Chapter 24

Everyone has free XP

As soon as he finished speaking, countless soft murmurs of agreement rose around him.

Yorck turned his head in surprise, his delighted expression suggesting he had found a kindred spirit.

But in an instant, his gaze turned sharp, fixing on Cheng Shi as if seeing a romantic rival.

“Ssshh—”

This Mr. Yorck has quite a story.

What kind of encounter could possibly lead to such a... incident?

Cheng Shi really didn’t want to dig deeper; he felt he had already found the answer to the mystery.

Of course, whether the answer was correct still needed verification.

So he stood up decisively and walked toward where Bai Ling was.

“Big Boss finally deigns to favor me?”

“Don’t fool around, help me with a small favor.”

Cheng Shi was still thinking how to trick her into testing Yorck without revealing himself, but before he could finish speaking, Bai Ling smiled and nodded:

“Sure! What do you want me to do?”

“?” Cheng Shi blinked in surprise. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll trick you?”

“Then it just proves I still have something worthy of your attention, doesn’t it?”

Tsk tsk, anyone who’s made it this far—high or low rank—hasn’t been a fool.

But this saves time.

Cheng Shi nodded and pointed toward Yorck. “Go test that man.”

“Big Boss, how do you want to test him? Intellectual or physical?”

Cheng Shi widened his eyes, slightly bewildered. “There’s a distinction?”

Bai Ling covered her mouth with a light laugh, her finger tracing circles on Cheng Shi’s chest:

“For the intellectual test, naturally...”

As she spoke, her hand slid down toward her skirt, slowly lifting the hem to her upper thighs...

“Alright, alright, intellectual it is! Save time—go ahead!”

Cheng Shi hastily pulled her skirt down and urged her to hurry.

Bai Ling giggled, her figure swaying gracefully as she walked toward Yorck.

But soon, she returned with a dark expression.

Seeing her face as black as ink, Cheng Shi suppressed a chuckle:

“What? Got rebuffed?”

Bai Ling shot Cheng Shi a furious glance and snapped:

“One bad news, and another bad news—which one do you want first?”

Do you even need to choose?

Cheng Shi chuckled helplessly. “Then tell me the second one.”

“The woman who was competing for customers in the crowd? She’s my colleague.”

“?”

What kind of bad news is that?

Wait—no!

Seeing Bai Ling’s grave expression, Cheng Shi’s heart lurched.

Her “colleague” didn’t mean a sex worker—it meant another follower of the [Defilement]!

These five dwarf lion dancers? They’re followers of the [Defilement]!

“What’s the other bad news?” Cheng Shi’s expression turned serious.

“The man you wanted me to test? His mind has been corrupted—he’s become a ‘Desire Puppet.’”

Cheng Shi frowned in confusion; Bai Ling continued:

“‘Desire Puppet’ is one of His A-rank talents granted to followers—it releases the target’s deepest primal desires, turning them into a mindless corpse obsessed solely with indulging those cravings.

He’ll sink endlessly into memories of past desires, unable to break free, until he dies.

This ability requires continuous casting, which means that if he is the memory's host, the reason he recalls this scene is not due to emotional trigger from the surroundings, but because he is being controlled, and very likely is being controlled right now.

Boss, did you understand?

If he really is the answer, the moment we step out, we’ll face the [Defilement] worshippers who control him—and we’ll very likely fight them.

Cheng Shi’s expression darkened.

“First, call him over. I have a feeling Yorck is the answer.”

Bai Ling naturally believed him, but she still asked:

“Why do you say that? Are you finally dropping the act?”

Cheng Shi suddenly feigned ignorance:

“Act? What act? You hunted for the answer—what’s that got to do with me?”

“?” Bai Ling glared, pointing at her own chest. “Me? Hunted? Come on, Boss—can he even count as a ‘beauty’?”

Cheng Shi waved his hand. “Who knows? Everyone has their own free tastes.”

“...Fine, fine, fine—I hunted!”

Bai Ling laughed in exasperation, using this excuse to call everyone back.

The moment the group regrouped, Fang Shiqing fixed her gaze on Cheng Shi—but he refused to engage, clearly intent on hearing Bai Ling’s “hunting” story.

Bai Ling was angry, but she was honest.

Her cheeks flushed as she shyly recounted the entire “hunting” episode, then admitted she’d stumbled upon the answer—though now, it was complicated.

Everyone’s expressions varied after hearing the story.

Xu Lu looked disgusted; Ming stared in shock.

Cheng Shi silently gave her a mental thumbs-up for the performance.

Only Fang Shiqing frowned deeply, then spoke directly to the core issue:

“How can you be certain it’s him?”

Bai Ling stayed silent. Cheng Shi chuckled. “Maybe it’s a woman’s sixth sense?”

Bai Ling rolled her eyes again but said nothing. Fang Shiqing, seeing Cheng Shi speak, nodded—accepting Yorck as the answer.

She trusted not Bai Ling, but Cheng Shi.

“I still have one page from a [War] worshipper’s ‘Mist Illusion’—it can instantly deploy a domain, blanketing the next scene’s spawn point in mist to obstruct the caster’s vision.

But since I lack sufficient defensive illusions, the priest must enter second, right after me, to provide swift healing support.

The assassin enters third—but remember, if you’re unsure whether the target is the memory’s true form, don’t kill. Subdue instead.

If your life is threatened, prioritize retreat over killing!

Beware any skill that creates loud noise—don’t trigger memory chaos at the start!”

After speaking, Fang Shiqing looked meaningfully at Cheng Shi:

“Can you do it?”

Cheng Shi blinked innocently, as if to say: How could a man not?

Fang Shiqing understood his gaze and smiled knowingly, then turned to Ming.

Ming nodded solemnly, signaling he understood.

She sought the others’ opinions. Xu Lu complained bitterly about being left behind, but Bai Ling naturally had no objections.

The plan was set. Everyone moved toward Yorck.

Just as the orc girl was about to reach Yorck’s row, the players slipped silently to his side.

Yorck sensed nothing. His eyes held only the “dwarf-assembled orc girl”—no one else existed.

In his hand, he clutched a wad of cash, desperate to shove it into the orc girl’s ample chest the next second.

Cheng Shi still had doubts. He whispered to Bai Ling:

“Can His worshippers alter a person’s sexual orientation?”

Bai Ling thought carefully, then replied uncertainly:

“He promotes releasing one’s deepest desires—not twisting others’ wills. So what you call ‘pollution’ by my lord is merely revealing a person’s true nature.

Still, with the right talents and subtle guidance, such an effect might be achieved.

After all, you can hypnotize too, can’t you?”

Cheng Shi deeply agreed. Otherwise, he couldn’t explain how Yorck’s tastes could be so utterly free.

As the group neared Yorck, Fang Shiqing pulled a gray-black page from her book. She turned to Cheng Shi and gave a silent signal to begin.

Cheng Shi instantly cast Calm and Hypnosis on Yorck, then hurled a Rapid Recovery spell at the nearby spectator mid-transaction, hoping to delay him a few extra seconds.

Fang Shiqing seized the moment and spoke:

“Don’t be afraid. Listen to me—you’re just recalling. All this is your memory. But you’re too tired now. You don’t want to remember anymore. Remember: memory is memory, not reality. Now, we’re returning to reality. Okay?”

Yorck’s eyes grew hazy and vacant. He nodded repeatedly, murmuring:

“Recalling... all of this... is memory...”

As the last syllable faded, his entire form collapsed into countless specks of light, swiftly coalescing into a new Memory Gate.

“It really was him!”

“Miss Bai Ling is amazing!”

“......”

“Ready? I, Cheng Shi, Assassin, will finish this quickly.”

Fang Shiqing did not hesitate and swiftly dashed inside.

To ensure his thigh didn’t run into trouble, Cheng Shi followed right behind her, stepping through the door almost heel-to-toe.

He felt his vision go black; when he opened his eyes again, thick gray smoke filled the air, so dense he could not see his hand before his face, and frantic screams echoed in his ears.

Damn, is it this thick? How the hell am I supposed to know where my thigh is?

Cheng Shi frowned, about to whisper Fang Shiqing’s name, when a cold hand clamped over his mouth and dragged him down, sprinting toward the distance.

“Thigh?”

“Shh!”