Chapter 285: Trial Passed, New Choice

Trial Passed, New Choice

The players were rushing back, and Erpuska was chasing, but under various interferences, even if its figure was agile, it was affected quite a bit.

Hong Lin finally didn't abandon the others. After throwing Cheng Shi not far from the fog door, she turned back and used her tail to string up the lagging teammates and brought them back.

Then a group of people rushed into the fog door amidst Erpuska's unwilling roars and the transition between day and night as the Dark Sun gradually hid, returning to the Fungus-Foot tribe.

Just after landing, the entire tribe erupted in heaven-shaking cheers.

Cheng Shi could clearly see that the moment they came out, the Fungus-Foot people still had sad expressions, seemingly thinking that the God-Messenger they had waited so hard for had died outside. But the moment the five people jumped out of the fog door, everyone surged over like crazy.

The old patriarch looked at Cheng Shi respectfully, his pious and uneasy gaze clearly waiting for a result.

Cheng Shi's eyes swept over all the Fungus-Foot people, and he smiled slightly:

"Congratulations, the second trial, passed."

"Oh—praise 【Prosperity】! Praise the God-Messenger! Praise Lord Baldy!"

The mountain-shaking and sea-roaring praise echoed through the sky. Cheng Shi smiled and nudged Hong Lin with his arm, whispering:

"Look, this is the reward for your hard work today. How do you feel, Lord Baldy?"

Hong Lin looked at these Fungus-Foot people who were cheering and filled with hope and hot tears, and squeezed out a strange smile on her face.

Clearly, she wasn't infected by the joy of the scene.

Hong Lin's thoughts were very complex. She was thinking that if Erpuska was really hunting 【Prosperity】, then where the future of these Fungus-Foot people would go was hard to say.

Perhaps she was currently being cheered by a group of dying people, and the ones who might kill them were herself and the teammates beside her.

Others also thought of this problem, so their gaze toward the Fungus-Foot people was a bit complex.

Although this was just a background history, undoubtedly, the ending of history had already written the tragedy of these Fungus-Foot people.

Cheng Shi understood in his heart, said "today's trip was quite exhausting" to the old patriarch and the Fungus-Foot people, dismissed all the Fungus-Foot people, and took the few players back into the room.

When the Puppet Master shielded the sound of the main room again, Hong Lin looked at Cheng Shi and asked the question she had been puzzled about:

"Who is the dying spark?"

Cheng Shi looked at Hong Lin, looked at the Puppet Master, and then looked at the hunter and Shiguan, and suddenly laughed.

"Don't be so serious. This depends on how you want to win?"

"What do you mean?" Hong Lin was slightly stunned when she heard this.

"Before this, let me confirm one thing with you: these Fungus-Foot people really have 【Prosperity】 power, right?"

"Yes." Hong Lin didn't quite understand Cheng Shi's meaning, but she said truthfully, "I can feel the 【Prosperity】 aura in their bodies. Although this power is very weak—so weak that they don't look like His believers—considering this is the Sighing Forest, it can be understood."

Cheng Shi nodded.

"Good. Since these Fungus-Foot people are indeed His believers, then understanding their lives, or rather their inner hope, as the dying spark is on-topic."

Hong Lin pondered for a moment and guessed: "You mean... quality and quantity, pick one of two, but both are right?"

"Right, and not right." Cheng Shi paced and analyzed, "His guidance was too vague. Just from Erpuska's performance, He seems to really have the intention of letting these sinners awaken Dizer. But in today's battle, I suddenly thought of a strange point, which is:

Where did 【Decay】 go?

The Sighing Forest is a place watched by Him. Under His nose, the sinners from the surface are not only protected by 【Prosperity】 but are also using this as food to try to awaken 【Prosperity】's son. All of this should be an unforgivable act of blasphemy against 【Gods】 for 【Decay】. Why can He tolerate it?

You must know, not all gods are like... uh... like... so patient.

So what is He doing?

He let all this develop, so there must be a reasonable reason. I can't think of the reason why He did this, but I can guess an ending for this unreasonable act.

You might as well guess, what is that ending?"

Hong Lin frowned and blurted out: "The spark is dying!"

Cheng Shi gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes! It is the spark dying!

Under the gaze of 【Decay】, Erpuska will probably never be awakened by 【Prosperity】, and that means the Fungus-Foot people will likely be trapped here for generations to serve as His food. For 【Prosperity】, this is a lose-lose situation.

He probably won't get anything, because the spark will definitely die!

So, that's why I said picking one of two, either side could be right. Perhaps we only need to win one side to be enough to light the prairie fire that passes the trial.

But in the end, one side has to suffer a bit of grievance—either Erpuska or the Fungus-Foot tribe.

Currently, it seems that helping Erpuska kill the Fungus-Foot tribe is the simplest method. At least the Fungus-Foot people... can be killed."

After saying this, Cheng Shi immediately swept his gaze toward the other teammates. He was capturing the reactions of these people.

Hong Lin frowned; clearly, she was disdainful of slaughtering the weak.

The hunter remained cold, but a flash of brightness passed through his eyes, which showed that if he could get points, he wouldn't reject this move.

The Puppet Master was hiding behind the puppet and couldn't see her expression. It was Zuo Qiu who, when Cheng Shi looked at him, happened to meet his gaze, and then saw this historian clapping his hands and praising:

"Brilliant! Too brilliant! I apologize for my one-sided remarks today.

As expected of an expert who has pitted Zhen Yi, I thought you were slacking off, but it turns out you had already thought through the whole situation. Amazing, amazing. I admire you."

Originally, being praised was a good thing, but being complimented by this Shiguan with "Zhen Yi" and "slacking off" every other sentence sounded a bit like sarcasm.

But this wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that he used this exaggerated praise to cover up his attitude toward the "pick one of two" matter. Seeing this way of shifting attention that was as skilled as his own, Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow unexpectedly.

He wouldn't really be a liar, would he?

A liar impersonating 【Memory】?

This impersonation was a bit too similar. It couldn't be... lies like yesterday?

Cheng Shi's heart sank, but on the surface, he replied very politely:

"Likewise, Brother Shiguan also picked up a good hand of shit. When will you share your harvest from last night with us?"

Zuo Qiu's face turned awkward, and he laughed dryly:

"Shameful, actually I didn't find any new historical materials last night, just interested in the ecology of the Fungus-Foot tribe living in this Sighing Forest, so I studied it for a while. It's all wild history and fur, not worth telling."

"Wild history is also history. History has its serious side, so naturally, it has its humorous side. Everyone is so tired today; telling it to us to make us happy is also good."

Zuo Qiu touched his head, his face becoming more and more embarrassed.

"Sigh, to tell you the truth, I really didn't find anything. Going out in the middle of the night was because of some of my personal little hobbies. I like to observe other people's lives in the middle of the night... cough cough... to add some seasoning to my boring history path, so let me go. I really have nothing to say."

After these words, which sounded like self-deprecating begging for mercy, were finished, the faces of everyone in the room changed slightly.

The hunter had the smallest reaction, but the shock in his heart was the greatest. He was thinking about whether the historian had discovered his identity and was feeding lines to Cheng Shi.

Hong Lin's expression didn't change, and a smile even hung on the corner of her mouth, but her peripheral vision clearly glanced at Jiang Wu Mei beside her.

The Puppet Master was always in that hidden posture, making people unable to fathom her. Cheng Shi, on the other hand, blinked somewhat shocked, seemingly not expecting the historian to have such a twisted hobby.

He looked at Zuo Qiu with disdain:

"You went to peep at other people's pillow talk?

Not brother, this is a bit too wild.

I heard that the Fungus-Foot people's night activities are all completed by the entanglement of two fungal roots. You stayed out all night just for this?

Addicted to watching? Or are you saying the Fungus-Foot people in the Sighing Forest are different from other places and have some new tricks?"

As soon as these words came out, the whole room was shocked.

【Silence】 descended again, and the Puppet Master, who had not reacted, finally let the mature puppet kneel down, revealing a pair of big, blinking eyes thirsty for knowledge.

Zuo Qiu's expression became even stiffer. He didn't know whether Cheng Shi was deliberately changing the subject or hadn't seen through the Dream-Peeking Ranger's identity at all. In short, after this sentence, no one could pick up the conversation.

"No, Brother Shiguan, continue, I'm curious."

"..." ===== CHAPTER 286 =====