Foolish Game of the Gods - Chapter 184

“I didn’t lie! I really just wanted this fruit.”

Cheng Shi put on a look of exaggerated innocence, as if genuinely believing he was being wronged.

Seeing this cheeky, punchable expression, veins bulged on Hu Wei’s forehead, and Bai Fei’s cold expression grew even frostier.

“Are you seriously not going to tell us the truth?

Zhen Yi, don’t think for a second that I won’t dare make a move against you.”

With those words, Hu Wei’s muscles rippled, his entire body emanating a burning battle aura from head to toe.

Bai Fei, on the other hand, gripped her invisible Silent Arrow, ready for a fight at any moment.

But just as the tension was about to reach its peak, Cheng Shi grinned mischievously and raised the fruit glowing with [Void] energy. He twirled it in the air for a moment, showing it off, and then…

He took a big bite!

Yes, he bit into the fruit—the result that the Void Matter Theory department had waited over five hundred years for. He bit down into this pearl of truth that existed, yet didn’t exist, in history!

“!!!”

“!!!”

Hu Wei and Bai Fei were utterly stunned!

They stared in disbelief as Cheng Shi took bite after bite, devouring the only fruit from the Conjugated Whispering Tree, skin and all.

It was a scene so shocking, so incomprehensible, that they were left speechless!

This was something many [Chosen Ones] had longed for but never obtained!

And now Zhen Yi had just casually eaten it in three or four bites?

What was she doing!?

What was she thinking!?

Why go through all the trouble to retrieve the fruit from the future, only to waste it like this?

The two were completely dumbfounded, their minds unable to process what had just happened.

Anyone who saw this would be just as bewildered.

But in the next moment, understanding dawned on Hu Wei’s face. Being sharp-minded, he thought he had guessed the reason behind it all.

An absurd, outlandish, unbelievable reason—one that was as ridiculous as it was horrifying!

That was:

All of this—everything—had been part of an elaborate century-long scheme, concocted by Zhen Yi just so she could taste this coveted fruit!

Something that everyone else desperately sought was utterly meaningless to her, no more than a temptation for her taste buds.

This was Zhen Yi!

This was the real Zhen Yi!

Perhaps her very existence was proof that in this world, nothing mattered more than amusement.

Hu Wei clenched his fists, trying to suppress the endless fury boiling inside him. He glared at the juice dribbling down Zhen Yi’s lips, his eyelids twitching violently.

With gritted teeth, he forced out one final question:

“So… the thing you were hiding was that you tricked us all just to taste this fruit?

You deceived us to come down here with you, simply so we could witness you eating it?

So!

There was never any ‘prophecy,’ there was never any ‘future,’ and this grand farce was just about testing how good a fruit tastes!?”

Hu Wei had snapped.

And it wasn’t just him—Bai Fei, upon hearing his analysis, had snapped as well.

In an instant, there were three clowns in the room.

One was a professional, but the other two… were the real deal.

“My, my, you’ve gotten smarter too?

That’s right, that’s exactly how it is.

I just wanted to know what this fruit tastes like, so I asked the Blind One to make a prophecy for me.

She told me that it would be too difficult to get this fruit in the higher ranks, so she advised me to lower my ranking and try again.

So I went down, of course.

But it would’ve been so dull to go down alone. After lowering my ranking, I wouldn’t be able to meet my old friends anymore—it would’ve been boring.

So I decided to have my ‘friends’ come down with me!

Haha!

Isn’t it amusing?

I tricked all of you into coming down with me!

But you all were too clever, and the Blind One’s prophecy was too obvious, so I had no choice but to tweak things a bit.

Now that I’ve got the item, and I’ve seen my friends…

Well then…

Thanks for the company?

See you all at the top again?”

“……”

“……”

So… Zhen Yi really had tricked all the [Chosen Ones] to come down with her just to eat a fruit!!

Reasonable!

So damn reasonable!

Hu Wei couldn’t catch his breath, and Bai Fei’s fists clenched tight.

“Even if that’s true!

Why did the Blind One go along with this? Was she not afraid of angering us?”

“Hehe!

That’s a funny question. You all go around calling her ‘Blind One’ every day—did you ever stop to think that might annoy her?

She’s probably sick of you, which is why she didn’t bother warning you.

How foolish.”

“……”

“……”

Hu Wei blinked, clearly taken aback.

When exactly the nickname “Blind One” had started circulating, no one could say for sure.

But he did remember that when he had first matched with this [Fate] Chosen One, she had already been blind.

Though her physical blindness didn’t hinder her ability to see things beyond the norm.

And she had never said she didn’t like being called “Blind One,” had she?

Could it be true?

Did she actually dislike the nickname?

Hu Wei began to doubt—not because of Zhen Yi, but because of Zhen Xin.

Zhen Yi and the Blind One didn’t have a good relationship—Zhen Yi didn’t get along with anyone, after all—but Zhen Xin was different.

She and the Blind One were like sisters.

With that connection, it would make sense for Zhen Yi to know what the Blind One really thought.

However…

Speaking of Zhen Xin, would she really have allowed Zhen Yi to pull something like this?

Weren’t they afraid of retaliation from the other [Chosen Ones]?

“You’ve spun such an outrageous web of lies, and Zhen Xin just let you do whatever you wanted?”

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“When has my sister ever tried to stop me?”

“……”

“……”

Hu Wei’s face darkened even further.

This had to stop. If he kept asking, he would truly turn into the clown.

With a cold snort, he suppressed his anger and said in a low voice:

“What a grand deception!

I, Hu Wei, admit my defeat.

But since I have this petal in my hand, you won’t be getting it back.”

With that, Hu Wei clenched his fist around the petal, thought for a moment, and then decisively tossed the priceless petal—coveted by countless scholars—over to Bai Fei.

“Consider this my apology for dragging you into this, Bai Fei.”

Bai Fei caught the petal, nodding in surprise. Everyone knew that the Grand Marshal was generous—though forceful in his actions, he never treated his own people unfairly.

For him to give away the petal so easily, Bai Fei couldn’t help but admire his character.

But if she accepted the petal now, it would make her and Hu Wei look even worse in this farce.

It would make the two of them not only clowns, but clowns who were scavenging for “garbage”—especially given that this “garbage” was something Zhen Yi had cast aside.

So, the moment she caught the petal, Bai Fei, keeping her expression neutral, immediately annihilated it.

The third petal of the Conjugated Whispering Tree—traveling from non-existence to existence, from the future to the past, from one hand to another—ultimately ceased to exist.

And wasn’t that just another form of fate?

Cheng Shi watched the scene unfold, feeling a surge of emotion.

He didn’t feel any regret for the petal, not only because it was something he had gotten for free, but also because the petal’s very appearance was meant as a trump card.

It was just that he hadn’t expected this trump card, originally meant for a future trial, to be used here instead.

Though his mind was filled with countless thoughts, Cheng Shi still couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh.

“Using someone else’s possessions to seem ‘generous,’ huh? So that’s what generosity looks like.”

Hu Wei shot Cheng Shi a cold glare and replied in a low voice:

“Until we meet again. I hope to see greater skill next time.”

With that, his dark, brooding gaze lingered on Cheng Shi for a long moment. After a final cold snort, he turned and vanished.

As he left, the void rippled slightly.

Hu Wei was gone.

He had left the Void Experimental Site, storming off in anger and shame.

Honestly, anyone who had been tricked like that would have done the same.

But Bai Fei hadn’t left. She still owed Cheng Shi a trap.

Not because she was particularly honorable, but because she knew that this was a debt not easily dodged.

“You’re still here, Little White String. Good to know you keep your promises. Come, while the scholars haven’t kicked us out yet, let’s plant a little surprise for those ‘future’ lunatics.”

With that, Cheng Shi turned and began walking toward the highest laboratory in the Void Experimental Site.