"What?"
Bailing, who was behind him, was startled by his sudden exclamation.
Cheng Shi said with a fair bit of excitement,
"Bailing, he mentioned a Broker!
So is it possible that the guard didn't know who those dwarves were, but only recognized the ring?"
Bailing wasn't stupid and immediately understood Cheng Shi's meaning.
If the guard had hired the dwarves through a Broker, he shouldn't know what they looked like or exactly who they were—at least, he shouldn't know all the details.
Yet the dwarves in the servants' quarters clearly lacked any logical inconsistencies.
They even knew to kill the invading players to keep them quiet.
Bailing's eyes widened in disbelief. "But... but the answer has clearly already appeared..."
Fang Shiqing also chimed in,
"Cheng Shi, the puzzles of memory never have a second answer."
Heh, forbidden arts had never appeared in a Trial of War either, but didn't we encounter one last Time?
"I remember the Edict of the 'Clips', the number rolled was... 5?"
Xu Lu was furious when she heard Cheng Shi call her 'Clips', but she didn't dare say a word.
Fang Shiqing said thoughtfully, "Yes."
"So, is it possible that this prophecy is telling us we have another 50% choice?"
Cheng Shi looked at Xu Lu and said word by word,
"She has 1600 points, the die has 10 sides, and a 5 is exactly half."
"!!!"
Everyone was stunned, but no one refuted him because Cheng Shi's explanation did indeed make sense.
Moreover, with the prophecies of Fate, no one knows what they truly mean until the very end.
"But we don't have another piece of evidence or a clue to find a second answer. Cheng Shi, there are too many people in the manor, and too many have died. Our situation is very passive."
"But at least we have Time, don't we?"
Cheng Shi smiled and started walking. "I've thought of someone. Perhaps she is one of the answers."
"Who?"
Bailing followed closely. Fang Shiqing hesitated for a moment before pulling Xu Lu along to follow as well.
Xu Lu was very unwilling to go, but Fang Shiqing held her tightly, and she couldn't break free.
Clearly, Fang Shiqing still believed in Cheng Shi and didn't want Xu Lu to go to her death.
But Xu Lu obviously didn't think so; the look she gave Fang Shiqing was also filled with anger and irony.
Her former protector seemed to have lost her mind.
This Believer of Time was bewitching people!
Cheng Shi led the group away from the second floor and began searching the manor rapidly.
The banquet guests had indeed not left, still chatting and laughing as usual, as if the Duke being late was a matter of routine.
Ignoring these brainless nobles, he led everyone quickly away from the center of the banquet and back to the original servants' quarters.
Just as everyone was confused as to why he had returned, Cheng Shi looked at the ground by the doorway and smiled.
Fang Shiqing followed his gaze and noticed some fine sand below the threshold, with a shallow footprint stepped into it by someone.
"This is?"
Cheng Shi pointed at the ground and smiled. "Soil from the courtyard."
"I figured long ago that no matter who invited these dwarves or for what reason, when they found out the dwarves failed to appear at the correct Time and place, they would definitely come to investigate and see what happened to them."
"So I scattered a handful of fine sand at the door."
"And now, as you can see, the footprint of a noble lady's high-heeled shoe."
Bailing finally caught on this Time. Whether she was deliberately playing along or truly hadn't figured it out, she asked,
"What does this prove? Uh, that the Duchess has been here? That the Duchess has a connection to that Broker?"
Cheng Shi looked at her like she was an idiot. Before he could speak, Fang Shiqing mused from the side,
"It proves the Duchess isn't as simple as we thought."
"Cheng Shi said she had a strong reaction to the Duke's death, but since these dwarves were hired to assassinate the Duke, she shouldn't have appeared here."
"If there's one thing to say, it's that she knew the dwarves were coming all along!"
"Correct!"
Cheng Shi nodded. "As the Duchess, the fact that she has been unusually concerned about a Dwarf circus from the refugees recently already points to the problem."
"What problem?"
"I have a guess, but I won't dare assert it until I find the Duchess."
Fang Shiqing immediately nodded. "Split up and search!"
She quickly left, pulling the resentful Xu Lu along. Bailing leaned in and whispered,
"Big Shot, you're really not hiding it anymore?"
Cheng Shi clicked his tongue and said with distaste,
"If I keep hiding, we won't get out. I can't rely on you!"
Bailing smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Big Shot, I'm too weak."
Those words sounded so familiar.
Cheng Shi was suddenly taken aback. Looking at Bailing's slightly apologetic face, his gaze softened considerably.
"It's fine. As a Big Shot, I can carry you to victory."
With that, he strode out of the room and began searching for the Duchess.
Bailing hiked up her skirt and hurried after him.
It wasn't until half an hour later that they found the "departing" Duchess on a path in the hills behind the manor.
Seeing the Duchess trying to leave in a hurry, the players decisively took down the surrounding guards and stopped her.
The Duchess looked at these strangers and questioned them with a face full of anger,
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"On Brooks' land, near the Duke's manor, you actually dare to attempt an attack on the Duchess? Have you gone mad?"
Cheng Shi paced in front of the Duchess and asked with a grin,
"Are you really the Duchess?"
Di Lieer's expression froze, and she said in a fit of rage,
"You will pay the price for your stupidity!"
Cheng Shi ignored her and said to himself,
"Sorry, Madam, for taking up some of your Time. I'd like to tell you a story. Once I'm finished, you may leave."
"I promise my companions will not harm a single hair on your head."
Di Lieer was stunned. "Really?"
"Really, but you also cannot hold our offense against us afterward."
"You... you came here just to tell me... a story?"
"Yes, respected Madam. Shall we begin?"
Di Lieer's face was very hesitant, but since the odds were against her, she had to accept.
"Then tell it."
Cheng Shi bowed and said leisurely,
"The story I want to tell is about a group of dwarves, corrupted by an underground Faith, who attempted to steal the town's administrative power through imitation and roleplay."
As soon as he finished speaking, Di Lieer turned and ran back without hesitation.
Fang Shiqing's expression changed. She quickly pulled out a page and threw it onto the Duchess's escape path; countless vines sprouted and tripped her to the ground.
Bailing was quick and immediately dashed to her side, preparing to tie her up.
But as Bailing acted, she found that the rope directly sliced through the Duchess's waist and tore her skin.
At the edge of the broken skin, a pair of massive feet and a bald head were actually revealed.
"???"
"This..."
"Dwarves!?"
Everyone looked at Cheng Shi in disbelief. Cheng Shi let out a heavy breath and smiled elegantly,
"See, that's the story I prepared to tell."
Fang Shiqing still couldn't believe it. She asked with some shock,
"When did you find out?"
Cheng Shi thought for a moment.
"Probably... when I remembered hearing in the tavern that they had impersonated many people?"
Fang Shiqing once again felt regretful that he had refused the invitation to become a Fire-Bearer.
Cheng Shi was clearly a high-level player, a powerhouse good at observing details and mastering people's hearts.
Most importantly, from beginning to end, his heartstrings had never turned dark.
Even when he killed Huang Bo.
"Big Shot, why do you keep looking at me?"
Fang Shiqing sighed. "You know what I'm thinking!"
"Look at what you're saying. I'm not a mind reader."
Cheng Shi approached the "Duchess" and pulled out the two dwarves hidden under the human skin.
As soon as the two ugly dwarves saw the light of day, they covered their faces and wailed,
"It was Sambos's idea! He made us impersonate the Duke and Duchess to take control of the town. We were just following orders, don't kill us!"
"I have no interest in killing you. I only want to know, who fell into the memory?"
With that, two Hypnosis spells hit the two of them.
This Time, Xu Lu didn't open her mouth, and Fang Shiqing didn't speak, so Cheng Shi had to do it himself.
Once he finished asking, the Dwarf playing the lower half of the Duchess exploded into countless points of light with a 'bang', condensing once more into a Final Gate.
The second Final Gate!
"There... there really is a second one."
!!??
Fang Shiqing looked at the second gate before her with mixed emotions.
"Cheng Shi... will you really not reconsider what I said?"
The gazes of Xu Lu and Bailing bounced between the two. Cheng Shi smiled casually,
"No, thank you."
He then bowed to everyone and said cheerfully,
"The performance has ended. Would the audience please leave in an orderly fashion?"
It was clearly a little interlude meant to lighten the mood, but not a single person on the scene moved.
Seeing this awkward scene, Cheng Shi twitched his lip and prepared to walk away.
However, at that moment, Bailing moved.
She giggled and hugged Cheng Shi's arm, quickly planted a kiss on his cheek, and then rushed toward The Final Gate like a swallow returning to its nest.
Just as she was about to step through the gate, Cheng Shi suddenly spoke,
"Why choose Him?"
Bailing's footsteps faltered. She turned back, gave Cheng Shi a flirtatious wink with a smile like a blooming flower, and said,
"Isn't it because I like Him?"
With that, she rushed into the gate without looking back.
Her answer was a rhetorical question, but it was also an affirmative one.
Cheng Shi was stunned for a moment, then started laughing.
He wasn't laughing at Bailing's bluntness, but because she had lied.
As companions who had met by chance but gone through life and death together, he would never pry too deeply into anything.
But knowing that Bailing had lied was already something to be happy about.
It was already not easy to stay alive in this world; there was no reason to judge others.
Moreover, she hadn't hurt anyone.
Watching Bailing disappear behind the gate, Cheng Shi's smile was brilliant.
However, Fang Shiqing's expression was not good. she really wanted to invite him again, but she also knew that Cheng Shi probably wouldn't accept.
In her helplessness, she had no choice but to walk toward The Final Gate.
Before entering, she pushed Xu Lu forward, clearly still not wanting her to be left alone with Cheng Shi at the end.
However, what neither of them expected was this:
Just as Xu Lu was about to be pushed into The Final Gate, she suddenly struggled violently and ran away.
She ran dozens of meters away, looked at the stunned Fang Shiqing and the confused Cheng Shi, and screamed hysterically,
"Fake! It's all fake! He's lying!"
"Sister Fang, he's lying!"
"This is all his scam!"
"Don't believe him!"
"This gate is fake! We'll all die if we go in!"
...