Chapter 432: Reversed— Everything's Reversed |
The venue fell deathly silent.
The other players, stunned by the absurd spectacle unfolding before them, didn't dare make a sound. They huddled motionlessly in their corners, dutifully serving as background scenery, surrendering the entire hall to the Chosen Ones at the front.
And those Chosen Ones, after listening with furrowed brows for a moment, each formed their own theories about the situation.
Grand Marshal Hu Wei first glanced at Long Jing standing amid the ruins of the stage. Seeing that Long Jing was still glaring at "Zhen Yi" with undisguised irritation, Hu Wei exhaled heavily, then turned to his brother— "Cheng Shi."
"Hu Xuan? Brother, you know that Eternal Sun?"
Hearing this, the real Cheng Shi felt a chill. It seemed his dear big brother had some kind of grudge against Hu Xuan.
What was going on— had Hu Xuan secretly carried his child or something?
He speculated about the history between those two while anxiously awaiting Zhen Yi's response.
Although swapping identities had been a brilliant move to save himself, it undeniably gave Zhen Yi the power to control "his" identity.
But to Cheng Shi's surprise, Zhen Yi didn't pull any stunts. She played the part of a Fate Weaver who'd been burned by "herself" perfectly, offering only a mild smile:
"We've met, sort of. We were matched in the same trial once.
"Back then she wasn't anything close to an Eternal Sun yet, but you could already tell this Life Sage was destined for greatness.
"I just didn't expect her to rise this fast.
"I suppose my 'support work' must have caught her eye, so she left me a little memento."
Support work?
Hu Wei pondered for a moment and immediately understood what "Cheng Shi" meant. A Fate Weaver's support work naturally referred to healing— his core duty. So it seemed his good brother had once saved that Hu Xuan.
In truth, the Grand Marshal and Hu Xuan had no conflict between them as Chosen Ones— they'd never even crossed paths. The reason he was so fixated on this Eternal Sun was that a certain companion from his inner circle of three had apparently fallen at Hu Xuan's hands.
He still remembered the night he'd first heard Hu Xuan's name— it was the same day Zhen Yi's monstrous lie had fooled him completely.
At that night's meeting, his companion had warned them to steer clear of Hu Xuan if they ever encountered her. But not long after, that companion had vanished without a trace.
After extensive inquiries, he'd finally uncovered a few clues. Apparently, his companion had been matched with the Eternal Sun in a trial, and somehow ended up entangled with this rising star. A few days later, he'd disappeared from everyone's sight entirely.
Death in the game was perfectly normal, but [Birth] had many methods of tracing origins. His fear was that his companion's death might leak certain information about himself, which was why he'd kept tabs on Hu Xuan.
Though "Cheng Shi" spoke as if it were nothing, Hu Wei had a fairly good read on the situation— his little brother was a deep thinker and probably wasn't telling the whole truth.
He turned back to "Zhen Yi," his expression darkening again: "Zhen Yi, what whistle did you take from my brother?"
Cheng Shi fought the urge to twitch and kept his gleeful grin intact:
"Hee~
"It's just a little Night Curtain Spring Whistle. Why so tense?"
With that, he extended his hand as if gripping something, then shot a coy glance at "Cheng Shi," lips pursed, head bashfully lowered:
"Unless... you want to use this whistle to... do something with me?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Cheng Shi's" face went black. His expression screamed speechlessness, his eyes brimming with revulsion. He looked exactly like the real Cheng Shi would— letting his disgust for Zhen Yi show without the slightest attempt to hide it.
Everyone had long known Cheng Shi was the one who always got screwed over, but seeing him like this still stirred a pang of sympathy.
Little did they know... it was all fake.
Reversed— everything was reversed!
Two unhinged [Deceit] followers were impersonating each other right under everyone's noses, fully committed to their roles.
One, for self-preservation, was suppressing his revulsion and finding creative ways to "flirt" with himself.
The other, purely for entertainment, was flawlessly playing the victim in this "emotional drama."
Cheng Shi wasn't the least bit surprised that Zhen Yi could portray him so convincingly. What he couldn't fathom was how this lunatic clearly knew how much everyone despised her, yet didn't care in the slightest— and could even amplify that loathing in an even more repulsive performance!
'Is this really something a human being is capable of?'
Just as the standoff devolved into mutual bewildered staring, Long Jing— still standing amid the stage wreckage— snapped.
He glared at "Zhen Yi" with fury blazing in his eyes and erupted:
"Are you insane?!
"Setting a trap and failing to catch anyone is one thing, but why did you shatter your own pocket too?
"Don't tell me it was just so you could beat me up!
"Honestly, what rotten luck. Listen, everyone— I don't know whether that Fate Weaver called Cheng Shi is the real deal or not, but I can guarantee that this Zhen Yi standing before us is absolutely genuine!
"I saw something in her hands that belongs to me!
"Zhen Yi, I should remind you— the rental period for the Tongue of Eating Lies is almost up!"
"..."
Huh?
Cheng Shi's mind went blank. He'd never imagined the Tongue of Eating Lies was actually Long Jing's property.
Zhen Yi had gotten it from him?
And then Zhen Xin had "lent" the tongue to himself?
But now, this very tongue had become "damning evidence" proving he was Zhen Yi...
So was this a trap laid by the Zhen sisters long ago, or was it merely [Fate]'s coincidence?
Cheng Shi's head buzzed, but there was no time to overthink it. Swallowing his disgust once more, he forced his trademark grin:
"Hee~
"How did you figure out I'm sick in the head?
"You're so concerned about me— my boyfriend might get jealous, you know. He's standing right over there. Aren't you afraid he'll come hit you?"
"..."
"Cheng Shi's" face went dark. He looked at Long Jing, who'd whipped around to face him, and stiffly shook his head:
"President Gong, wise and mighty as you are, please don't engage with this lunatic.
"I'm just a nobody priest, an invisible little nobody. Just pretend I don't exist.
"And if you fine folks could open a door and send me home, that would be even better."
Before Long Jing could respond, Hu Wei raised a hand to cut "Cheng Shi" off.
"Cheng Shi, hold on. I'm actually planning something big, and the team's short a priest. Don't rush off— I'll take you somewhere good in a bit."
"..."
The moment those words left his mouth, all eyes turned to Hu Wei.
Sure enough, the Grand Marshal hadn't come here to sightsee— he had his own agenda.
But those words... weren't they awfully familiar?!
'Bro, do you always need a priest?!'
Hearing this, Cheng Shi's awareness wavered, as if he'd been thrown back into that unforgettable nightmare of a trial.
That very trial was what had entangled him in the public-opinion disaster with Zhen Yi in the first place!
And while that was admittedly his own doing coming back to bite him, this bite was altogether too vicious!
And it was about to get worse. Because right now, he and the other protagonist of that scandal had swapped identities.
And they'd swapped knowingly, in full mutual awareness!
Under these circumstances, Hu Wei's invitation to "Cheng Shi" inevitably handed Zhen Yi a brand-new toy to play with.
She stole a subtle glance at Cheng Shi, and their eyes happened to meet. In their mutually "awkward" gazes, she read his worry, and he understood her meaning.
Through that silent exchange, Zhen Yi laid out her "negotiation" terms:
Don't interfere with my participation in Hu Wei's secret affair, and I won't cause too much trouble for your identity.
Cheng Shi sneered internally. He didn't believe a single word of what she was conveying. Not only did he decline to respond, he suddenly flashed a grin at Hu Wei and spoke up:
"Where are you all going— can you...
"Take me along too?"
Hu Wei's face darkened. He wanted nothing more than to hurl "Zhen Yi" out of there immediately, but he knew he couldn't. So, expression rigid, he extended his hand:
"Zhen Yi. Don't make me use force. Give my brother his whistle back."
"Cheng Shi" raised an eyebrow, seemingly pleased that someone was collecting the debt on his behalf. Meanwhile, "Zhen Yi" pouted with an air of grievance, then "reluctantly" tossed the whistle over.
Hu Wei caught it with a frown, inspected it carefully several times, and only after confirming nothing was wrong did he press it into "Cheng Shi's" hand.
He hadn't expected Zhen Yi to be this cooperative today, which only deepened his suspicion that she was brewing something far worse.
"Cheng Shi" murmured a grateful thank-you, then stowed the whistle in his personal storage.
Having reclaimed his brother's property, Hu Wei kept five-tenths of his attention on Zhen Yi, then turned to Long Jing with a stern expression:
"Brother Long, tonight's little spectacle— don't you think you owe us an explanation?"
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