Time rolled back into the wardrobe.
At that Time, Cheng Shi silently said, "Don't panic, let's do him!", then patted Bailing's shoulder.
Just as Bailing thought this was a form of comfort, a small bottle of potion dropped from Cheng Shi's fingertips onto her chest, conveniently caught in the middle.
Bailing was startled and looked down.
She saw a line of small text clearly written on the outside of the small potion bottle:
"Potion Name: Elixir of the Dead's Disdain.
As long as this potion is consumed, you will not truly die within the effective Time of the potion."
Bailing looked up in shock, only to see Cheng Shi already counting down.
She didn't waste a second. The moment before rushing out, she drank the potion from the bottle.
Everyone knows the outcome of the battle: she did die.
But now, she has indeed come back to life.
This wasn't a trick to send her charging to her Death; Cheng Shi had not betrayed her trust.
As for why Bailing trusted Cheng Shi so much.
This question is probably difficult for her to answer herself.
Perhaps it was because He had never harbored any impure thoughts towards her, despite her being 'easy to approach'.
Watching Bailing shakily stand up from the ground, Cheng Shi finally put his last worry to rest.
Thanks to the previous teammates who were far away but still contributed recognition for the "Elixir of the Dead's Disdain".
Cheng Shi's Faith talent, Offering to Nothingness, could not store fabricated items; they could only be used on the spot.
But this talent required a prerequisite: it needed to be widely acknowledged by others.
This 'widely' was very interesting. After multiple experiments, Cheng Shi discovered that as long as five people besides himself recognized it, the requirement would be met.
Coincidentally, this was the same as the number of people in the trial.
At that Time, in the cabinet, Cheng Shi didn't have the conditions to make others recognize it, so He couldn't fabricate something new. In desperation, He had to secretly mark a bottle of 'clichéd' 'Elixir of the Dead's Disdain'.
Although this was a gamble, betting that his teammates hadn't discovered the anomaly of this potion, Cheng Shi wasn't completely without confidence.
At least in his calculations, there were about 3 or 4 people who wouldn't delve too deeply into this kind of thing.
Plus Bailing on the scene, that was enough.
Facts proved that Cheng Shi had won the gamble again.
Although He always rolled a 1 when throwing dice, luckily his gambling luck was good.
Seeing that the two were safe and sound, Fang Shiqing also felt much more relaxed. She looked at Cheng Shi, her expression serious, demanding an explanation.
Cheng Shi's face sank as He looked outside the door.
Fang Shiqing immediately understood, recalling Cheng Shi's note that said, "When three people walk together, one must be careful."
Considering the situation in the fog at that Time, besides herself and Cheng Shi, the only 'outsider' at that Time was...
A Ming!
"Is A Ming a problem?"
Cheng Shi curled his Mouth and said silently:
"A Ming might not be a problem, but whether A Ming is A Ming is not necessarily certain."
"What!!??"
Both Fang Shiqing and Bailing's expressions changed drastically, and they shook their heads repeatedly, looking incredulous.
Fang Shiqing frowned and said, "The sound of his heartstring hasn't changed, are you sure?"
Bailing also asked doubtfully:
"Da Lao, his attitude towards me is as always, it has never changed..."
Despite this, Bailing still trusted Cheng Shi's judgment.
Since there was a problem with a person, the priority was definitely to ensure internal stability.
Cheng Shi shook his head and said nothing, just made a gesture, telling everyone to get ready to catch the person.
Regardless of whether A Ming was A Ming or not, as an agile Assassin, it would be difficult to catch him without a sound!
It might be very difficult with just Cheng Shi and Bailing, but if Fang Shiqing was added...
This matter would be much easier.
Cheng Shi leaned towards Fang Shiqing like He was hugging a thigh. Fang Shiqing glared at him for a long Time, sighed, and tore off a golden page from her book.
S-grade talent, Eternal Prison.
Seeing this, Cheng Shi's face lit up. He felt the surging Time power on this page.
This was a skill left behind by a Time Walker.
Fang Shiqing held the page with a pained expression and walked towards the door. Before leaving, she looked back at Cheng Shi and mouthed:
"Compensate me."
Cheng Shi nodded solemnly.
Seeing Cheng Shi agree, Fang Shiqing opened the door quickly and, while the two outside were completely unprepared, slapped a page onto A Ming's shoulder.
"Boom--"
A burst of Time power exploded fiercely. Before A Ming could make any reaction, He was imprisoned on the spot by the shackles of Time.
He widened his eyes in shock and said in fear:
"Sister Fang! You..."
Xu Lu was also startled. She stepped back two steps and, at some point, pulled out a small dagger from her hand, looking at her thigh with a panicked expression.
"Sister Fang, what's going on?"
Before Fang Shiqing could answer, something even more unbelievable happened.
Cheng Shi and Bailing, who had just died in the room, walked out completely unharmed.
Well, not completely unharmed, their clothes were a bit wrinkled.
"You...!??"
Xu Lu was completely stunned. For a moment, all sorts of conspiracy theories played out in her mind.
The most absurd thing was that she actually started to think that Fang Shiqing might have agreed to some request from Cheng Shi and was preparing to team up with this annoying Time believer to kill her.
Seeing Xu Lu so scared, Fang Shiqing shook her head apologetically, then motioned for her to listen to Cheng Shi explain what was happening.
As soon as Cheng Shi walked out of the room, He inserted a Desire Arrow, which He had taken from Bailing, into A Ming's shoulder.
"Hiss!"
"Cheng Ge!? You're not dead? What are you doing? Bailing, you're not dead either? You guys... what exactly happened?"
A Ming looked at everyone in extreme shock, his eyes constantly darting around.
Seeing him like this, Cheng Shi smiled meaningfully.
"Sorry, I'm not dead. I guess that must be very disappointing for you."
A Ming was stunned for a moment, then his face turned dark and He said:
"Cheng Ge, what do you mean? I naturally don't want my teammates to be in trouble, but your meaning seems to be that I killed you? I avenged you, I killed that guard!"
"Oh, you avenged me, clap, clap, clap." Cheng Shi nodded and clapped, smiling, "Indeed, you were a step late, otherwise you could have saved us."
"That's right, there must be some misunderstanding, Sister Fang, please let me go first, we don't have much Time."
Fang Shiqing acted as if she hadn't heard, only guarding herself secretly, being careful of anyone approaching.
Cheng Shi shook his head, not planning to waste any more Time with him.
"You're not A Ming, are you?"
A Ming paused, then burst into laughter:
"Cheng Ge, what are you talking about? If I'm not A Ming, who am I?
Did you forget? I came all the way from the fog room with you. In between, following Sister Fang's words, we split up to investigate, and then in this room, I... avenged you.
Have you lost your memory?"
"I haven't lost my memory, and you don't need to pretend anymore, Uncle Huang."
"!!??"
"Who? Huang Bo?" Fang Shiqing blurted out in shock, then immediately activated some talent to probe A Ming's identity, but the result was not unexpected, He was A Ming.
"Cheng Shi, are you sure? He's Huang Bo?"
A Ming smiled even more bitterly and said:
"Cheng Ge, what are you talking about? Huang Bo is still behind and hasn't caught up yet. The memory gate is still there, how could I be Huang Bo?"
Cheng Shi smiled and continued:
"How do you know He hasn't caught up?"
"..." A Ming's face changed, and He quickly explained, "I mean, when we arrived at the Duke's manor, He hadn't arrived yet."
"Yes, indeed. If I'm not mistaken, up until now, the memory gate is indeed still open, and someone has fallen behind and hasn't come over.
But the one who fell behind is not Huang Bo, but A Ming.
The real Huang Bo is right in front of me."
A Ming seemed to be enraged by the endless suspicion. He roared with a sinister expression:
"Cheng Shi, if you have any plans, just say them clearly. I saved you repeatedly, why do you suspect me!! Saying I'm Huang Bo, show me the evidence. Why do you say I'm Huang Bo?"
Looking at the hysterical A Ming, Fang Shiqing's expression wavered slightly. She looked at Cheng Shi, only to see Cheng Shi take out a small bottle of potion in front of everyone, unscrewing it while saying:
"Actually, there is a lot of evidence.
For example, an Assassin claimed to be unable to withdraw in the fog;
For example, the goblins that died in the servant's room didn't die by one person's hand, but killed each other. This doesn't seem like Order's judgment, but rather Chaos's work;
For example, someone killed the Duke, but that person was neither the adulterous guard nor me and Bailing, yet the murderer has not been seen;
And for example, someone clearly had the talent 'Finger Key' to open the door faster, but insisted on choosing the more Time-consuming method of kicking the door at a critical moment..."
With every sentence Cheng Shi spoke, A Ming's face grew darker, and the mouths of the teammates around him opened wider.
By the Time He unscrewed the potion, Cheng Shi's face was already full of smiles.
"But it doesn't matter anymore. This bottle of potion in my hand is called 'Confession Truth Serum', it's a good medicine used by the executioner of the Grand Tribunal to interrogate prisoners. No matter who it is, just one drop and they will answer everything. As an Order Assassin, I suppose you should know this thing."
Saying that, Cheng Shi picked up the potion bottle and poured it towards A Ming's head.
But before the potion could even flow out of the bottle, A Ming burst into maniacal laughter.
"Heh... Heh heh..."
"Hahahahaha!!"
"Cheng Shi!"
"Very good!"
"You, are very capable."
That smile was exactly like Huang Bo's when they first met.
Exactly the same.
...