Foolish Game of the Gods - Chapter 109

Li Bola looked at Cheng Shi with a faint smile, her gaze carrying a hint of aggression, as if she wanted to see through him entirely.

“You seem quite stingy with your trust.”

Cheng Shi shrugged noncommittally, not bothering to respond.

Meanwhile, Qin Chaoge’s face darkened further:

“Why didn’t you ask the ranger?”

Cheng Shi casually brushed her off, “Why do you care?”

After a moment of thought, he turned to Li Bola and asked:

“Do you… know where they are?”

Li Bola smiled. “How did you figure that out?”

“You don’t seem concerned that the killer might be nearby. It’s not the kind of confidence that comes from understanding your surroundings, but rather from knowing their whereabouts.”

“Nice deduction, almost as sharp as a hunter’s instincts. Ji Ran is still in the inn, but as for Hu Xuan…”

Li Bola furrowed her brow slightly before continuing, “She’s probably investigating as well. She’s down south in the town, moving fast—likely running.”

“You can even track people in places you’ve never been before?”

Cheng Shi was astonished.

“The wind tells me.”

Damn, Wind-Tamer Rangers really are something else.

Li Bola saw the look of admiration on Cheng Shi’s face and chuckled.

“Got any plans?”

“Since the killer isn’t here, we might as well take advantage of the lack of immediate danger and investigate what’s really going on under this blood moon.

If [Corruption] truly is spreading its influence, we should be feeling its effects under the blood moon’s light as well.

But so far, I haven’t heard any of His whispers.

Instead of relying on rumors, why don’t we see it for ourselves?

Maybe we should take a walk around town?”

Li Bola’s reply was efficient and to the point: “Together or separately?”

Although Cheng Shi would have preferred to split up, the presence of a hidden killer still hunting players made him opt for safety in numbers.

It was rare for the three of them to have reached a momentary truce like this. If they could work together tonight, perhaps they might uncover something important.

Without further hesitation, the trio left the chapel and vanished into the moonlit streets.

Not long after, a strange melody echoed through the quiet streets of Far Dusk Town.

“When light fades from our world~

When the night crows sing their dirge~

The blood moon will once again descend upon the earth~

To punish the sins of the blasphemers!”

To be honest, Qin Chaoge had an excellent singing voice—powerful and melodious, with a unique charm.

But hearing such an eerie song in the dead of night was nothing short of terrifying.

Goosebumps rose on Cheng Shi’s skin. After enduring it for as long as he could, he finally spoke up:

“With your singing, you’re more likely to scare the ghosts away. We’re here to investigate, not terrify people. Can you tone it down, big sis?”

“Are you scared?”

“Scared? Me—”

“Caw—Caw—”

Before Cheng Shi could finish, the piercing calls of night crows suddenly erupted from afar, and soon, a massive flock took flight, heading for the rooftops.

Qin Chaoge’s eyes lit up instantly.

“When the night crows sing their dirge!

See, as soon as I start singing, here come the night crows! Eh, eh, they’re flying away. Should we follow them?”

Cheng Shi and Li Bola exchanged glances and both nodded in agreement.

Without wasting any time, the trio set off in pursuit. As they ran, Cheng Shi couldn’t help but comment:

“Big sis, if your brain worked this fast all the time, we’d be much more efficient!”

Qin Chaoge rolled her eyes at him in disdain.

“I call this brilliance disguised as ignorance.”

Heh, I just hope it’s not ignorance disguised as brilliance.

Cheng Shi could keep up, but compared to the speed of a gust of wind or a wild beast, he was noticeably slower.

Perhaps fed up with Cheng Shi lagging behind, Qin Chaoge furrowed her brow before, for the first time, singing one of her bard’s tunes.

“Bloodstained banners~ dancing in the wind~

Wild horses beneath me~ galloping like arrows!”

With just a short verse, Cheng Shi suddenly felt his legs surge with strength, and he found himself running at an incredible pace, as if his legs had a mind of their own.

He ran so fast it felt like his legs might catch fire.

His entire body began to heat up, and he craved the cool wind against his face, wishing it would blow harder.

As he ran, even his arms moved without his control. If not for a bit of self-restraint, Cheng Shi felt as though he might actually drop onto all fours and charge forward like a wild horse.

“What is this…?”

Li Bola, who had seen much in her time, provided the answer as she sped by in her wind form:

“A hunting song of the Uren nomads!”

Qin Chaoge, looking quite smug, tossed her head with pride, as if to say, “Pretty cool, huh?”

And to be honest… it was.

Seeing the look of approval on Cheng Shi’s face, Qin Chaoge, who was already used to such speed boosts, burst into laughter. Paying no mind to her “feminine image,” she dropped to all fours, running like a wild beast.

In the blink of an eye, she had left Cheng Shi a full street behind.

Tsk—

What a wild horse!

The wind wasn’t one to be outdone either, whipping by in a fierce gust, leaving Cheng Shi sprinting for dear life, unable to catch up.

“……”

The flock of night crows circled in the sky for a while before scattering into small groups, landing atop several houses.

Following his teammates’ trail, Cheng Shi ran until he reached a house where the rooftop was covered in night crows.

Panting heavily, he looked up to see Qin Chaoge and Li Bola standing at the door, their faces grim.

It seemed they had found something.

“What did you discover?”

“See for yourself.”

Cheng Shi hesitated for a moment, then walked into the courtyard.

Both the courtyard gate and the front door were wide open. In the dim moonlight, he could just make out damp patches on the floor.

But as he approached, he realized these weren’t simple water stains—they were pools of blood, not yet dried.

His gaze followed the blood trail into the bedroom, where the body of a middle-aged man came into view.

He was kneeling in front of a shrine dedicated to [Eternal Sun], a dagger lodged in his chest, his right hand still gripping the hilt. It looked like a suicide.

Crouching down to examine the scene more closely, Cheng Shi quickly identified it as another faked suicide.

But this time, the execution was much better than the death of their teammate at the inn. There were almost no obvious flaws.

Only by moving the man’s legs from where he knelt could you see a small patch of hidden blood beneath his knees.

This indicated that he had struggled but had been held down.

Cheng Shi didn’t waste much time. He immediately activated [Memory of the Departed]. While he didn’t expect the dead man to have seen much, at the very least, he wanted to hear what he had to say.

And so, he asked:

“Do you have anything you want to say?”

“Praise [Eternal Sun], may the light be with us…”

As the man’s voice faded, Qin Chaoge and Li Bola appeared at the doorway.

They both sneered at the dead man’s words.

“Heh, ‘punishing the sins of the blasphemers’…

He was praying devoutly at the shrine before he died. If even that’s considered blasphemy, what god exactly did he offend?”

Cheng Shi had no answer. He put the brooch away and looked up at the shrine.

A large depiction of the sun hung above it. It seemed to be an image of [Eternal Sun], the god worshipped by Far Dusk Town.

The radiant sun emblem stood silently over the dead man, witnessing the death of one of its faithful without the slightest change.

“Did you see anyone?”

“No. Whoever it was left a while ago. But one thing’s for sure: they’re following the trail of the night crows, just like us.”

Li Bola pointed toward the window, where most of the night crows had already flown away.

“In all the houses where night crows landed, people are dead. I did a rough count—seven homes, thirteen lives…

All suicides.”