Foolish Game of the Gods - Chapter 185

Bai Fei followed closely behind, staying silent the entire way until they reached the door of the highest laboratory. Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, she finally asked:

“How did it taste?”

Cheng Shi turned his head in surprise, thinking for a moment that this icy beauty had somehow been swapped out with someone else along the way.

What’s this, sister? You finally couldn’t resist, huh?

You didn’t care about all the lies I spun, but you just had to know what the fruit tasted like?

Cheng Shi laughed heartily. “Sweet, a sweetness that seeps right into your soul.”

He lied.

The fruit from the Conjugated Whispering Tree was, in fact, incredibly bitter.

Before taking a bite, Cheng Shi hadn’t imagined it would be that bitter—bitter enough that he almost lost control of his facial expressions.

If it weren’t for the iron discipline he’d developed over the past six months, he might’ve cried out from the unbearable bitterness.

But he held it in.

Though, truthfully, he had no other choice.

Cheng Shi hadn’t wanted to deal with the fruit so crudely. However, since the [Offering to the Void] created items that couldn’t be preserved for long, and he had no information on how to process the fruit further, he was forced to swallow the bitter fruit to prevent it from disappearing altogether. Plus, it gave him an opportunity to pull one over on his big brother.

So, he swallowed the bitterness—literally.

It was agonizingly bitter, more bitter than his own life.

Not only that, but it was utterly useless.

Just like those two-word phrases that are annoying but serve no real purpose…

After finishing the fruit, Cheng Shi had examined his body multiple times with internal perception, but he found no changes.

It really seemed to be just an ordinary bitter fruit, serving no purpose other than tormenting his taste buds.

Moreover, the moment the fruit’s flesh and juice entered his stomach, they simply dissipated.

Yes, dissipated, not digested.

This left Cheng Shi feeling both frustrated and ridiculous, but he didn’t let it show, maintaining his cheeky grin as he continued:

“What? You want a taste too? Well, I suggest you ask the Blind One for a prophecy, see if she’ll cook something up for you too.

Hehe~

I’d love if you invited me along on your own fruit hunt!”

Bai Fei gave Cheng Shi a cold, scrutinizing look, her expression frosty as ever. She didn’t bother responding and simply strode past him towards the laboratory.

Since the Conjugated Whispering Tree grew at an incredibly slow pace, grand scholars didn’t visit this highest laboratory every day.

Thanks to the Tower of Logic’s policy of “Truth flows through shared knowledge,” there weren’t many restrictions on access to the experimental site.

And so, the two of them casually walked into the laboratory in full view of the busy scholars, without anyone stopping them.

Bai Fei stood in the center of the laboratory, her face as cold as ever, and asked emotionlessly:

“Where?”

Where?

Let me think.

Cheng Shi began to recall everything that had happened in this laboratory 200 years in the future. He tried to deduce what the Torchbearers and that aggressive scholar would do when faced with a tsunami of enemies.

After much thought, there was only one possibility: they would defend to the death.

So, the spot where Cheng Shi now stood was likely the very battlefield where the Torchbearers would fight their last stand 200 years from now.

Tsk, without me, they’re going to have a rough time.

His gaze swept over the familiar laboratory, and with a smirk, he pointed toward the ceiling:

“Let’s put it there. Imagine this: when the grand scholar finally steps forward, ready to pluck the fruit, he finds that the fruit has already vanished.

In a panic, he starts searching the lab for the thief who stole it. And just when he’s about to figure it out…

Boom—

And then… nothing.”

Bai Fei let out a cold laugh, her gaze filled with a mix of irritation and disdain as she looked at Zhen Yi.

Only the favored child of [Deceit] could waste effort on something so utterly meaningless.

Concocting a grand lie to deceive all the [Chosen Ones] just to taste a fruit, and then sending a “firework delivery” to the future to cover up her theft…

Either one of these actions on its own would be something no sane person could pull off.

The Grand Marshal had said it best: encountering her…

Was truly bad luck.

Let’s just end all this nonsense already!

Suppressing her growing annoyance, Bai Fei resisted the urge to shoot an arrow through the lab and throw every scholar who had witnessed her “humiliation” into another world as a tribute to her Patron.

But, despite her irritation, there was one thing Zhen Yi had said that intrigued her.

That was: when she fired the Silent Arrow and it detonated 200 years later, would the rewriting of history with her [Oblivion] powers be enough to catch her Patron’s notice?

She had never been graced with His presence before.

If there was a chance this time… perhaps it was worth offering something more?

Besides, why should she shoot the “fireworks” based on Zhen Yi’s plans?

Heh.

This time, she would make sure things didn’t go her way.

Without a word, Bai Fei silently drew her bow, aiming at the spot Cheng Shi had pointed to, preparing to fire her arrow.

But just as she was ready to let it fly, Cheng Shi spoke again.

“Little White String, your arrow needs to return here in 247 years, 4 months, and 3 days, at exactly 16 hours, 22 minutes, and 18 seconds—not a second off!

Otherwise, the deal doesn’t count!

14… 15… 16 seconds! Come on, I’m counting for you.”

“……”

Bai Fei was astonished by Zhen Yi’s extraordinary memory, not realizing that Cheng Shi had simply glanced at the lab’s records twice—once during the earlier event and once now—and done some mental calculations to add a bit more time, ensuring that the firework would go off just as the Torchbearers faced their crisis.

Without showing any emotion, Bai Fei acknowledged him with a brief nod and then fired her arrow.

But it wasn’t just one arrow—it was ten!

The invisible arrows pierced through the ceiling of the laboratory, penetrating the deepest layers of the void, their shafts wrapped in the dense power of [Oblivion] as they sunk into the depths of nothingness.

With void’s repulsion, these arrows would be expelled 247 years into the future, turning into a grand…

Firework display!

But this firework wouldn’t explode in the location Cheng Shi had specified.

No, the moment the Silent Arrow was rejected by the void, it would split into ten directions, annihilating the entire Void Experimental Site—except for the laboratory itself.

Bai Fei had prepared a grand “historical annihilation” as her tribute, hoping to catch her Patron’s attention.

And, of course, to foil Zhen Yi’s plan with the Tower of Logic.

This was a carefully laid trap by a follower of [Oblivion] for a follower of [Deceit]!

Naturally, Cheng Shi had “guessed nothing” about this trap.

He simply watched Bai Fei, deep in thought, as she finished setting everything up, then slowly activated his ability, [Surge of the Tidal Wave], to rewrite these hidden traps into the annals of history.

And so, from that moment, the ceiling of the highest laboratory in the Conjugated Whispering Experimental Site officially hid a firework, waiting to salute the future.

After everything was settled, Cheng Shi smiled and waved at Bai Fei.

“The show’s over. Time for me to go.

I’d better make sure you don’t set that trap for the present. If your arrow sends me to some terrifying Oblivion realm, I swear I’ll cry!

So, farewell, Little White String.

Looking forward to our next meeting.”

With a wave, Cheng Shi turned and left.

Bai Fei stood still, watching him leave through the scholars’ passageway and exit the void. She couldn’t help but furrow her brows.

She had the nagging feeling that she had been tricked again.

But when?

She couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

Oh well, whatever that [Oblivion] firework turns out to be, at least I’m even with that damned trickster.

With a cold glance at the hardworking scholars bustling around her, Bai Fei resisted the urge to annihilate them all with one shot and opened a void gate, returning to reality.

The Void Experimental Site, in its endless pursuit of [Truth], regained its peace once more.