Foolish play of the gods

Chapter 10: A rare respite · Before Xia Wan could "give birth," Cheng Shi managed to land a timely Heal on her. · Since Xia Wan was carrying multiples, the spell was incredibly effective, instantly topping off her status. However, this also meant that the newborns she was about to produce would be exceptionally healthy. · The group sprinted outward frantically. Before they had gone far, the life forms gestating inside Xia Wan grew impatient to enter the world. · Life catalyzed by the Creation Grass Seeds wouldn't wait for an obstetrician. Mid-stride, the bulges on Xia Wan’s body burst open, spraying out several grotesque, vine-like entities that were half-flesh and half-plant. · The good news was that these vines didn't have much combat power; Song Yawen handled them single-handedly. · The bad news was that while Xia Wan was fine, Nangong was at death's door. · Her eyes were half-lidded, her body burning with fever as she hovered on the edge of life and death. The wounds on her ribs and abdomen still carried the stench of Decay, continuing to rot. She was barely clinging to consciousness, her breathing shallow and ragged. · "If this keeps up, Nangong is going to die." · They were teammates who had just survived a life-and-death ordeal together, and with over half a day left in the trial, no one wanted to lose a member now. They had survived an assault by a Terror Demon army; dying here would be a pathetic waste. · Chen Chong stopped, dumped Cao Sansui off his back, and turned to Cheng Shi. · "Nangong’s body can’t handle the healing from Nurturing anymore. If you have to, heal the Mage and let him use a Time trick to suspend her life." · Cao Sansui wanted to help, but he was a Mage, not a Priest or a Bard; he didn't have that many utility tricks up his sleeve. · Seeing the grief on everyone’s faces, Cheng Shi sighed and pulled a small red bottle from his private vault. · "What’s this?" Song Yawen leaned in immediately, sensing the scent of Death emanating from the vial. · "An A-grade potion, 'Scorn of the Death.' It comes from the most devout followers of Death. His proxies believe some people aren't worthy of enjoying death, so they extracted that scorn and brewed it into a potion to punish oath-breakers who have committed grave crimes. It prevents them from approaching Death or hearing His teachings." · As Cheng Shi explained, he poured the liquid over Nangong. · "As long as it mixes with her blood, she won't die even from the heaviest injuries. However, it provides no healing—it’s purely to keep her alive." · "Huh? There’s actually stuff like that?" · Song Yawen reached out, trying to catch a stray drop for research, but Cheng Shi was faster, slapping his hand away with a mocking grin. · "Losing even one drop makes it useless. Do you want her to die?" · Embarrassed, Song Yawen’s face flushed. "I... I’ve just never seen it before. Nangong, sorry, I didn't mean it." · The pale Nangong didn't have the strength to acknowledge him. She simply watched as the liquid merged into her bloodstream, and then... · Nothing. She felt absolutely nothing. · "Does... does it work?" · Cheng Shi glanced at her. "It works. It’s also very expensive. Once you’ve recovered, remember to pay me back." · Nangong gritted her teeth and nodded heavily. "I will!" · Xia Wan, having just "given birth," was bleeding from various spots. However, as a believer of Nurturing, she had a higher resistance to "reproduction," so Cheng Shi didn't use any medicine on her, opting for a standard Heal instead. · Fortunately, she didn't get pregnant again. · Seeing Cheng Shi effortlessly save two more lives, Chen Chong asked with a grave expression, "Cheng Shi, what is your actual score?" · "I—" · "Aside from 1,501." · "..." Cheng Shi looked around, seeing the doubt in everyone's eyes. Knowing they didn't believe him, he still shamelessly insisted, "It really is 1,501." · Chen Chong didn't believe a word of it. He said in a low voice, "Do you take me for a fool? That healing chain earlier required at least an S-grade talent to pull off. Add to that these two bottles of 'Scorn of the Death,' and you... you can't possibly be below 2,000 points." · The initial score for the Road to Divinity was 1,000 points. During each settlement, falling below 1,000 meant instant death. Above 1,200 points allowed for B-grade talents or items; above 1,600 allowed for A-grade; and only above 2,000 could one obtain S-grade talents. · "Right, right. Do you want to stay here and keep guessing my score, or are you coming with me?" · Cheng Shi scooped Nangong up in his arms and led the way forward. · The others exchanged helpless looks and quickly followed. What could they do if the big shot didn't want to tell the truth? They had to go along with him! · Song Yawen, naturally talkative, didn't stop asking questions the entire way. · "Brother Cheng, what's your talent? Tell me." · "Brother Cheng, what's your real score?" · "Brother Cheng, do you have any more of that red water? Can I trade you something for some..." · "Brother Cheng..." · Cheng Shi finally couldn't take it and shot back, "...Aren't Assassins supposed to be the silent type?" · Song Yawen grinned. "I'm going for the 'gap moe' vibe. It’s trendy right now." · "..." · Fortunately, over the next hour, no other units from the skeletal army pursued them. · After trekking across the exposed plains for half a day, Cheng Shi's group finally spotted a dense forest. · Song Yawen, who had been noisy all the way, volunteered to scout ahead. He discovered it was an abandoned home of the Wood Elves. Aside from a few derelict treehouses, no living creatures remained. · Greatly relieved, Cheng Shi and Chen Chong hurried into the woods with the wounded. · Cao Sansui’s condition was the first to stabilize. He had overextended his mental power, leaving him weak and unable to control his muscles precisely. He could only mumble what he knew about the Wood Elves to the others. · "Wood Elves follow Prosperity. They are an eternally neutral race that cherishes nature and never lives with other races. Since they chose this place, it must be relatively safe." · Hearing this, Song Yawen asked curiously, "If it's safe, why did they abandon it?" · "I said relatively safe. It was certainly safe before the war, but after the skeletal army attacked the Continent of Hope, there is no such thing as a safe place on this land." · At this moment, for safety's sake, Chen Chong was guarding the door of the treehouse. He looked back, slightly puzzled. · "I keep hearing people say the skeletal army started a war against the Continent of Hope, but what was the reason for the war?" · Cao Sansui shook his head with difficulty. · "The people on the Mage channel guess it's a war of faiths. The ones on the Faith channel guess the subterranean dwellers are fighting over something. Time focuses on the present; we have very little information. Perhaps followers of Memory would know more by retracing the past." · Cheng Shi had been listening with interest, but when the divine name of Memory was mentioned, his smile stiffened for a fraction of a second. · "I checked the time. Six hours have passed in the trial. We have eighteen hours left to hold out, but I need ten hours just to recover..." · Cao Sansui’s meaning was clear: although they had survived, the situation would be extremely grim over the next ten hours without their Mage's combat power. · No one knew what else they would encounter. They weren't foolish enough to think that just because they had survived a hellish ambush by the Terror Demons, the trial would be smooth sailing from here. · A normal trial might be like that. A special trial? Never. · Cheng Shi thought back to the name of the trial, his brow furrowing slightly. · "A Song of Blood and Fire... We've seen the blood. What about the fire?" · Tsk. His group was currently staying in a forest. If a fire came roaring through... · A forest fire stretching for hundreds of miles? · Surely it couldn't be that coincidental? · Forget it. He’d deal with it when it happened. · Cheng Shi scratched his head, pulled a bottle of Coke from his vault, and started chugging. · "???" · Song Yawen was dumbfounded by the sight. "Brother Cheng, space in the vault is worth its weight in gold, and you use it for this?" · Cheng Shi pointed at Chen Chong and laughed. "Chen Chong keeps booze in his. What’s wrong with me keeping a few Cokes? If life loses its pop, what's left to enjoy?" · Chen Chong didn't look back, but his vigorous nodding showed he wholeheartedly agreed. · Song Yawen did have drinking water in his own vault, but that was emergency water for survival in extreme environments. It couldn't compare to the flavor of a cold Coke. Watching Cheng Shi drink so refreshingly, he unconsciously swallowed his saliva. · "Brother Cheng... any more of that Coke?" · Seeing his expression, Cheng Shi didn't say a word and pulled out five more bottles. · "??? Brother Cheng, is your vault just filled with Coke?" · Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow but said nothing. · Song Yawen was thrilled. Since it wasn't his own storage space being wasted, he quickly grabbed a bottle and didn't forget to distribute the rest. · As it turned out, drinking Coke after a battle really was a mood booster. Everyone felt a surge of relief. Even Nangong, who couldn't move, took a few sips with Cheng Shi’s help. · "The forest is still too big of a target. We’ll rest for two or three hours, then move further away." · After finishing his drink, Chen Chong gripped his sword and headed out. Guarding was his responsibility as a lawful believer of Order. · Xia Wan and Song Yawen sat quietly inside, looking after the wounded while resting their eyes. · But the moment Song Yawen closed his eyes, a wave of drowsiness washed over him. It was so soft and comfortable that he felt no desire to resist. · Thud. · Song Yawen, who had been sitting, slumped to the floor. The other wounded members in the room also slowly closed their eyes, drifting into sleep. · While everyone was sound asleep, Cheng Shi suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of cunning crossed his gaze. · "Tsk. Drinking anything offered to you... I guess you haven't been beaten down by the world enough." · Chuckling softly, his eyes drifted toward Nangong. · [END]