Chapter 846: Cheating

"Cheating"

But for Cheng Wenjian, even if the answer lay right before his eyes, he could not possibly copy it openly, because he knew that even if the answers were the same, the handwriting would differ; in this world full of variables, nothing remains unchanged.

So, to be safe, he did not bet everything on the talent of "Fishing in Muddy Waters"; instead, to better utilize this talent, he crafted an extremely steady double-insurance plan.

And the content of this plan was... to fool the scavengers present, making them carry smoke props on their bodies before charging into the mist.

When enough smoke filled the mist, even if the mist could not be integrated by the talent, this sky-filling smoke should allow the Clown to "smuggle" himself to the opposite shore a step ahead.

Cheng Shi was very satisfied with his plan; the scavengers were also very easy to fool. After Cheng Shi proved he could resurrect them, this group of scavengers who had only gathered together for a short while became brothers in life and death, swearing to replace the Sandres, long since divided and poisoned by the four great powers, with a new sky!

Then...

They failed.

Although the assault plan was commendable in causing a bit of shock to the Southern Outpost, almost everyone died near the Land of Piety, failing completely to cover the entire Land of Piety with smoke.

But even if it had been covered, it would have been useless, because Cheng Shi, who was also close to the mist, discovered that as long as one was within this mist range, his "Fishing in Muddy Waters" talent was simply ineffective.

He could not cheat his way to a perfect score.

Indeed, the mist was not a cheating channel; rather, it seemed like a special measure specifically to guard against the Clown.

For a moment, Cheng Shi stood awkwardly frozen outside the barbed wire, at a loss.

And at this moment, his eyes told him that the teammates behind seemed to be getting closer and closer.

Correct, it was his eyes.

Speaking of which, this matter must thank Big Cat; Big Cat's generosity gave Cheng Shi much more room for maneuver.

When Cheng Shi entered the Southern Outpost a step ahead, he had already planted an eye on the way he came.

Tree Spirit Prayer Contract!

This item, which allows the user to contract a plant as a Tree Spirit and share part of its vision, was used by Cheng Shi on a mutated plant hanging upside down on an ice prism; and when this eye saw the other three "Cheng Shis" approaching, Cheng Shi knew the time left for himself was running out.

This trial suddenly seemed to turn into a "Cheng Shi Civil War" situation.

Cheng Shi laughed in anger.

Fine, fine, fine, since you all like to stir up trouble so much, then let me make the trouble even bigger.

So Cheng Shi began to act; he first surveyed the inside and outside of the outpost, finding among the many scavengers inside one whose eyes wandered and whose movements were furtive, looking exactly like someone carrying a secret, and this person was Prot.

Cheng Shi hospitably treated this poor scavenger and tortured the secret about Viers out of the other's mouth.

But by this time, there was not enough time for him to explore the underground Viers War Machine Plan himself, so he used the Chaos Role-Playing Method to become Prot, secretly killed Viers, then hid within the Southern Outpost, waiting for the players to arrive in the identity of an NPC.

What happened next was easy to understand: the fake Cheng Shi began to question Prot's identity, and when he forced "Prot" to say the words "I am Seeing Zhen Xin"...

Brother Mouth exerted his power.

The Lips of Envoy Envoy Yu Xi had never paid attention to Cheng Shi along the way, until that moment, when Cheng Shi, to keep the play going, made a deal with Brother Mouth.

He promised that if Brother Mouth truly disliked the Ear of Peeping Secrets, he could withdraw from the trial right then and there, handing the Ear of Peeping Secrets over to the three fake Cheng Shis before him.

But if Brother Mouth did not have such thoughts, then after obtaining the Ear of Peeping Secrets, Cheng Shi would follow Brother Mouth's every arrangement to properly handle the ear, including but not limited to acknowledging the Lips of Envoy Envoy Yu Xi's status as the "Supreme and Unrivaled" big brother.

Who knows whether this flattery hit Brother Mouth's heart, or whether Brother Mouth ultimately wanted a reunion belonging to them; in any case, the Lips of Envoy Envoy Yu Xi accepted this deal and spoke those four words on behalf of Cheng Shi: "I am Seeing Zhen Xin."

Thus, Cheng Shi managed to slip through right under the noses of the two Chosen Ones, following the three of them into the underground tunnels.

And then, when Old Zhang the Squinted distracted Watching Ai Si due to the 【Truth】 faith issue, Cheng Shi was not knocked unconscious by a little priest; he pretended to be unconscious, lying on the ground without paying any price, and heard the causality of the entire No-Faith Experiment clearly and distinctly.

Do not forget, he had once seen through a blind man pretending to be unconscious, which showed he was someone extremely skilled at pretending to be unconscious; and regardless of whether he deceived Zhang Zhang Jizu or not, he at least deceived the "Cheng Shi" present.

And when he was dragged away by Old Zhang the Squinted from the underground passage back to the surface, and when that trio discovered that the smoke was nothing but a deception, the most wonderful and tacitly understood scene appeared.

Zhang Zhang Jizu finally confirmed that the Prot before him was Cheng Shi, and then decisively stabbed him to death; however, during the stabbing, Old Zhang the Squinted not only kept Cheng Shi alive but also, taking the opportunity, stuffed the item Cheng Shi needed, a page of 【Silence】, into Cheng Shi's chest.

This was only because the Prot played by Cheng Shi said helplessly in front of everyone: "I will not say anything."

Saying nothing is Silence.

Old Zhang the Squinted understood the hint and completed the coordination.

Afterwards, this 【Death】 Chosen One took over the rhythm of the game, becoming the new "director"; he led the three back to the outpost, leaving enough time for Cheng Shi to enter the Land of Piety a step ahead to explore; afterwards, his various suspicions of others were merely to delay time for the real Cheng Shi as much as possible.

As for why Old Zhang the Squinted could recognize Cheng Shi's identity...

It was very simple, because Cheng Shi left plenty of hints.

The gaze returned once more to that player corpse abandoned at the start.

First, this was a priest's corpse; a priest seemingly pointed to Cheng Shi's profession.

Second, this was a dead 【Order】 believer; and by sheer coincidence, the only time Cheng Shi went to Old Zhang the Squinted's grave, the two of them were standing before 【Order】... never mind whether it was the 【Order】 Chosen One or the 【Order】 God Himself, they were standing before the 【Order】 grave.

Third, the cause of the player's death was 【Annihilation】, and the only one present who could be related to 【Annihilation】 was the rival of 【Annihilation】, the 【Death】 Chosen One Zhang Zhang Jizu.

Fourth... the corpse's internal organs had been annihilated, becoming a hollow shell inside; if Old Zhang the Squinted had not yet fused 【Deception】, he would not have made too many associations, but viewing this corpse from the perspective of 【Deception】, existence on the surface but void within, did this not represent illusion and falsehood?

So, upon seeing this corpse, the sharp Zhang Zhang Jizu had already formed a guess about the one who had disappeared; however, there were simply too many Cheng Shis present, making him dare not be certain of his deduction.

Such hints placed in other normal trials would not even give Zhang Zhang Jizu other thoughts; he would directly treat Cheng Shi as the hidden seventh person.

But precisely because the "Cheng Shi situation" in this trial was too complex, he kept verifying for a long time before finally confirming that the person who ran away was not some sister with the surname Zhen, but Cheng Shi himself!

And Cheng Shi's request to Big Cat for this corpse was also originally to leave clues for Old Zhang the Squinted; he was unsure if he could get paired with Old Zhang, but the strategy was the same regardless: if paired, a huge profit; if not paired, no loss.

Before the trial, among the people he could trust, to be honest, only Old Zhang and Big Cat remained; asking Big Cat to understand these hints was simply wishful thinking, so these hints were originally prepared for Old Zhang the Squinted.

And Old Zhang the Squinted did not disappoint Cheng Shi's expectations; in the most critical head-start phase before entering the Land of Piety, this sharp Clown used a most decisive stab to secure a time window for Cheng Shi to lead everyone.

With this, the Steady Faction took the first move.