Chapter 429: Deceit Rank 2 — Acrobat, Long Jing |
The Prisoner was very interested in Cheng Shi.
The reason was simple: Zhen Yi.
In The Prisoner's eyes, Zhen Yi was a perfect practitioner of Silence's will. She could always pull off unexpected moves that left everyone speechless.
Even his own transformation into who he was today owed a little something to her inspiration.
So he was intensely curious about what made the Fate Weaver — the one Zhen Yi had gone to such elaborate lengths to screw over — so attractive.
So far... the man seemed utterly unremarkable.
"Brother-in-law, why aren't you talking?
Even if you've decided to follow my Lord, you don't have to make an offering every single second.
Silence is only His outward appearance. We must peel away the surface to reach the essence — that's how we get closer to Him!"
He glanced at The Prisoner and probed:
"Interesting. So what is the essence of Silence?"
The Prisoner perked up the instant Cheng Shi opened his mouth. He pondered a beat, then his face turned deadly serious:
"Deities cannot be spied upon, cannot be fathomed, cannot be understood. With our mortal wisdom, any attempt to dissect Them is merely one-sided conjecture.
However... if you truly wish to know, brother-in-law, then I'll share insights I've never told anyone in the half year since I gained them.
But you must promise — never breathe a word to anyone!"
'He's actually telling the truth!'
Cheng Shi's mind stuttered. He frowned slightly. Something felt off, but he couldn't pinpoint what. So he decided to stay still, listen first.
He nodded, leaned in close. Then he heard The Prisoner deliberately lower his voice to a conspiratorial whisper:
"I suspect that... Silence... He is... a chatterbox!"
"???"
Cheng Shi's expression froze solid.
He wanted to slap himself for ever believing a word out of this man's mouth.
And yet — to give credit where due — both Master of Deception and every micro-expression Cheng Shi had read from The Prisoner confirmed that this Silence Chosen One had not lied.
He genuinely seemed to think that.
"..."
'He believes his Benefactor, Silence, is a chatterbox who simply chose to be silent.'
Cheng Shi stared at The Prisoner in utter disbelief. His face screamed: you might as well say YOU are Silence.
Seeing Cheng Shi's reaction, The Prisoner got anxious: "You don't believe me?"
'Heh. I'd sooner believe I'm the First Emperor of Qin.'
But Cheng Shi didn't say that. He suddenly realized that with people like The Prisoner, silence only made them more energized. So he had a flash of inspiration and changed tactics.
He swiftly rearranged his expression, then nodded with absolute solemnity:
"I believe you!"
"?" The Prisoner blinked, eyes narrowing with a hint of self-mockery. "No — you don't. I saw the shock on your face. You don't believe me at all."
Cheng Shi shook his head:
"No, no, no — I do believe you. I was shocked because I never imagined someone else would think exactly the same as me!
I've always felt Silence was a chatterbox. He stays silent precisely to hide the fact that He can't shut up!"
"..."
This was the first time at the Mediocre Person Society that The Prisoner had been struck speechless by someone else. He stared at Cheng Shi in bewilderment, as if trying to see through this Fate Weaver.
But how could Fate be so easily read?
The Prisoner went quiet for a long moment, then his eyes rolled and he was about to speak — but Cheng Shi struck first:
"You don't believe me?"
"..."
"Hmm, you don't believe me. Then I suppose I need to explain my views on Silence.
Silence is the terminus of Chaos, while Folly is the continuation of Chaos. Think about it — given how Folly antagonizes absolutely everyone, there's no way it just goes quietly gentle into that good night.
So I have reason to believe Silence doesn't not want to talk — He's just bottling everything up inside.
And you, Prisoner — the fact that you became His Chosen One is the best proof of my theory!
He is using His attention to prove to the universe that He is not truly silent.
Does that track?"
"..."
After that little speech, Cheng Shi wanted to punch himself. The Prisoner felt likewise.
The bald man rubbed his shiny dome, studied Cheng Shi for a long time, then broke into a laugh and nodded:
"Now I understand why Zhen Yi screwed you over."
"?" Cheng Shi blinked. "Why?"
"Deserved it. You totally deserved it!"
"..."
'Left speechless again...'
'Damn!'
Cheng Shi was fuming. But somehow, after he'd given The Prisoner a taste of his own medicine, the man actually started warming up to him.
The Prisoner suddenly felt that Void path walkers weren't all as repulsive as he'd thought.
Sensing the shift in attitude, Cheng Shi struck while the iron was hot:
"Who's Long Jing?"
The Prisoner smacked his lips and said cheerfully:
"My little brother."
'Sure, sure. Every woman in the world is your sister. Every man in the world is your brother.'
Cheng Shi's face screamed constipation. He felt he'd asked the wrong person. But The Prisoner wasn't finished — and despite his obnoxious delivery, he did actually explain Long Jing's identity.
"Come to think of it, my bro's also one of your Void people. You probably figured it out already — he's not great at lying. Just a slacker acrobat who never does anything proper."
"..." 'Nice "not great at lying"...'
The Prisoner seemed to have found his groove again and started chattering nonstop:
"It's normal you haven't heard of him. The kid's super mysterious with a ton of identities. But he loves introducing himself to people as 'Old Gong' — that little bad habit always gets him busted among acquaintances."
"..." 'Does he really self-introduce that way...'
"I can't tell you Long Jing's user ID because those Deceit swindlers are even worse than me — they change their IDs every day. Literally every hour."
"..." 'So you know you're talkative...'
"Want an introduction, brother-in-law? I can set you two up. Before Li Jingming abjured, Long Jing was the eternal number two of Deceit. A good match for someone of your status, brother-in-law."
"..." Cheng Shi was truly exhausted. He had no energy left to retort.
But...
'Eternal number two?'
His mind jolted. A name instantly surfaced.
That person who'd been perched high on the leaderboard, constantly mocking Dragon King Li Jingming from his ID!
'It's him!'
'So he's an acrobat?'
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow. While The Prisoner glanced toward President Gong on the ruined stage, Cheng Shi retreated half a step. In the instant nobody was watching, he silently tapped his finger against a shadow on the seat-back — and stole a peek at the latest Deceit Ladder of Ascent.
Ladder of Ascent (Existence—Memory) / (Void—Deceit)
1. Li Jingming (Deceit) 213
2. True Heart, True Feelings (Deceit) 210
3. Like A Dream (Memory) 209
4. Dragon King's a Dumbass, Deceit Rules (Deceit) 207
5. Feelings Worth Waiting For (Memory) 204
6. Congrats Big Bro on Paternity Leave (Deceit) 201
...
45. I Never Lie (Deceit) 175
...