Chapter 200: How Old Is He?

How old is he?

Cheng Shi's neighbor had disappeared.

Xie Yang, this devotee of 【War】, had not shown his face for six days now.

In another half hour, the next special trial was about to arrive.

If he still couldn't see this neighbor by then, then as one of his "few" friends, Cheng Shi felt he had a duty to do his small part for this neighbor's afterlife arrangements.

And swallowing up... merging his living space, and disposing of his inheritance as appropriate, would be the proper thing to do.

Cheng Shi had already made up his mind to wish for a space merger after returning from the next special trial, but unexpectedly, in the last few minutes before the trial arrived, this neighbor actually reappeared, and his whole face was radiating happiness and contentment.

"?"

Cheng Shi was stunned; from the look of him, it seemed he'd been nourished by love...

But was the one nourishing this love really that "Little Yuan" he kept talking about?

"You..."

"Bro! You're back? I thought you'd kicked the bucket!"

"..."

Cheng Shi gave a dry laugh, thinking to himself, I haven't even asked about you yet, and you're already hoping I'm dead.

But then he put on a brilliant smile and shouted toward the rooftop opposite:

"You've been living pretty well lately — you haven't gotten together with Little Yuan, have you?"

Hearing this, the usually open-hearted Xie Yang actually became coy; he shifted his gaze away in embarrassment, grinning like a simp.

"Not really, I just caught a glimpse of her from far away. She really is beautiful."

"?"

When Cheng Shi heard this, for a moment he began to seriously doubt both his own eyesight and his sense of aesthetics.

What was going on — had he seen wrong?

Deeply puzzled inside, on the surface he still had to make small talk with Xie Yang. Taking advantage of a gap in the conversation, he slowly shuffled his feet to the edge of the rooftop, then glanced down out of the corner of his eye.

By coincidence, the beer belly was right by the window, and just as round as ever.

This casual glance confirmed one thing for Cheng Shi even more firmly, namely:

Xie Yang had been scammed.

Because he didn't seem like the type to stubbornly deny a romantic wound. A heartbreak might plunge many people into pain for an indeterminate amount of time, but for him, it would only accelerate the moment he went on the offensive again.

So Xie Yang's blissful expression wasn't an act — he had probably really seen the ideal Little Yuan in his mind.

Now this was getting interesting.

From Cheng Shi's understanding of Xie Yang, this neighbor of 【War】 was no fool, and that meant the beer-bellied Little Yuan before his eyes was probably quite the expert too.

An expert skilled at beguiling enemies, at that.

Interesting — was it 【Fraud】, 【Chaos】, or... 【Corruption】?

Whatever it was, it had nothing to do with him.

Cheng Shi only hoped this long-distance romance spanning the whole building wouldn't die an early death, so that he might get to see more entertainment and make his leisure time between trials a little less boring.

"I wish you happiness."

Cheng Shi said it with exceptional sincerity.

"Thank you, thank you!"

Xie Yang was clearly pleased. Not only did he thank Cheng Shi profusely, he even got a little worked up on Cheng Shi's behalf: "Bro, you're still single too, right? Don't say your buddy doesn't think of you when good things happen. Little Yuan has a younger sister — I've seen her too, just as pretty as Little Yuan. If you're interested, I can..."

"I'm not interested!"

Cheng Shi shook his head vigorously in fright.

No, no — you keep that beauty all to yourself, just don't drag me into it.

But he knew that if he didn't give a reason today, this warm-hearted neighbor across the way would probably be arranging blind dates for him every other day. So after a moment's thought, he said to Xie Yang:

"Actually, I..."

Before he could finish, Xie Yang's expression suddenly changed; he retreated two steps in shock.

"You like men?"

"Uh... not exactly."

"Phew— thank goodness, thank goodness. Bro, don't scare me like that." Xie Yang clearly breathed a sigh of relief, pricked up his ears again, and waited for what came next.

"What I actually wanted to say was, instead of introducing beauties...

Do you still have... that stuff on you? You know — that..."

Xie Yang's expression grew even stranger.

He suddenly felt that the necromancer on the rooftop opposite seemed to be a... pervert.

"You like corpses?"

"?"

Cheng Shi was stunned. He suddenly felt that his neighbor's train of thought was pretty jumpy too, but this wasn't a bad excuse.

A necromancer liking corpses — sounded like a pretty good match.

So Cheng Shi nodded sincerely.

"Sigh, you found out after all. This is my hardest secret to speak of. Yes, it was precisely for this reason that I set foot on the path of seeking 【Death】..."

Xie Yang's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Bro, don't mess with me. The corpses I gave you before were all male."

Cheng Shi didn't flinch at all and blurted out:

"You're attached to appearances.

When all living things die, the flesh is freed from its bindings, the heart's filth is cleansed, and the soul is delivered from the mundane. They have long since shed the illusion of gender, merging into the oneness of life, with only the difference between life and death remaining — that is, I live, they die.

If one absolutely had to pin a gender on them, then if I am male, they are female; if I am female, they are male.

Therefore, I am heterosexual."

"......"

Xie Yang couldn't laugh anymore.

He felt that Cheng Shi's "heterosexual" might not be the "hetero" of gender, but the "hetero" of life and death.

This necromancer neighbor of his was truly a pervert!

Xie Yang was a little scared.

But what he feared wasn't Cheng Shi being a pervert — he feared that under Cheng Shi's covetous gaze, born of some special purpose, his collection might not be safe anymore.

After all, he was always trading things with Cheng Shi.

This couldn't go on — it looked like he'd have to kill a few more people recently to stock up.

Cheng Shi naturally had no idea what Xie Yang was thinking, nor where this follower of 【War】 had let his mind wander. At this moment, he only cared about one thing, and that was......

The special trial had arrived, right on schedule.

【Special Trial (Born Anew 【Chaos】) has begun】

【Matching teammates (1/6)】

【Trial Objective: Amid others' doubts, prove that you are you (Time limit: 5 days)】

?

Why is it Him again?

Why is it still Him?

Howoldishe?

Didn't we just deal with each other moments ago? Is there really a need to chase me this closely?

I didn't do anything bad......

Ahem, let me talk my way out of this first — slaughtering those little lunatics was Bai Fei's doing, nothing to do with me, bro, you've got to believe me.

Still, surely You wouldn't come bother me over such a trivial matter?

After all, the two of us are sort of related by marriage......

For a moment, Cheng Shi's face looked as though he were constipated. He didn't dare move a muscle, awkwardly letting his gaze sink into darkness.

【Pi Pei Cheng Gong (6/6), entering trial】

Ps. What follows is Cheng Shi's first dungeon run under the 【Fate】 faith. Although he "betrayed" 【Deceit】, that doesn't mean he betrayed lies themselves.

Lying might be seen through, but sincerity can deceive just as well.

Anti-fraud tip: not a single word from a scammer can be trusted.

Also, yesterday everyone was super enthusiastic in the comments. I read through some of them, and I know some friends are getting a bit anxious, so here's a little reassurance pill for my comrades:

Reassurance Pill (Special Edition). jpg