Chapter 743: In Every Good Show, the Clown Never Misses His Cue

It took Cheng Shi a good while to recover from the dizziness and weakness. Only then did he finally have enough strength to cast a healing spell and a spirit spell on himself. Once his power began reviving, he hauled himself upright and spoke with the resignation of a man accepting his fate:

"That's done then. Now that I've been punished, my Lord — can we continue?"

"Why do you have so many questions today?"

Cheng Shi pursed his lips, thinking: 'Because You have so much time today.'

'I finally get it — so THAT'S why Time has no time. It's all been swindled away by You.'

"Zealous pursuit of knowledge!" Cheng Shi stretched his body and pressed on relentlessly: "My Lord — this faith fusion aside, I more or less understand my Benefactors' thinking now. But for my own survival, I have to ask one more thing. How does Folly feel about all this?

Destiny wants to approach Folly — I can sense that. And Folly even summoned me. Did You know about that?"

"Oh? So you're actually..."

"Folly's pet, yes. So now You know."

A clown who answered before the joke landed had robbed Him of His fun.

"Don't worry about Him. A sore loser who refuses to concede, nothing more. Apart from that foul mouth, He has nothing."

"..."

Cheng Shi smacked his lips. Right now, it felt like the Fun God Himself was Folly.

'See what I said? Fuse You two together — guaranteed entertainment.'

But for self-preservation, Cheng Shi immediately killed that thought. He furrowed his brow: "But I clearly saw a towering spire in His temple. The abyss-like depths at its base — one glance and it filled me with terror. And those white-eye wind chimes, radiating Folly's divine power everywhere. Does He truly have nothing?"

"You just said you 'saw' it. You also 'saw' Time's temple today. Does seeing something make it real?" Deceit scoffed.

"What do you mean?" Cheng Shi was stunned. "That was a facade too? He stole Your authority?"

"He wouldn't dare!

That's His own authority. He's different from Truth — Truth emphasizes action, while Folly excels at knowing.

He can perceive your every thought, then use His methods to reconstruct what you expect to see, wielding that cognitive projection to intimidate you.

Simply put: what you saw was nothing but your own imagination. You believed He'd look like that, so He became that.

Seeing is knowing. That foul mouth was once the wisest being in this universe, but unfortunately..."

'Unfortunately!?'

Cheng Shi jolted. He remembered what Brother Mouth had told him — that Folly had squandered His own authority!

'Am I about to learn the truth today?' Excitement surging, he stared at Deceit with expectant eyes — practically spelling out in capital letters: "Unfortunately what?"

"Unfortunately... the Void descended, and your Benefactor — Me — became the wisest god in this universe. That foul mouth dropped to second."

"..."

The spark of hope in Cheng Shi's eyes — extinguished.

'My Lord, never mind whether Folly is second in wisdom — His talent for being insufferable is definitely second. As for who's first...'

'I dare not say.'

Those eyes seemed to read Cheng Shi's thoughts. They studied him with that not-quite-smiling gaze and needled:

"I suggest certain clowns mind their words and deeds. Blasphemy carries heavy penalties, and I'm not always this lenient."

'Lenient!?'

'My brain's been shaken into a smoothie and YOU call that lenient!?'

Of course, retort he must. Cheng Shi pursed his lips and recalled another matter:

"My Lord — since You're protecting the Torchbearers, and I'm Your follower, I feel obligated to give You a tip. Purely out of devotion, nothing more.

I've learned that Little Deng spread rumors about the Torchbearers during the last trial. This could put them in an impossible position. If You already know, forget I said anything. But if You don't — is there still time to contain this?"

Those eyes swirled meaningfully, and He smiled:

"What — are you a Torchbearer now?"

Cheng Shi straightened up, expression dead serious:

"Yes!

I carry the flame of Deceit — so calling me a Torchbearer isn't wrong."

"Tch—

I gave you talent abilities to deceive others, not yourself.

A clown is a clown indeed, but you needn't constantly remind Me.

This matter requires no salvaging. Next time — don't meddle in business that isn't yours."

"No salvaging needed?" Cheng Shi didn't grasp the Benefactor's meaning: "Could he have been lying to me? But it didn't seem like it."

"He wasn't lying. This Time follower did indeed broadcast the clown troupe's secrets far and wide. It's just that... the mortals who heard it are all dead."

"Dead!?" Cheng Shi startled, blurting out: "Did You personally—"

"Of course not. It's simply that the last trial was too difficult. Apart from that Time follower, none of them made it to the end."

'Wait — that's not right!'

'The Fun God's tone... sounds like...'

Cheng Shi's expression turned fascinating. He blinked at Deceit and asked tentatively: "It wasn't... 'coincidentally'... Your trial?"

Those eyes completed a full rotation. Said nothing. But the smile? Utterly radiant.

Now Cheng Shi understood.

'Well played, my Lord. Watertight indeed. Though if this is how You keep "protecting" them, the Torchbearers might actually manage to pass the flame.'

'The question is — in the end, will it be the flame of hope... or the flame of Deceit?'

His worry was clearly unnecessary. This news needed to reach Qin Xin's team as quickly as possible. He'd call the Blind One the moment he got back.

Cheng Shi made several rapid decisions. He looked up to ask about something else — only to find those perpetually laughing eyes were no longer watching him. They stared motionless into the depths of the Void, fixed on some distant point.

Cheng Shi followed the Fun God's line of sight: "My Lord, what's happening?"

"A good show is about to begin." Deceit was beside Himself with glee.

"Good show? What good show?" Cheng Shi peered again but saw nothing.

"You want to know?"

"!" The words triggered every alarm. "No — I don't."

"Hmm, you do." Those eyes smiled. He blinked — and a hurricane erupted in the Void, flinging the clown away.

Cheng Shi was numb. He had no idea what kind of production awaited him next. But he knew all he needed to do was play the clown well.

After all — in every good show, the clown never misses his cue.

【End of Volume Two: Void Walker】