Chapter 157

The Fire-Keepers' desperate situation

Cheng Shi held a golden mask in his hand, examining it curiously.

To be honest, he had never thought this mask would be useful to others.

He thought the mask he gave away last time was a useless object, which was why he had supplemented Fang Shiqing with a healing spell imbued with divine grace.

Thinking about it now, what a loss!

However, the mask in Cheng Shi's hand now wasn't the one he gave Fang Shiqing, because that one had dissipated after pulling Cheng Shi to this place.

Masks have always been consumables.

"You mean, you consumed this mask and summoned me over?"

After the exchange just now, Fang Shiqing realized that Cheng Shi didn't know the function of this mask.

Her face showed some astonishment, but she secretly felt lucky in her heart.

Good thing, good thing her desperate gamble just now paid off, otherwise...

She wouldn't know how to answer to all the Fire-Keepers.

"It's your own item, and you don't even know what it's for?"

"..."

That's a question; if it's on me, it's mine?

If it's on you, it can't be mine?

Existence is existence, why divide it so clearly?

Cheng Shi didn't know how to respond; he smacked his lips and handed the golden mask back to Fang Shiqing.

"Then what is the function of this one?"

Fang Shiqing took the mask and glanced at it:

Mask of No Regrets (S): When you wear this mask, your fighting spirit will be indomitable; when you consume this mask for defensive spells, all defensive effects and effective durations are doubled.

The effect has changed; this is a defensive mask.

She furrowed her brows slightly and pondered for a moment, brewing her words before asking:

"This question might be a bit presumptuous, but Cheng Shi... these masks..."

"Picked them up."

"Oh." Fang Shiqing revealed an "as expected" look, shook her head, and laughed, "This is a defensive mask; it can increase defensive effects and extend defensive duration."

Cheng Shi raised his eyebrows, thinking of Old Cui's profession.

【Decay】 warrior, mummy.

Could it be... these masks are related to the player professions that provide them?

"I see."

He nodded, took back the mask, and then stuffed it into Cui Qiushi's hand.

Cui Qiushi didn't anticipate Cheng Shi's action; he widened his eyes and froze in place.

"What are you looking at? Take it; seeing you all in such a miserable state, it's clear there's a tough battle ahead.

Take this; it can help me take a few more hits."

Even though Cui Qiushi was a warrior tempered by the fires of war, seeing someone casually give away an S-level item still left him a bit dumbfounded.

Furthermore, this person in front of him wasn't even a Fire-Keeper.

"I..."

"Let's be clear, this isn't a gift; once the current trouble is solved, you Fire-Keepers have to pay it back.

Hmm, let me think, what should I ask for?"

Before he could finish, Bai Ling walked over secretly, holding her tattered skirt.

"Big shot, take me, I'll pay the debt with my body."

Cheng Shi curled his lips and said with a look of disdain:

"In your dreams; not only do I lose a mask, but I also let you have a free ride—your abacus is clicking way too loudly."

"?"

Even Bai Ling was stunned; she first confirmed that the person in front of her was indeed Cheng Shi, and then suddenly clutched her stomach and laughed out loud, laughing until she collapsed on Cheng Shi's shoulder, unable to straighten up.

"Hahaha... then, then what should we do?"

"Anyway, I can't let you have a free ride."

"Then otherwise, I'll pay money?"

"?"

Little sister, what do you take me for?

Am I that kind of person?

How much?

Ah, *cough cough*, damn it, why do I feel like I'm evolving in the direction of XX.

I just want to compromise with fate, not really become XX.

"Alright, let's talk business, talk business!"

Although Cheng Shi was very puzzled about how he could jump from one trial to another based on a mask, since he was here, he had to treat the current trial as his own to fight.

After all, no one could tell him if death in this trial was real death.

And no one could tell him if failing this trial would also deduct his points.

To be honest, Fang Shiqing hadn't expected this kind of scenario either.

She had originally thought she would summon a puppet replicated according to Cheng Shi's abilities, but didn't expect to have shaken the real person over.

That meant Cheng Shi, like them, had fallen into the same desperate situation.

And the "culprit" who caused all this was none other than herself.

Fang Shiqing appeared calm and composed on the surface, even wearing a smile, but she was extremely apologetic inside.

Their tenet was to protect beauty, not to let "beauty" protect them.

But things had reached this point, and there was no other way; she couldn't just send him back the moment he arrived, so she looked at Cheng Shi and made a secret decision in her heart.

With her status, she couldn't promise anything on behalf of the Fire-Keepers, but she could promise for herself:

No matter the outcome, in this trial, there would always be one person who could survive.

She gripped her Book of Truth tightly, pressing it against the "Skeleton Warrior" page.

Amidst these chaotic thoughts, she told Cheng Shi everything they had encountered.

The cause of the trial was that the Fire-Keepers were seeking an item very important to them.

They mobilized many Fire-Keeper compatriots to pray together; the goal was the same, but not everyone was queued together.

Not to mention where other Fire-Keepers were queued, in any case, Fang Shiqing, Bai Ling, and Cui Qiushi were queued into one game, and queued into a 【Chaos】 game.

Yes, a 【Chaos】 game!

The title of their trial was "Pearl on the Crown of Truth (【Chaos】)," and the hint given by the trial was:

【When the funeral bell tolls, cry out loud (Time limit: 5 days)】

The title and the clue were almost completely unrelated.

But judging from past 【Chaos】 trials, the hints He gave could basically be ignored.

Because His games were filled with all kinds of chaos and disorder; players entering the game didn't need to look for trial clues at all—being able to survive until the end of the trial was already the greatest victory.

Moreover, the scoring logic of this kind of game was different from others; you never know what He is thinking, and you never know why He adds points for you, or why He deducts points.

Therefore, in His games, there is no need to consider catering, nor is there any need to care about anything else; in short, survival is the most important thing.

Cheng Shi looked at the three of them with sudden realization, finally knowing why their state was so miserable.

Because they had already endured four days in this disorderly chaos.

And today was the last day.

The place where everyone was currently located was probably a wine cellar hidden underground; the air was filled with a rich, lingering smell of alcohol, and weak flames danced on the torches on the walls, barely illuminating this small, not-yet-crowded space.

The Fire-Keepers were likely taking temporary shelter here, and going out from here would probably be the battlefield he needed to face next.

War often means chaos, which also fits His theme very well.

Since there was no priest in the team, Fang Shiqing, holding the Book of Truth, had to moonlight as a healer for the past four days.

Fortunately, she had enough accumulation and led a team to hold on until now.

But the pages of imprinted talents were not endless; now there were few skill pages left in the book in her hand, and several teammates had almost exhausted their spirit.

"So, you have three other teammates, and they are all alive?" Cheng Shi asked with surprise.

Fang Shiqing nodded and pointed in a direction outside the cellar.

"Correct, they are in the ruins a few miles away, together with the NPCs.

Our familiar identities couldn't be hidden, so we simply confessed to them, telling the outside world that we came from the same organization, which makes it convenient to act together.

And now, it is time for the three of us to stand guard for the main force."

"Organization? What organization?" Cheng Shi smiled; he knew what Fang Shiqing said couldn't be Fire-Keepers.

"Undead Requiem Society."

"Tsk, you guys have started lying too."

Cheng Shi raised his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth curling into an arc.

He had heard of this "Undead Requiem Society"; it was an organization of 【Death】 believers with somewhat paranoid philosophies.

Most members in the society had talents for controlling corpses or summoning spirits; they claimed that "letting corpses rejoin the battlefield is the best requiem for the dead," and it was considered a notorious small force.

The Fire-Keepers fabricating this organization's identity was likely because this organization was niche enough that not many people knew about it, and it could also resolve the various pages related to spirit summoning in her hand.

But looking at the three of them, except for Bai Ling, not a single person's temperament matched the image of this organization.

One more thing, big legs had quite a lot of 【Death】 talent records in her hand; this didn't look like something exchanged with others.

Could it be that among the Fire-Keepers, there was a high-scoring player who believed in Him?

Cheng Shi's eyeballs rolled around, and he didn't continue to ask deeply in this direction.

"Did they believe it?"

"Of course not; they probably think we are going to give up acting with the main force.

After all, in such a vast battlefield, small-team actions are far more convenient for self-preservation and covering tracks than following the main force, except for not being able to achieve the prayer goal."

"What is the configuration of the other three?"

"A Void Quality-Energy Knowledge Scholar with nearly 2600 points, whose heartstrings are fanatical and powerful; an Elemental Judge with 2500 points, whose heartstrings are upright and steady; and a prisoner whose specific situation is unknown—he has the protection of 【Silence】, so his heartstrings cannot be heard."

Cheng Shi was stunned, suddenly feeling that this lineup was actually quite good.

One warrior, two mages, two singers, one hunter—it was just missing a healer.

But now, the healer was here.

"Oh, your point gap is not small; I remember Bai Ling is..."

Bai Ling smiled brightly and said generously:

"Big shot, let's re-introduce ourselves: Bai Ling, Sensory Hunter, City-Guard, 1447."

"Cui Qiushi, Order Knight, City-Guard, 1964."

"Fang Shiqing, Learned Poet, City-Guard, 2114."

Cheng Shi raised his eyebrows, pondered for a moment, and made a decision in his heart.

"Cheng Shi, Forgotten Doctor, 2401.

If you don't mind, I'll take over this game."