The mist still hadn't dissipated, making it impossible to see one's hand in front of their face.
Cheng Shi had just taken a couple of steps while holding the person when he heard A Ming's anxious shout from ahead:
"Sister Fang, Cheng Ge, where are you?"
Cheng Shi pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a while, discovering that the noisy human voices around seemed to have disappeared.
He looked in the direction A Ming's voice came from with some surprise, feeling that this Little Assassin's methods were truly efficient.
In just this short amount of time, everyone was killed.
Fortunately, these few poor souls who had died and were previously unseen were not the memory Main unit.
"Over here."
Cheng Shi shouted, then crouched low and quietly left his original spot.
A Ming followed the sound and felt his way over.
Seeing no one, a warning bell rang loudly in his heart.
Just as he was about to leave, Cheng Shi grabbed his arm.
"Who!? Huh? Cheng Ge?"
"Yeah, I was afraid you'd been replaced, so I specifically tested it out.
Didn't expect it, Comrade Assassin, your movements are quite agile."
A Ming rubbed his head awkwardly, looked at the unconscious Fang Shiqing, and asked:
"What happened to Sister Fang?"
"It's nothing, a minor issue.
I saved her.
Where are they?"
"Probably behind us.
As soon as I woke up, I found several berserk Dwarves.
They attacked with killing intent right away.
I couldn't react in time and had no space to retreat, so I could only... fight back desperately."
Fortunately, they weren't durable, just had some corruption divine power on them."
The people died, but the memory didn't shatter.
The Players were lucky; these few Dwarves were not the memory Main unit.
Cheng Shi glanced at A Ming thoughtfully.
"Not injured?"
"By chance, no."
"Okay, that's good.
Let's wait for the mist to clear.
The War mist won't last much longer."
"Oh, okay.
Do you need my help?"
A Ming reached out, wanting to help Cheng Shi support Fang Shiqing.
Cheng Shi smiled and refused him.
The two sat in a corner, chatting idly.
"How many opponents?"
"Six."
"You dealt with six people in such a short time?
Impressive."
Cheng Shi didn't spare his praise, leaving A Ming momentarily stunned.
"After all... I'm also an Assassin.
The misty environment is advantageous to me."
"Hmm, since you can be this fast, why did you arrive so late when we went to the second act's circus?"
Cheng Shi, holding the unconscious Fang Shiqing, asked seemingly casually.
This question stumped A Ming.
A Ming's expression suddenly froze.
Before he could speak, Cheng Shi casually added another sentence:
"Why hasn't this Uncle Huang arrived yet?"
A Ming's face grew even worse.
He stammered in reply:
"He's not the only one missing.
Isn't it good that he didn't come?"
"You're also afraid he'll cause trouble?"
"Yeah."
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"You also know he's the Discordant Lute Player?
Oh~ I get it now.
So you're the Executioner."
The Discordant Lute Player, the Singer of Chaos.
The Executioner, the Assassin of Order.
Order and Chaos are mortal enemies with opposing Faith.
A Ming's movements paused for an instant.
His gaze quickly swept over Cheng Shi, sharp and agitated, but it only lasted for a moment before returning to his awkward, stammering demeanor, rubbing his head, unsure what to say.
The mist was still present, so Cheng Shi didn't catch his facial expression, but he already knew in his heart.
"Alright, so you're opposites, what's the big deal?
An ancient person once said that Faith opposition isn't caused by us, so there's no need for too much burden."
Cheng Shi smiled indifferently.
As he spoke, his hand reached towards Fang Shiqing in his arms.
A Ming's perception in the mist was clearly stronger than Cheng Shi's.
He clearly saw Cheng Shi's hand reach into Fang Shiqing's embrace, but he only frowned slightly and didn't say a word.
Not long after, new sounds came from within the mist.
"Sister... Sister Fang?"
"Ah~ Da Lao, help!"
One voice trembled, and the other was seductive.
It sounded like nothing had happened.
As soon as these two female voices came over, the awkward atmosphere between Cheng Shi and A Ming was instantly shattered.
He stood up, patted his backside, and said with a smile:
"Everyone's here.
Let's meet up."
Just then, the mist slowly dissipated.
A Ming also stood up and looked sideways, only to see that Fang Shiqing in Cheng Shi's arms had opened her eyes at some point.
"Sister Fang, are you alright?"
"..."
A trace of anger flashed in Fang Shiqing's eyes, but she immediately smiled and nodded, saying:
"I'm fine.
Thanks to Cheng Shi, he saved me in time."
The words were kind, but the tone sounded somewhat gritted.
The matter of the Fire-Bearer couldn't be discussed in front of others, so even though Fang Shiqing had quite a few reservations about Cheng Shi's method of refusal, she couldn't flare up at this moment.
Fighters crawling in the darkness are cautious; any unexpected flicker of light could reveal their movements and make all their efforts go to waste.
Cheng Shi obviously knew this, so he immediately turned back and said with a smile:
"Don't you still owe me a thank you?"
"You..."
Fang Shiqing almost couldn't hold back.
She clenched her teeth fiercely, quickly adjusted her facial expression, and then forced out an extremely reluctant smile.
"Thank you, I'll remember you."
"It's nothing, just a small favor."
It was indeed a small favor; a hand chop only required raising a hand.
The mist gradually dispersed, and the two groups of people not far apart immediately spotted each other.
Everyone gathered and walked together.
Halfway there, they saw the horrific slaughter scene around them.
Six Dwarves, each with their head severed on the spot.
Blood flowed everywhere, gathering on the ground, vaguely drawing the shape of a guillotine.
If Cheng Shi hadn't known that A Ming was an Executioner, he really wouldn't have been able to tell what this pattern represented.
This was a common macabre taste among the Executioners of the Grand Tribunal, using the blood of executed criminals to depict the tools that killed them.
However, the blood guillotine drawn on the ground was crooked and distorted, clearly not done skillfully.
"Tsk, what cruel methods."
Xu Lu and Bailing also trembled all over when they saw this scene.
Only Fang Shiqing glanced at A Ming thoughtfully and said nothing more.
"Where are we?"
The place where everyone was located was a very large room.
On the left were over a dozen beds lined up side by side, on the right were various tool benches, on the long rack in front hung clothes of different sizes, and behind them were several independent small rooms.
The place where Cheng Shi and Fang Shiqing met was clearly in one of them.
Fang Shiqing glanced at Cheng Shi a few times.
Seeing that he was still playing dumb, she simply moved past the matter, furrowing her brow in thought:
"It looks like a servant's quarters, but it's a bit too big.
It's enough to house over a dozen servants.
We haven't seen such large servant's quarters before.
To ensure safety, we should change clothes first, then go out and explore, to avoid conflict with people outside."
Everyone agreed and chose a set of clothes to change into, then followed the Da Lao out of the room.
After confirming the surroundings were safe and encountering a few real servants, they figured out that this was indeed the servant's quarters.
Moreover, there was more than one servant's quarters this large.
Because this was Duke Brooks's manor, and the Duke was currently hosting a grand banquet.
"A banquet?"
The hypnotized servant answered excitedly:
"Yes, the Duke has invited all the nobles in town and is preparing to announce the new refugee bill at the banquet.
All refugees from Gasmera will be expelled.
Our food won't be scarce anymore, and there won't be fewer jobs!"
"So, the memory Main unit from the previous act was a servant at the Duke's manor?"
"Huh?
Didn't you know?
York was the Duke's stablehand," Cheng Shi added enthusiastically.
Xu Lu frowned upon hearing this and complained:
"Why are you only saying this useful information now?"
Cheng Shi was taken aback and retorted:
"Did you ask?"
"I..."
Xu Lu was annoyed but remained silent, simply taking a light step and moving closer to Fang Shiqing.
"Then why would Dwarves, who are refugees, appear at the Duke's manor?"
A Ming timely interrupted the two's confrontation and asked.
"The Duke wants to expel the refugees, and the refugees naturally don't want to be driven out.
So their purpose for coming here isn't obvious, right, Da Lao?"
Cheng Shi said this while looking at Fang Shiqing, but Fang Shiqing completely ignored Cheng Shi at the moment.
She had a feeling in her heart, certain that Cheng Shi would definitely not reveal the matter of the Fire-Bearer, but she still didn't understand why Cheng Shi could refuse so decisively.
One should know that the talent 'Moving Heartstrings' wasn't just simply listening to the music of the heart's voice; it could even vaguely sense the other person's will and inclination.
The voice in Cheng Shi's heart clearly leaned towards acceptance, yet he still refused.
What exactly was this person thinking?
How could he go against his inner instincts?
She didn't understand and didn't have time to figure it out.
So far, Time had passed for nearly 5 hours.
The countdown was 7:14 remaining.
They had to hurry because there were still several acts of memory to go through, and they had no idea.
"Personal territory is different from public places.
Acting recklessly will quickly cause a disturbance, especially since this is a Duke's manor."
We must have an appropriate identity.
While the identity of a servant is convenient, there are still many places we can't access.
Next, everyone will split up, hide themselves well, and see if they can get a new identity.
We'll meet over there in an hour at the latest."
Saying this, Fang Shiqing raised her hand and pointed towards a small doorway.
"Remember, stay away from the servant's quarters.
We haven't dealt with the bodies inside, and it's very likely to cause a chain reaction.
The closer you are, the easier it is to be discovered.
Now, let's start acting.
Good luck to us."
Everyone dispersed.
Before leaving, Fang Shiqing glanced at Cheng Shi again.
Unfortunately, Cheng Shi didn't look at her; he was looking at A Ming.
He watched as A Ming walked away in the direction away from the servant's quarters.
After a good while, when there were no more teammates in sight, a playful smile appeared on Cheng Shi's face, and then he ambled back to the place where they had just been transported.
The one that everyone was staying away from...
The servant's quarters.