Chapter 439: And So the Curtain Falls |
Yu Mu's movements visibly faltered at the Prisoner's remark, yet the Prisoner made no move to close the distance. Instead, he kicked off with both legs and bolted toward the passageway again.
Seeing his sudden pivot, Hu Wei's expression shifted. Mo Li raised a warning brow: "Careful— something's off!"
But it was already too late.
Yu Mu had drawn the gum-skewered arrow close, and at that exact moment—
"Watch out!"
BOOM—
The gum exploded a second time. But explosives of this caliber could do little more than add a splash of color to peak players.
And adding color was precisely the point!
A dazzling cloud of pink mist erupted through the air, drenching the nearby Yu Mu from head to toe. Once Mo Li— lips twitching— used a Law Command to force the haze to settle, what stood before everyone was a pink-haired... decrepit old man.
"..."
"..."
Yu Mu had decayed virtually every ounce of destructive force in the blast, yet the explosive hadn't been designed to cause damage at all!
He stared at the undecayable pink coating his body, seething with fury.
Meanwhile, the Prisoner lounged against the passageway wall and pointed straight at "Zhen Yi," gleefully shifting the blame:
"Shame— almost had the raw materials for that walking stick.
"Don't look at me. Zhen Yi brought the gum. I have no idea why this person just hands out color-changing bubblegum for no reason. Good thing I saved it instead of chewing it myself.
"Old Bow, thanks for screening that for me. Although I have to say, a pastel-pink old man is kind of adorable."
"PRISONER!!!"
Yu Mu let out a raspy roar and launched an arrow deep into the passageway, but the Prisoner had already vanished after his "performance," long gone before the fury could reach him.
With no outlet for his rage, [Decay]'s number-two turned his grim bow toward Cheng Shi.
Cheng Shi's heart lurched. Internally, he cursed both Zhen Yi and the Prisoner to the heavens and back. But his preparations were already complete, so at this moment he felt no panic whatsoever. Instead, a smile played at the corner of his lips as he began counting down:
"Five!"
"Four!"
He'd barely reached four when every face in the room changed.
"Trap! There's a trap!"
"I knew it— that's why this wretch was so quiet tonight! She was stalling for time! Dammit— rotten luck! Move, now!"
Hu Wei's expression darkened. Without sparing a thought for the remaining mediocre folk, he carved a towering wall of flame with a single slash for cover, then split the venue's Void open with a second stroke, ready to spirit "Cheng Shi" and the others out of the Mediocre Person Society's hall.
Too late.
Because Cheng Shi's countdown was a bluff. The Sinner's Regret had already completed its marking. The instant Yu Mu had leveled his bow at Cheng Shi— the instant the count hit four— he'd already activated Sinner Redemption.
And so, to the horror of every widening pupil in the room, every attendee present was instantly paralyzed and hoisted into the air, then dragged bit by bit into the grudge of the Sin Brood Mother, Go Lis!
Full-room hard crowd-control. Complete wipe.
'What did you think I was doing the whole time I toyed with you?'
'Sorry— there were too many people in this hall to mark. Thanks for your patience.'
The Sinner Redemption didn't discriminate. Even Cheng Shi himself was strung up. But in the instant darkness claimed his vision, he met every furious gaze bearing down on him, silently brushed against his own shadow, and smiled with deep satisfaction.
'Oh, Zhen Yi, Zhen Yi. Since you love causing trouble for everyone so much, I'm sure you won't mind one more feat added to your "track record."'
'Oh, right— Zhen Yi is Zhen Xin now.'
'You want to use my identity to wade into Hu Wei's murky waters?'
'Sorry, but I never intended to let you borrow my identity all the way to the end. Maybe some of you have the means to break free of Go Lis's grudge, but...'
'No matter.'
'By the time everyone breaks loose, Cheng Shi will be the real Cheng Shi again.'
'And when that happens, what does the Master of Trickery's wrongdoing have to do with a humble Fate Weaver?'
'And the rewards my dear Brother Hu Wei promised— on what grounds should a magician claim any share?'
So this was the grand scheme Cheng Shi had prepared for everyone present— a grand stage for [Birth] to bloom!
The con could have kept going, sure. But since they'd swapped actors midway, it was now his turn to make a substitution!
Unfortunately, Long Jing had gotten away.
But that was a minor issue. Who could guarantee that this acrobat's future "clarification" wouldn't become another pleasant surprise?
As for the Prisoner...
Cheng Shi had never intended to mark him in the first place. This [Silence] follower seemed far more troublesome than Zhen Yi. He couldn't be sure his own methods wouldn't get deflected by some inexplicable power of [Silence], so he'd simply left the man alone. Fortunately, the Prisoner had seen himself out.
And so, to Cheng Shi's thorough satisfaction, tonight's Mediocre Person gathering came to an early close.
Every peak player on the scene— all caught in the crossfire of their mutual scheming— had been swept into [Birth]'s "pocket." As for the other people present...
Honestly, from the moment he'd joined this insane Faith Game, Cheng Shi had never once gone out of his way to provoke innocent bystanders.
Not because he was soft-hearted, but because he was cautious. No— prudent.
Making enemies for no reason was the worst possible approach to the game. You never knew what bizarre abilities or connections someone might have up their sleeve. So under normal circumstances, he only dealt with those who needed dealing with. Anyone who hadn't made a move against him— no matter how many schemes they harbored— he wouldn't strike preemptively.
But tonight, why had he swept up the entire room?
Because at a certain moment, he'd suddenly realized that the other "spectators" in this hall...
Might not even be human!
Take the Cui Qiushi and Zhang Hao he'd saved, for instance. These two, as covert Torchbearers, had made no attempt to find an alternate exit beyond that one door, despite how secretive their identities were supposed to be!
Not only that, their gazes had been locked on him the entire time.
But he should have been "Zhen Yi" right now, not Cheng Shi!
Zhang Hao was someone Cheng Shi didn't know well, so he could set that aside. But Cui Qiushi? Such an upright, morally good man, and yet amid this entire chaotic scene, he hadn't spared "Cheng Shi"— his own savior— a single glance. His eyes had never once left "Zhen Yi."
Had he seen through to Cheng Shi's true identity, or was he observing "Zhen Yi" on someone else's behalf?
Cheng Shi couldn't be certain. But what he could confirm was that players who were "observing" others like Cui Qiushi were far from rare in this venue!
They played the role of panicking bystanders, yet they were clearly "gathering intelligence" with purpose and precision!
So— were they actually people?
Cheng Shi had pondered this for a long time. He'd reviewed the entire situation's development, traced the positions and movements of several suspicious figures, and even cross-referenced the peak players' peripheral attitudes toward the outer spectators to deduce these "mediocre folk's" true nature.
He'd ruled out the possibility that they were illusions. But false identities didn't begin and end with [Deceit]'s phantasms— there were also the nebulous constructs of [Existence]!
For example, the kind he'd encountered in his own dreams: dream-people who truly existed!
Dream-people were not illusions, so naturally they couldn't be dispelled by Mo Li's Law Command.
So— could there be a [Memory] follower lurking behind the scenes within this very hall?
Was this opulent venue truly a gathering place for mediocre folk, or was it someone's undiscovered masterwork of a dream?
Cheng Shi realized he'd clearly walked into a trap. But he couldn't determine who had laid it.
This unseen puppet master who'd never shown their face— what was their purpose in allowing Long Jing and Zhen Yi to usurp his identity right here in the hall?
Cheng Shi couldn't be sure, and he couldn't afford to gamble.
So he ran. Using the Sinner's Regret, using [Birth]'s power, using a ready-made excuse, using "Zhen Yi's" identity— he flipped the entire chessboard and slipped away.
He decisively fled this impenetrable, unfathomable Mediocre Person Society!
'Mediocre people, mediocre people— where in this room do I see anyone mediocre?'
'This is nothing less than a summit of peak players, a clash of titans rife with undercurrents and games nested within games!'
'You're all geniuses. I'm just a mediocre person. Too scared to stick around— best to leave first.'
And so he slipped away.
The retreat was inelegant, perhaps, but it was effective.
And once every last person had vanished into the Void, the venue finally— mercifully— fell quiet.
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