My head hurts.
It felt like a hangover explosion, yet also like countless needles stirring in my brain.
It hurt so much.
Cheng Shi was woken up by the pain.
But even though it hurt so much, he didn't dare to frown or open his eyes.
Because he didn't know if Su Yida was still nearby, and he wasn't sure if the surroundings were safe.
However, when a person is unconscious, their breathing is clearly different from when they are awake. Perhaps most people couldn't distinguish it, but Tao Yi could.
Because she was also a master of this art, a master of feigning unconsciousness.
"You're awake?"
Is that the big star's voice?
Cheng Shi's heart skipped a beat, but he still didn't speak.
Tao Yi felt the power of recovery flowing through Cheng Shi's body and chuckled softly:
"Alright, open your eyes. It's safe. We're out."
Out?
Out of where? Where did they go?
Cheng Shi thought for a long time, then slowly opened his eyes.
A wisp of pink hair hanging down came into view. It seemed that the voice just now wasn't someone pretending; it really was Tao Yi.
"You were unconscious for 12 hours, you're really something. Do you know how we, without a Priest, got through these dozen hours?"
12 hours?
Cheng Shi felt a bit cold on his body. He hugged his arms, taking the opportunity to feel the rings on his fingers.
1, 2, 3, 4, all four are here, they weren't lost?
He was a little shocked in his heart, but on the surface, he asked weakly:
"What happened?"
Tao Yi's face was full of anxiety. She pointed to the top of Cheng Shi's head.
"Extreme cold. After coming out of the Void Rift, we fell into an ice field. Outside, the cold wind howled, and the world was frozen. If you didn't wake up soon, the four of us would have hypothermia."
"Four?"
Tao Yi's expression darkened, and she nodded:
"Yes, Zhao Qian... is dead.
Not even a corpse was left, only a pile of ashes."
Zhao Qian? Dead?
That follower of war who held blood and fire, actually died?
Who killed him, Su Yida?
Where is Su Yida?
Cheng Shi had just woken up from Death, his mind was groggy, and he was full of questions.
But at this moment, he didn't have that much time to think, so he had to immediately know what happened during the time he was dead.
So he made a bold move:
He held Tao Yi's hand.
Tao Yi was startled, then smiled and let him hold it.
"There's no firewood left, it's all burned up. If you feel cold, just hold me tight."
Cheng Shi didn't relax his expression because of Tao Yi's thoughtfulness. He looked at Tao Yi's face very solemnly and asked:
"Can I trust you?"
Tao Yi didn't expect Cheng Shi to ask such a question. She first widened her eyes, then frowned.
"To what extent do you trust me?"
"With all your heart!"
She looked at Cheng Shi, her eyes quickly darting around.
"Whose follower are you, after all?"
Cheng Shi's gaze didn't move at all, serious and sincere:
"Death, I am a follower of Death."
"..." Tao Yi's small mouth opened wide, her face showing surprise, "I should have thought you were a Gravekeeper, but you've been lying to me all along, and you still want me to be sincere with you?"
"Can I trust you?"
"Hmm... 50%. When you don't lie to me, you can trust me."
Cheng Shi finally smiled. He said quickly in a low voice:
"Tell me everything that happened. I need to know everything."
"Where should I start?"
"Start from when you found me."
...
Time returned to the moment of the Edict.
The moment Cheng Shi confirmed the lineup of this round, he had already planned who he would play as a follower in this Trial.
Order.
Clearly, in a Trial with fellow participants, a Priest of Order could slightly restrain the conduct of this fellow participant to prevent him from doing too many rebellious acts.
But just as he was about to issue the Edict, he suddenly had a bolder idea.
Since Lies Like Yesterday is all Fraud, all false Faith, does "deceiving" God count?
After all, the power of talent comes from Fraud, and He also acknowledged that Fraud.
So Cheng Shi made another bold attempt.
He quietly broke off a small blade of grass, and with this insignificant Death, offered it as a sacrifice to that Existence on the throne.
This was not the Edict of Fraud, but the Edict of Death itself.
Cheng Shi doing this had no special meaning; he just wanted to express his feelings for the Faith he was about to borrow.
Then, he silently recited the prayer to the dice of fate, praying to become a follower of Death.
What he never expected was that the Edict succeeded.
The God of Amusement supported him as always!
He abandoned the constraints of Order and gained the immunity of Death.
As for the so-called Birth, it was nothing more than adding another layer of disguise, keeping another card up his sleeve.
It definitely wasn't because he was simply used to lying.
And so...
Today, Cheng Shi is a follower of Death, a Gravekeeper.
...
"Old Cui brought me to find you who were unconscious and Gao Yu who was on his last breath..."
Unconscious...
It seems I was right, I really died.
Cheng Shi felt that his talent as a Gravekeeper had been activated once, which meant that his memory was correct, and Su Yida did kill him once.
It was just that the backup plan he had left saved his life.
The talent of a Gravekeeper is to prolong life, which is also the inspiration for Cheng Shi's "XX of the Dead" series of medicines.
As Priests of Death, they act on His will, not only can they turn the light of healing into the dark light of Death, but they can also decide whether the target who received their treatment can die.
They are like the gatekeepers of hell, choosing the sacrifices offered to Him according to their own will.
Of course, the sacrifices that originally belonged to Him cannot be arbitrarily reduced. For every sacrifice a Gravekeeper takes away, they need to make up for one for Him.
This also led to Gravekeepers becoming the Priest class with the most kills, becoming the real healers who brought Death.
Now, Cheng Shi owes Him a sacrifice.
"After finding you, Old Cui and I dragged you through three more Void Rifts, and finally got out of the Void and fell onto this ice field.
But at that time, you and Gao Yu were almost unable to hold on. We dragged the two of you across the endless ice field looking for a place to shelter from the wind. During this time, we encountered Su Yida again."
"You met him on the ice field!?"
"Yes, his condition wasn't good either. His whole body was frozen solid, and he almost died on the ice field.
Fortunately, he was holding a large bundle of broken wood and branches in his arms...
We guessed he probably didn't have a way to start a fire, which is why he was frozen like that.
But we didn't either. Later, I used the last bit of prosperity power to wake up Gao Yu, and only then did we light those frozen, hard pieces of firewood.
But the wind was too strong, and the fire was difficult to maintain, so we immediately... set up camp, taking turns guarding the camp outside, and roasted by the fire for half the night before we managed to save everyone.
But now... the fire has burned out."
Cheng Shi followed Tao Yi's gaze and found that an area by his waist was all ashes.
"Gao Yu and Su Yida are both awake, but you've been unconscious, and no matter how we tried, we couldn't wake you up.
In the end, it was Su Yida who secretly took out a pill and saved you."
?" Cheng Shi was a little confused, "Su Yida? He saved me? Where did the medicine come from? Personal space..."
Before he could even try, Tao Yi replied:
"It's still locked. It's that batch of Shuhui Reversal you refined back then, remember?
Su Yida's mind is not as shallow as he appears on the surface. When he snatched the medicine, he deliberately kept some and stored it on his person.
We never thought that a batch of medicine could be divided into two pills, otherwise I would have collected some too.
Although the amount he hid wasn't large, it was still effective, at least you're really awake."
Hearing this, Cheng Shi's expression became as complicated as can be.
This fellow participant is truly formidable.
Knowing his identity, he even used Mirage in the Gap of Reality to reproduce the medicine that he had concocted with Offering to Nothingness and couldn't preserve.
The problem is that this only pill was actually used on himself?
Why?
He killed himself, and then saved himself?
What is he doing?
Cheng Shi really wanted to ask, but that would be too obvious, so he could only take it one step at a time.
"Why didn't everyone come in?"
"..."
Tao Yi didn't speak, but the pale look on her face seemed to give the answer.
Cheng Shi frowned and, using the dim light filtering through the "tent," turned his head to look around. Before long, he realized that the material used to build this tent seemed a bit familiar...
"This is..."
Old Cui's skin?
Cheng Shi was instantly stunned.
This tent, which could only accommodate two or three people huddled over, was actually made from Old Cui's shed skin wrapped around them!
"Yes, you see, Old Cui's condition isn't good. The tent... the tent could be destroyed by the strong wind at any time, so we take turns guarding the camp outside to ensure the only shelter from the wind isn't damaged..."
"Outside..."
"The wind howls, and the world is frozen for miles. In the distance are ice mountains that can never be reached, and underfoot is frozen ground that no magic can break through. As far as the eye can see, not a single blade of grass grows, only ice white.
The conditions are too harsh. We can't dig a coffin camp, nor do we have materials to build a shelter, but the freezing cold carried by the strong wind is still intensifying. We have no other way..."
"..."
Cheng Shi hadn't expected that before he could sort out the memory from the Void, the current environment had become so harsh again.
"But it's alright now, you're awake. Quick, Cheng Shi, give us a healing spell. They're almost at their limit."
As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Shi felt a bone-chilling cold wind leak in by his feet.
...