Chapter 606: Brother Mouth's True Identity?

Foolish Game of the Gods

'The Fun God has an Envoy?'

'Void has a Servant God?'

Generally speaking, a Path of Fate having a Servant God seemed perfectly normal. But it depended on who was doing the assessing.

Ordinary players might find it unremarkable. But for Li Jingming, he had reservations about the claim's authenticity—after all, both the person delivering the news and the person described within it were followers of Deceit.

He had to consider the possibility that the con artist across from him was slipping in a half-truth right when they were supposed to be baring everything.

Yet he couldn't identify a motive. He saw the respect in Cheng Shi's eyes and reciprocated it. In an atmosphere where they could genuinely become friends, there seemed to be no reason for such a pointless lie.

So this "Yu Xi" was real?

But its existence didn't... add up.

Because Li Jingming's knowledge told him that Existence had no Servant Gods. So why would Void—Existence's counterpart—have one?

The existence of Servant Gods had always been traceable. These favored followers, who carried out divine authority and spread divine will on behalf of the true gods, had always been the followers that the gods valued most. The gods were willing to have someone in this world championing their cause.

This was most common during the Life and Descent eras, where every god had at least one Envoy—some had several.

But when the Civilization era arrived and the Civilization gods descended, the number of Servant Gods plummeted. Order may have had a few, but after Truth's arrival, there were none.

This made sense. When Truth descended and the pursuit of knowledge began to spread, truth was no longer monopolized by the few. Grand Scholars and other great minds sprouted like mushrooms after rain, while Envoys faded into the river of time and vanished.

Ordinary people who gained divine attention rose to prominence, becoming the mainstream of their era, leading the advance of civilization and the turnover of knowledge. Under Truth's gaze, everyone became a hero of the search for Truth.

Correspondingly, the Chaos era saw a few Envoys under Chaos, but after Folly's arrival, there were likewise none.

Then came Existence...

Existence didn't seem to have an era or any Envoys. Time was supremely mysterious and inscrutable, and as for Memory...

Li Jingming frowned slightly, recalling a particular memory from a certain trial—and a mirror he'd found.

That mirror was clearly conscious, but it didn't resemble a god. At least, it couldn't be the Memory god. It seemed more like a Memory creation contaminated by some other faith's power.

Truth had something similar: the Ritual of Truth, held by the Erudition Presidium. Though that Truth creation was of far purer faith purity.

Studying these histories closely revealed a pattern: some gods seemed to no longer wish to elevate Envoys. Instead, they preferred to create constructs that possessed Envoy-level abilities but were deliberately limited.

Mortals couldn't know the reason for this shift. But the fact remained.

Li Jingming had been swept up in a flood of memories. His thoughts drifted. He shook his head, shelved his musings, and decided to hear more before judging whether this Clown of Deceit had ulterior motives.

What came next was surprisingly sincere. Cheng Shi described in full how he'd encountered Lord Yu Xi during a trial, how his identity had been stolen, how he'd uncovered the entity's existence, and how their relationship had developed—clear, detailed, and vivid.

Even the expressions and nuances at certain moments were rendered without concealment—the narrative was lifelike.

It certainly didn't sound fake.

Li Jingming furrowed his brow again. He was starting to believe—not because the account was thorough, but because he'd found a piece of self-convincing evidence within Cheng Shi's words.

"You're saying this Lord Yu Xi... is searching for its mask?"

Cheng Shi nodded vigorously:

"Yes. I spent ages probing indirectly before I finally guessed that from its expressions and reactions.

But honestly, it definitely knew I was testing it. It was just incredibly approachable and never stopped me from probing or getting closer.

And I truly want to do this. I'm willing to search for those broken mask fragments to get closer to it.

But I didn't approach Deceit because of this—I'm simply curious about this Deceit Envoy who wanders the world as it pleases.

Hmm, probably the same way you're curious about remarkable memories.

So—is this another spectacular memory?"

"Spectacular!" Li Jingming was finally convinced. Not only had he persuaded himself, he now wanted to share his own knowledge in return. "Though one thing might not be what you think."

"?"

Cheng Shi went blank. He studied the Dragon King with a peculiar expression, wondering whether this narrator wasn't just a narrator but actually an expert too.

'Yu Xi's entire identity is something I fabricated. How could you possibly know more about it than I do?'

'Who do you think you are—Brother Mouth?'

Li Jingming hadn't noticed the shift in Cheng Shi's expression. Head bowed, he organized his logic and refined his phrasing. After a long pause, he laid out his deductions one by one.

It was actually quite straightforward—he'd simply applied the memories and conclusions he'd just been ruminating on to this Deceit Envoy.

"Void shouldn't have an Envoy. But the Yu Xi you described should genuinely exist."

"???"

Now Cheng Shi was truly baffled—because he could tell the Dragon King wasn't making this up. The man seemed utterly convinced that Cheng Shi had gotten something wrong.

'Wait, bro—what?'

Li Jingming then explained in crystal-clear detail how Existence had no Envoys and how Void should mirror that status. He capped it off with an extremely confident guess about Yu Xi's true nature.

"So what I want to tell you is: your so-called Lord Yu Xi is probably not a person—or rather, not an Envoy. It's...

The mask before it shattered!

Just like the Ritual of Truth, it's most likely a creation of the Fun God. Whether made on a whim or with a specific purpose, it eventually—for reasons unknown—broke apart and scattered through history.

That's why it never comments on its own identity and lets you guess freely. It's not that it refuses to lower itself to explain—it's that it's actively muddling your understanding.

It's skilled with deception. After all, it is a creation of Deceit."

"..."

This time, Cheng Shi was genuinely, truly stunned!

'Is he right? Does this make sense? It makes so much sense! I think he's onto something—what do you think, Brother Mouth?!'

'Say something, Brother Mouth!'

'So this is your real identity, isn't it?!'

'This is why you wouldn't explain yourself, isn't it?!'