in relief.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
If you can resurrect after that, props to you.
The three women stared slack-jawed, minds reeling.
Fang Shiqing recovered first, her gaze complicated as she looked at Cheng Shi. You...
What about me? Cheng Shi wiped blood from his hands and grinned. I told you long ago—I'm no good guy.
Fang Shiqing said nothing. She took several deep breaths, checked the time on her watch, and reverted to cool professionalism.
We're down two people; recon from here on will be a nightmare...
Sis Fang, wait.
Xu Lu suddenly tugged Fang Shiqing's sleeve.
Fang Shiqing turned back, her icy stare making Xu Lu flinch, but Xu Lu still forced the words out:
Something's off. Cheng Shi is a priest; Bailing's a weak—not exactly powerhouse—hunter. With Huang Bo's strength, killing them would be effortless. Why use an NPC instead?
...?
She was right.
Even Cheng Shi was startled; he hadn't expected Xu Lu to be the first to see it.
Perhaps because Fang Shiqing and Bailing both viewed him through rose-tinted glasses, his swift kill had shaken them more.
The coolly observant Xu Lu had become the one to crack the puzzle.
Fang Shiqing pondered, then seemed to catch something and glanced toward the room.
chaos might order Huang Bo to eliminate us, but it won't hand him the Trial's answer. So it's not that he didn't want to act—it's that he needed someone else to find the solution for him.
And that answer... is the guard?
She looked to Cheng Shi for confirmation.
Cheng Shi applauded in appreciation and laid out the whole chain of cause and effect along with his deductions.
Smart. Maybe he overheard the guard talking to me outside, or spotted that ring long ago and was just waiting for me to solve it.
I did find an answer. If I'm right, the guard isn't dead; Huang Bo's next move was to drag him somewhere you'd never find and then leave.
Of course, I don't know how he realized this is the final act—or whether his Lord tipped him off about the next scene.
Fang Shiqing's gaze was complex:
You suspected 'A Ming' from the start—earlier than even Wu Zhong?
Cheng Shi smiled. Just a guess.
As he spoke, he glanced into the room.
Taking the cue, Bailing rushed inside and checked the guard's vitals.
Sure enough, a murky light shielded the guard's heart, keeping him alive.
He can still be saved!
Fang Shiqing followed. Looking at the barely-breathing guard, she turned and said:
Cheng Shi, stage is yours again.
Cheng Shi didn't refuse; he slammed a Healing Spell into the man who had murdered him, then, just as his enemy began to stir, followed it with a sleep spell.
This time Fang Shiqing didn't get a word in before Xu Lu shouted in alarm:
"Hey, you—memory—say it now!"
The crude prompting made everyone's face darken, but the fragile guard, long since robbed of a clear mind, stared blankly for a long moment and nodded.
The instant he did, the newly rescued guard exploded into a skyful of starlight.
The motes of light re-formed, becoming a Gate of memory.
This time, however, the gate was framed in gold.
The Final Gate.
Its appearance meant the Trial was about to end.
Step through, and every one of them would live—and be rewarded.
"I-it's… over?"
Xu Lu hadn't expected it to be this easy; with plenty of time to spare they had already found the exit.
Barely eight hours had passed since the Trial began; almost a third of the allotted time remained.
"S-Sister Fang?"
Xu Lu turned back joyfully—only to meet Cheng Shi's tightly furrowed brow.
She recoiled two steps in fright.
A man who killed on a whim, a man of an opposing Faith—would he strike her down at the threshold?
She dared not think; she had to leave at once.
Her gaze swept the others' positions, then she clenched her teeth and sprinted for The Final Gate.
But just as she was about to leap out of the Trial, a powerful hand clamped around her arm and yanked her back through.
"Ahhh—!!"
Xu Lu screamed in terror and reflexively loosed a Singer's skill straight at Cheng Shi's head.
He took it squarely, face dark as he metabolised the debuffs, then flung her to the ground.
Fang Shiqing stepped between them, anger thin in her voice.
"Enough, Cheng Shi!"
Bailing, stunned, didn't understand why Cheng Shi wouldn't let Xu Lu leave, but she still edged forward, nocked an arrow, and stood behind him.
Fang Shiqing watched, brows locked.
"Sister Fang, help me!"
"Cheng Shi, you—"
"No. This is wrong."
Ignoring the chaos, Cheng Shi frowned in thought.
"No—if this gate led to the next act I might buy it.
But if it's really The Final Gate, the answer is far too simple.
Prophet's prophecy hasn't come true—where is the hand lifting the teacup?"
Fang Shiqing blinked, then exhaled; he wasn't out to kill—he doubted the answer itself.
Yet a memory labyrinth has only ever one Final Gate; how could this one be wrong?
Sprawled on the floor, Xu Lu shook, eyes brimming with terror and hatred as she glared at Cheng Shi.
Fang Shiqing glanced at her, sighed, and quietly explained:
"We climbed the outer wall to the second floor, found the Duchess's room, and did see that cup.
Cheng Shi, what Prophet sees isn't necessarily the present timeline; the Duchess may indeed have used it.
But I think the vision was pointing us here more than showing the truth—
to the Duke's Death-scene, or to the Duchess's lover."
Cheng Shi frowned and shook his head.
"Something's off—where is the Duchess?
We've lost almost an hour; shouldn't the banquet have started?
Are all the guests still patiently waiting for the Duke?
None of them have left—why?
What scheme is the Duchess hatching to hide the Duke's Death?"
The doubts in Cheng Shi's mind swelled.
It felt like an invisible hand was shoving the answer into their mouths, forcing them to swallow.
And Cheng Shi hated being forced.
Where had it gone wrong?
He began to think it through carefully.
The whole Eternal Night maze wasn't complicated.
In the first act they'd found the tavern waiter; seeing so many familiar drinkers, he recalled that night in the tavern.
In the second act they located the Duke's coachman, York,
because they'd seen the true face of the serving "beast-girl"—dwarves hidden under a pelt.
York had been dragged into memory by the dwarves, and in the third act they had indeed found those dwarves… dead.
Then he'd found the guard's token—the ring—and confronted the guard.
The guard admitted the ring existed and was guided to become the Gate of memory.
Everything had seemed fine.
But… when the guard confessed, he'd mentioned a broker?
A flash of insight struck Cheng Shi—he realised he'd walked straight into a mental blind spot!
"That broker!"