Chapter 994

Don’t panic, I’m your sister.

Satisfied? Yes, but a bit too satisfied.

When you start revealing your true feelings in front of a group of con artists, they won’t bother checking if your feelings are genuine—because they know they’re not. All they care about is how much falsehood is mixed into this so-called truth.

Is it reasonable that Long Jing, such a competitive con artist, suddenly started honestly sharing information after failing right in front of me?

Even ghosts wouldn’t believe it.

Zhen Xin naturally didn’t believe it, but that didn’t stop her from extracting key bits of information from his words to guide her future historical school work.

Li Jingming didn’t believe it either. Ever since he fused the [Deception], he discovered a universal truth: no con artist ever tells the truth.

Even if someone is utterly trustworthy, as long as they’re a con artist, at least nine out of ten things they say must be lies.

So there’s no such thing as a statement without falsehood—only varying degrees of deception.

He silently noted the information about [Clock Hand] and looked at Long Jing with a hint of admiration; clearly, this acrobat’s con artistry had indeed improved through practice.

Just as the four people present began exchanging information, someone else arrived.

The newcomer wore the same black robe and masked face—a familiar outfit, a strange unspoken understanding.

But when he stepped closer and realized none of those present were hiding their identities... he froze.

And at that moment, Zhen Xin suddenly grinned in a peculiar way.

“Hee~

Another one.”

“......”

“......”

“......”

Even though they all already knew the person before them was Zhen Xin, even though she’d already spoken with them at length, the three present still felt a jolt at that “hee”—let alone the newcomer.

He abruptly halted his steps, stepped back two paces, and even slipped a scalpel out of his sleeve in advance.

Seeing his extreme reaction, Zhen Xin tilted her eyes thoughtfully and smiled:

“Interesting. But Cheng Shi, you’re late.

And don’t panic—I’m your sister.”

“???

Who says they’re their own sister?

And who else but Zhen Xin could imitate Zhen Yi so perfectly...?

But if she’s Cheng Shi, then who the hell is sitting on the [Death] tombstone?!

The black-robed man took a deep breath, yanked off his hood—and when everyone saw those familiar squinting eyes, they all froze, then turned simultaneously to look at Zhang Jizu on the [Death] tombstone.

Zhang Jizu’s face suddenly curled into a sly smile. He chuckled twice, shed his disguise, and revealed a familiar, radiant grin as he greeted them:

“Welcome to the Jester’s Gathering.

Miss Magician, I already told you I was hiding somewhere watching your little show—so it’s not me who’s late, it’s Squinty Zhang.

As punishment for being late, why don’t you, Squinty Zhang, start things off? How about that?”

“......”

Zhen Xin’s smile vanished, Long Wang’s eyelid twitched, Long Jing beamed with delight!

His own failure was frustrating, but the failure of his opponent soothed the soul.

Zhang Jizu’s eyes were nearly shut slits. He nodded to the others, then quietly walked to the [Death] tombstone, pulled down Cheng Shi, who was muttering “Ai ai ai,” and sat down himself.

Seeing his spot taken, Cheng Shi’s face fell.

“Couldn’t you have picked another one?”

“Trying to offset your desecration of the gods with an offering to the Master?

Hmph, Cheng Shi, don’t forget—I’m the Master’s true believer.”

Zhang Jizu kicked Cheng Shi away with a scowl. Cheng Shi shrugged dismissively:

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, now you remember you’re the Master’s believer? I still admire how you questioned me in the graveyard about why He never protected you.”

“......”

Some people are just like their master—you can never outargue them.

Squinty Zhang, tired of the bickering, simply closed his eyes. But this brief exchange reminded Long Wang of another amusing anecdote. Yet Cheng Shi hadn’t forgotten the one [Memory] believer still present—he pointed directly at Li Jingming without hesitation:

“That’s the first share. Long Wang, you owe me one now. Don’t forget to make it up later.”

“?”

Cheng Shi’s bizarre logic and his Mingpian -level greed made everyone laugh. The previously tense atmosphere instantly eased.

Zhen Xin shook her head, smiling at Cheng Shi: “No wonder He chose you as His mouthpiece—you truly have the talent.”

Cheng Shi feigned ignorance: “Who?”

“Forget it, Weaver. We all know who I mean.

And isn’t your timing too scattered? Only this few people showed up after so long...

Tell me, you’re not going to say everyone’s here already, are you?”

“Impossible,” Cheng Shi immediately denied Zhen Xin’s suspicion. “You’re underestimating our Jesters.”

Come on, there’s still one more.

Sure, it’s just one slot—but in today’s gathering, that’s a 20% increase, two digits, quite a lot, isn’t it?

But Cheng Shi couldn’t just say “only one left,” so he glanced around and retorted sarcastically:

“They’ll show up soon enough. Why aren’t you sitting down?

Decision paralysis? Or do you just hate sitting?

That’s not the Zhen Xin I know—where’s the decisive streak you used to have when facing choices?”

“......”

Zhen Xin gave Cheng Shi a strange look, then glanced at the surrounding tombstones, and said with deep meaning:

“Sitting is easy. Sitting in the right place? That’s hard.

Cheng Shi, where’s the [Jester God]’s tombstone? As His believer, wouldn’t it be nice to sweep His grave?”

Sweep a grave?

You don’t want to sweep His grave—you want to sit on it. Everyone knows the Jester God doesn’t care about such things. If I let you sit on His tombstone, it wouldn’t be desecration—it’d be an offering.

Everyone here is desecrating the gods, yet you’re the only one preaching piety—is that appropriate?

Of course it’s not. So Cheng Shi had already hidden the [Deception] tombstone. As for where...

Facing everyone’s puzzled stares, Cheng Shi feigned indifference and looked up casually.

Everyone immediately followed his gaze—and saw the stone lantern illuminating the center... apparently hollowed out from a tombstone.

“......”

“......”

“You hollowed out the Jester God’s tombstone to make a lantern?” Zhen Xin was stunned. She blinked for a long moment, then burst into laughter and clapped her hands. “Clap, clap, clap—brilliant symbolism: using light to dispel darkness as a metaphor for the Jester God’s protection. Cheng Shi, I underestimated your piety.”

Of course!

If not for restraint, Cheng Shi would’ve already put his hands on his hips.

But Zhen Xin immediately doused him with cold water.

“Still, I suspect dismantling the Jester God’s tombstone borders on desecrating a corpse. Your piety clearly contains plenty of impurities. Hmm, I’ll mention your case favorably next time I meet Him.”

“?”

I hope you’re saying real good things.

Zhen Xin waved her hand with a smile, turned, and sat down on the [Chaos] tombstone—her movement swift and graceful, making everyone’s gaze sharpen.

Long Jing, confused, teased: “So you think [Chaos] is too chaotic to punish you for desecration?”

Zhen Xin sat cross-legged, smiling elegantly:

“Not at all. I simply think your words are sharp and piercing—utterly devoid of chaos. Doesn’t that mean [Chaos] is moving away from us?”

Don’t you agree, Weaver?”

Cheng Shi gave a hollow smile, ignored her hidden meaning, and silently counted the time—wondering if the Doctor would show up today.

Dragon Boat Festival—wishing everyone a peaceful and healthy festival~