Chapter 1372: Audience Meeting - Bai Ling |
The one who was muddle-headed was the Joker still up above dealing with the other frauds, not the Yu Xi standing in front of Du Qiyu right now.
Cheng Shi looked at his old acquaintance with a complex gaze, having already remembered who the other party was.
That familiar, melodious tone and slightly mischievous, complaining look could only appear on one person simultaneously. And coincidentally, this person was also a Hunter.
Except, the person Cheng Shi knew was not the Beast Tamer Hunter of Fraud, but the Sensory Stalker Hunter of Corruption!
Indeed, Cheng Shi recognized her. The person pretending to be Du Qiyu in front of him was none other than the broken little bird he had once saved: Bai Ling!
For a moment, Cheng Shi's thoughts were pulled back to past trials.
When he first met Bai Ling, she was still a low-ranking weakling, and he was just a carefree fraud. When they met the second time, she had joined the Torchbearers and found her own convictions, while he had pushed open the door of Fixed Destiny and set foot on the path returning to Fate.
Now was their third encounter.
She had actually become a follower of Fraud, even fighting her way into the top ten to reach the Audience Meeting. As for him... he had already become the fulcrum of the world, the core of the Fear Faction, and the Lord Yu Xi in the eyes of all these frauds.
Cheng Shi laughed self-deprecatingly, raised his hand to take off the Mask, shed his Chaos Acting disguise, and revealed his true, original self to his friend.
This action was not an intentional exposure of Yu Xi's identity. Rather, Cheng Shi knew that to learn something from Bai Ling's mouth, the identity of a Fate Weaver was far more useful than any Lord Yu Xi or Flame of Hope!
And sure enough!
When Yu Xi shed his disguise, revealing Cheng Shi's face underneath, the Du Qiyu who had just been trying to cozy up to the Flame of Hope instantly widened his eyes. In his pinpoint-sized pupils, countless emotions flashed by in an instant: joy, excitement, shock, bewilderment, and even a trace of fear.
He visibly wanted to say something, but after that flash of fear, Du Qiyu directly covered his mouth, turned his head, and ran backward.
He seemed very afraid to see Cheng Shi.
Seeing this, Cheng Shi became even more certain that Bai Ling's identity in Fraud was absolutely not simple. However, he didn't take any action to stop her, but merely said in a faint, echoing voice:
"Halt."
These two words, like an immobilization spell, forcefully froze a Beast Tamer—who could fight back and forth with the eighth-ranked Master of Trickery—in place.
Du Qiyu froze stiff, trembling all over. He didn't dare turn back, nor did he dare to move any further.
Looking at that rigid posture, Cheng Shi let out a sigh:
"Is this how you greet an old friend?
Who taught you to meet people wearing a Mask?"
"..."
The figure trembled again, not making a sound.
Seeing this, Cheng Shi had no choice but to lift his leg on the spot, creating some sounds of clothing rustling.
Upon hearing the suspected approach, the figure trembled even more violently. No longer caring to disguise his voice, an agonized plea rang out in that familiar, clear tone: "Don't come over here!"
It really was her!
Cheng Shi laughed:
"Alright, I won't go over. Then you come here.
I remember Sensory Stalkers love hunting the covetous desires of others the most. Why have you started alienating others instead now?
Is it because you broke your oath?"
"..."
The figure gradually stopped trembling. Perhaps knowing she couldn't escape the Fate Weaver's grasp, she gradually accepted her fate and turned around.
And during the process of turning around, Xiao Qi's appearance peeled away like silk threads, and a resolute, weather-beaten, beautiful face appeared in Cheng Shi's line of sight.
She was no longer wearing that seductive satin long dress, but a stylish tactical combat outfit. A longbow was slung across her back, and both the bowstring and the bow body were stained with blood.
Her flowing long hair was no longer left draped down, but tied up in a high ponytail behind her head, looking uninhibited and valiant.
Cheng Shi examined the friend before him with slight astonishment, feeling that Bai Ling no longer looked like Birdie, but more like a soaring eagle.
"You..."
He had wanted to say something to praise her transformation, but the words reached his lips and were swallowed back down.
The resoluteness on her face was Bai Ling's medal. She had already proven herself and needed no praise from others.
And comparing her present to her past, there was absolutely no reason to belittle her. Regardless of whose choice or whose helplessness it was, she was a good person, and she had remained consistent in this regard from beginning to end.
That was enough.
So Cheng Shi smiled. Looking at Bai Ling, his face filled with a smile as he teased: "The Bai Ling I knew wasn't like this. What, just because I lied to you earlier, I'm no longer worthy of being a Beast Tamer's friend?"
Bai Ling pursed her lips, staring straight at Cheng Shi. Shaking her head with a complex expression, she said: "It's me who's unworthy."
"Speak properly."
"..." Bai Ling's expression was very conflicted. Clearly, it wasn't that she didn't want to speak properly, but that some 'person' wasn't letting her.
Noticing this, Cheng Shi frowned slightly. Seeming to think of something, he raised an eyebrow and probed: "The Fun God?"
Bai Ling's face instantly went pale. She pursed her lips tightly, refusing to utter a sound.
Seeing this, Cheng Shi understood in his heart. Rolling his eyes slightly, he beckoned to Bai Ling:
"I know you must have experienced a lot and have misgivings in your heart. But since you have already reached this point, having come to the Fun God's Audience Meeting, you cannot just approach Him in devotion; you must also advance with Him in Will.
Think about it. If He truly didn't want me to know what you know, why would He let me meet you here?
This is His Audience Meeting. With a shift in the void, even if I knew you were here, I couldn't possibly walk up to you.
Therefore, whatever gag order He placed on you before, by this point in time, it has already passed.
Tell me what you know, Bai Ling. This information might be very useful to me right now.
I am facing a crisis, and I cannot let go of a single clue or piece of information."
Bai Ling was no longer the Bai Ling of the past. She was no longer the low-ranking weakling, the Birdie who had to cling to others' legs to clear trials. She was already a peak fraud, a top ten of Fraud who could step into the Audience Meeting.
She immediately heard that everything Cheng Shi said was false, twisted logic, aimed solely at "tricking" her into telling what she knew.
But these were matters the Deity Himself had forbidden her from speaking of, so how could she dare to say them casually?
But today... she still spoke.
Not because she believed Cheng Shi's nonsense, but because the Fate Weaver said he was facing a crisis and this information could help him.
Therefore, Bai Ling held back nothing.
"I... deceived you."
"?" Cheng Shi paused. "What?"
Bai Ling lowered her head guiltily, "I said, I deceived you."
"When? The Du Qiyu from just now?"
"No, much earlier.
In the Sinking Land beside the Sea of Desire, I... saw you."
...