Chapter 646: Past or present?

Past or present?

"Are you Adric?"

"... Yes, I advise you not to act rashly. If you dare to make a move on us, Arad and Xilolin will not let you off..."

"Clang—"

Before Adric finished speaking, Cheng Shi's scalpel passed through his slightly damp crotch and shot into the floor under the table. The clanging sound gave him a big fright, and this sensible miner immediately chose to shut up.

Cheng Shi sneered, thinking to himself that this person's cleverness was much worse than his mining friend's.

"When you were sleeping with Arad's sister and stealing Xilolin's money, did you ever think that one day you would use their reputation to seek protection?"

Cheng Shi was just joking casually, but he didn't expect that this miner, who was trembling with fear, would actually "righteously" say "hmm".

This "hmm" made Cheng Shi unable to "hmm" back.

No, you really thought about it?

What's the situation? Is the volcanic ash of 【Abyssal Volcano】 poisonous or what? How come the brains of people here are all a bit abnormal?

Cheng Shi opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He spat out a breath of turbid air before connecting his train of thought, shaking his head and laughing:

"Last chance. Answer what I ask. If you answer randomly again, I will send you down to see... the blind man."

"???" Adric was dumbfounded, both afraid and confused. He didn't understand what "going down to see the blind man" meant, but he knew he couldn't ask anymore. Asking again meant death.

Cheng Shi didn't continue to waste time either. He went straight to the point:

"When did you and Aromani become husband and wife?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's ears pricked up. This was clearly a question to determine which "discrepancy" the other was, so the other's answer was very critical.

Adric was still in a daze. He couldn't figure out why he saw four men surrounding him and Aromani as soon as he woke up from his hangover, questioning their marital status like a trial.

Is love a crime?

He was scared to death, but he didn't dare not say.

"I... just proposed, we haven't truly become husband and wife yet."

"?" Cheng Shi's expression changed, almost turning red. He thought the 【Memory】 means of that adult had failed. "Then why do you call her wife?"

"A fiancée is also a wife. She agreed to my proposal, but I haven't had time to steal... no, I don't have money to marry her yet."

Good, good, good, stealing money to marry her, right? Stealing money from her boss to support her, right? Stealing money from your boss's sister to get married, right!

Life, this broken game, is really played through by you!

Cheng Shi laughed in anger. He pointed at the other unpleasantly and told him to explain the events of that night without missing a single detail. Adric didn't dare to refuse and said aggrievedly while shrinking to the side of the table.

The story in the miner's mouth was completely different from the transaction in the girl's mouth. He said that he was poor and had low spirits, and many shack girls didn't look up to him. Only Aromani didn't dislike him and was willing to receive him even if he stole money, so he fell in love with this "kind-hearted" girl and confessed to the other on a bright night.

He said Aromani agreed to his proposal and planned their future life with him for a night, but they were clearly talking well, yet when it was almost dawn, the other wanted to go back to the shack to work again. This sudden indifference completely angered him, so he made a move.

Hearing this, everyone frowned. This matter was very likely a clue to the trial, but now it sounded like there was a problem, which was that Adric might not be confused, but he was very likely cheated by the "professional" Aromani.

But the problem was that this shack girl also said she was cheated, so who was cheated?

Just when a few people were frowning and thinking, the keen Qin Xin heard the clues. He pondered slightly, stepped forward to wake up the unconscious Aromani, and confirmed one thing with the other.

"You said, he described your 'future' to you?" Qin Xin pointed to Adric.

Aromani woke up in a daze. Seeing Adric suddenly alive again, she was startled. She suddenly screamed and retreated backward, but forgot that she was already at the edge of the table and had nowhere to retreat.

So with a "clatter", the shack girl screamed and fell off the table, directly sitting on the ground.

She curled up her body and leaned toward Qin Xin, who was closest to her. Qin Xin didn't dodge either, just supported the other's body with his thin sword and comforted her with a smile: "Don't panic, he didn't die. He just fainted like you just now."

Aromani seemed to have found a straw to save her life. Listening to these "gentle" words, she opened her hands and hugged Qin Xin's thick-armored thigh, hiding behind the armor and poking her head out, nodding constantly:

"I'll say, I'll say everything. It's him, it's him. He told me many things I like and imagine. He must have investigated me; he had ulterior motives!"

"The rest I really don't know. Let me go, otherwise Xilolin will really cause you trouble."

Hearing this, Adric, who had just wanted to help Aromani up, was stunned. He looked at his "fiancée" behind Qin Xin's leg in disbelief, shocked:

"Aromani, why do you want to lie?"

"Clearly it was you who said what you liked, it was you who made a detailed plan for our home, gave me a goal to strive for, why change your words to say it was you who said it?"

"Are you afraid of them!?"

"Yes, I'm also afraid, but no matter how afraid I am, I won't desecrate our love!"

"This is love, how can you...!!!"

Before he finished speaking, Wang Mou, who had been frowning and thinking about something, suddenly interrupted Adric and said:

"Fantasy cannot be proven; practice is the only way to truth. If only one person can walk out of this room alive today, do you choose yourself, or do you give this opportunity to your fiancée?"

Adric felt a shiver all over upon hearing this question. He retreated a step, holding the table. His expression struggled for no more than a second before a trace of determination flashed in his eyes, and he said powerlessly with a pale face: "Myself! I choose myself! Let me go, let me go!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

A room full of people turned their heads one after another to look at this miner who had just been swearing to protect love. Their expressions were one more wonderful than the next.

Aromani under Qin Xin's feet seemed to have long expected the other's reaction. She not only didn't mind but even praised the other: "Following inner desire is the best offering to Him. Adric, you are not suitable for the Hand of Agency. I suggest you join us, join the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire!"

No, you "husband and wife"...

Good! Good! Still pulling in new people right in front of us!

Is it outrageous or not!?

Cheng Shi was numb, his brain smoking.

Where is this Gate of Downward Fall? Is this really not the "House of Statements"?

Big brother, big sister, if either of your brain circuits could be normal, my scalp wouldn't be tingling from electric shocks today!

The scene was silent for a long time, until a smell of urine broke the silence of the room, and everyone came back to their senses with their own wonderful expressions.

Adric peed. I don't know if it was from fear or the accumulation of last night's drunkenness that he couldn't hold back.

Cheng Shi and Qin Xin exchanged a glance, nodding speechlessly and affirmatively.

Confirmed. There must be a "discrepancy" of 【Time】 between Adric and Aromani, because the Deception Master told them that neither of them lied.

And this meant that in that night "confession" that only the two of them knew and outsiders could only watch the fun, someone was replaced.

Because no outsider knew the content of their communication, it was impossible to determine who had the problem for a while.

However, this matter was not difficult. Since someone was a "discrepancy", this "discrepancy" must be different from the person who should exist in the current space-time, so the next step should be to follow their memories to investigate their past, so as to determine whether this "discrepancy" belonged to the present or the past.

The trial of 【Time】 often gives some clues about time, but it is rare to give three time nodes directly like this trial.

According to the players' past experience, in a game of 【Time】, abnormalities related to the past are the easiest to determine. As long as one is willing to put in the effort to explore and screen extensively, whether it is a person or an object, one will always find a clue.

Abnormalities in the present are tricky, because before finding the abnormality, players must confirm which accurate time period the "present" time point corresponds to.

As for the most difficult future, that perhaps requires everything to be sorted out before one can determine what is the future, and why it is the future.

But in any case, the first exploration at the beginning of the trial had results, which still made the four players present very invigorated. Following the existing clues to explore, I believe there will soon be deeper results.

The few looked at each other, knowing what to do, and decided to split up again.

But before the next step, the investigator Li Wufang suddenly asked again: "God-Chosen An still hasn't been seen. Has she... left this trial?"

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Why, do you care so much whether she is present?"

Li Wufang nodded: "Although I don't believe in fate, with the guidance of 【Fate】, perhaps it can make this trial a bit simpler, at least for you."

Don't believe in fate? If you don't believe in fate, who asked for a guidance from the blind man at the start of the trial?

Cheng Shi smiled, only feeling that this investigator was also willing to say anything for the sake of face.

"I am also a believer of 【Fate】. Maybe I can also feel His guidance?"

Li Wufang was speechless: "But Brother Cheng, you are a Fate Weaver, not a prophet."

I can be... it's just not now.

Cheng Shi shook his head and smiled, replying:

"This trial is already simple enough."

"Not even half a day, we found a good clue, and it looks like this clue has the possibility of deep digging. Isn't this also a kind of guidance of 【Fate】?"

"You have to know, His guidance is never a cheap signpost, but a destiny in the dark."

"When you are obsessed with pursuing Him, you don't know that you have already deviated from the trajectory of 【Fate】."

"So don't be so persistent, relax, He is watching you."

All the players present fell into deep thought because of Cheng Shi's words. The 【Truth】 believer Wang Mou even thought thoughtfully: "No wonder they always say that on the road to pursuing truth, one cannot only look at strength; luck, it seems, is equally important. I have been taught."

Cheng Shi smiled slightly, elegant like a god-stick: "My honor."

And just as the Fate Weaver was loudly promoting His will, a familiar cold voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Your understanding of Him is still so profound, Cheng Shi."