Chapter 187 - The Scum Is Hypothetical

"Da ge said the woman presented a corpse, thus the case is closed." Sun Yi said when he arrived in the dining hall.

They went to eat breakfast while Sun Yi sent Sun Rong to his room since he still has to sleep after watching over Qie Shi whole night. They can't stay up late since they are contestants.

They still have appetite after talking about corpse since they have a high psychological stability. Who wouldn't have if your job is killing corpses all day and all night?

"How can Qie Shi kill a person, though... he doesn't look like it." Feng Mo said.

"You shouldn't just base on the appearances. Some morose people has a kind heart while some who are gentlemanly is hiding a knife." Cheng Sheng said. "That's the basic rule of life." He told them.

"..." right. They thought. Here's the prime example of a gentleman who is actually a scum to his core.

Sun Yi smiled seeing their expression. "Da ge told me that when a person faces death, they will unleash their hidden potential and maximize it." He said as the servants served his food.

"He's right." Chen Han said. "Qie Shi must have fought with the woman's employee and it led to either of their death." He said.

They nodded in agreement.

"There're just two things that will happen when death looms over you." Cheng Sheng said.

"..." here we are with 'Cheng Sheng's Two Things'. They thought.

"One, you snap because of fear and it triggered your adrenaline to rush all over your body making your body move on its own." Cheng Sheng said. "Two, you snap but your mind had gone completely blank and stayed blank, and your body that was paralyzed in fear turned into a corpse after your opponent already killed you because you didn't react in time." He explained.

"So, either it's kill or be killed." Li Tian said.

"Yes." Cheng Sheng nodded. "Most people died because their brain didn't respond on time. Some people lived because their body reacted on time." He said.

"Why is it some people's adrenaline was triggered while the others didn't when both were in the same situation?" You Rou curiously asked.

"Same situation, but different condition." Cheng Sheng said. "Precisely, it's their mental condition." He said. "It is the key." He looked at them. "In short, it's based on their will." He answered.

"'will'?" They asked.

"Will to live, will to die." Cheng Sheng said. "Either you fight, or you surrender and die." He explained.

"Oh…" they said and resumed eating.

"So, the reason Qie Shi killed the woman's employee is because of his adrenaline rush?" Sun Yi asked.

"Could be." Cheng Sheng answered. "But it also could be not." He said as he ate the shrimp Fei Yin peeled for him and fed him. "Maybe, it wasn't even Qie Shi who killed them. That woman is a liar. How can you completely believe her?" he said before he paused. "But, we don't know Qie Shi, either. And we do not know the entire situation. We're just talking in theory here." He said.

They looked at him with a complicated gaze. We really can't follow his thoughts. They thought, feeling dizzy of Cheng Sheng's words. 

Fei Yin saw their expression and he spoke. "Qie Shi may or may not be the employee's murderer." He said. "Supposing he is, he might have fought back as a self-defense, or it was intentional since he wanted to save himself." he explained.

"Ooh…" they said as they looked at Fei Yin with worship in their eyes. As expected, only he can understand Cheng Sheng! They thought.

Yu Sheng, who was quietly listening, smiled. Interesting. He thought. Even I who had been with His Highness the most have times I couldn't understand His Highness. However, this guy… he thought as he secretly looked at Fei Yin. Who is he? Could it be he has a relation to His Highness travelling in the other worlds? His brow slightly knit.

"Yu Sheng." Zuo Zhe called. "Didn't you like the celery? Here." He said as he placed the vegetable on Yu Sheng's bowl.

"Thank you." Yu Sheng said and smiled. He felt warm because of Zuo Zhe's care. When His Highness finally decided to return to our world, I'll definitely take Zhe with me. He thought and his smile became brighter.

"If that's the case, can we go back to the Dongxin to prove Qie Shi's innocence?" Lei Ling asked.

Lei Qing nodded in agreement. "That's right. It'll be in our way when we return to Xinfaxian." She said.

"Poor Qie Shi…" You Rou sighed in pity.

"You might not." Sun Yi said.

Everyone looked at him. "Why?" Feng Mo asked.

"Da ge said, the important thing a thief stole – " Sun Yi said, his expression grave. " – is a demonic treasure." He said.

"What?!"

"Yes." Sun Yi said. "And it seems that what happened to Qie Shi is related with it too – " he said.

Wu Xi abruptly rose from his seat and his hand clenched the hilt of his sword.

"Wait!" Li Tian immediately called him when they saw him walked towards the door. They can understand what he's trying to do. "Chen Han!" he called.

Chen Han, Feng Mo and Fei Yin immediately went to stop Wu Xi. "Wait!" Feng Mo told Wu Xi as he blocked the door while Fei Yin and Chen Han grabbed Wu Xi's arms. "We still do not know if what Rong-dage said is true or not." He told him.

Wu Xi can't speak and so he struggled from Chen Han and Fei Yin's hold in defiance. "Wu Xi." Cheng Sheng called as he walked towards them. "I already gave you my word and I'll keep it." He said. "I will save Qie Shi." He told Wu Xi and stopped right in front of him.

Wu Xi, through his mask, stared at Cheng Sheng, seeming to see if Cheng Sheng is sincere. Only then did he calm down.

Cheng Sheng patted his shoulder before he gave him a talisman. "Bringing a brush and ink is inconvenient just to write down your thoughts." He said. "I made this Thought Conveying Talisman for you after I made a deal with you." He told him. "Only the thoughts you wish to say will be written in this talisman. It doesn't require qi. Even an ordinary person can use it." He explained. He meant, even Qie Shi – who is unable to speak right now, can have his thoughts known to them if he wishes to speak to them. "It requires skin contact. If the Thought Conveying Talisman touches the skin of a person, and if they want to tell you something but unable to, the thing/s they wanted to say will be shown here." He said.

Wu Xi took the Thought Conveying Talisman and words appeared on the talisman's surface. "Thank you." was written. The talisman is Cheng Sheng's sincerity.

Their eyes widened and they looked at Wu Xi. Cheng Sheng smiled to encourage him. "You are welcome. You're one of my friends now." he told him. "Do you want to go back to Dongxin Town earlier?" he asked.

"Yes." Wu Xi answered through the Channeling Talisman. "I want to avenge him." He added.

"You may not answer, but what relationship do you have with Qie Shi?" Cheng Sheng curiously asked.

"It isn't inconvenient to tell. He saved my life before." Wu Xi answered. "He gave me a share of his bread and gave me medicines to treat myself." He explained.

"Then why did he stab Ah Sheng before?" Chen Han asked.

Wu Xi didn't answer, since he didn't know the answer.

"It must be the demonic poison in him." Cheng Sheng said as he placed his fingers on his chin. "However, this demonic poison in Qie Shi's body is stronger than which poisoned Shu Mu." He explained and looked at them. "The poison pill Shu Mu had before only indirectly created forming Shu Mu's heart demon, which gave birth to the demonic poison in his veins." He said as he walked back to their table. "I've said before, there are two ways to obtain a demonic poison: one is internal and the other is external. The internal way is through a heart demon. The external way – " he said. " – is through ingestion." He told them.

A deafening silence fell upon them. The food and drinks have gone cold. "You mean to say…" Li Tian said in a slow voice.

Cheng Sheng nodded. "Yeah. Qie Shi must have ingested a demonic poison." He said.

"How can he…" Lei Ling said and his shoulder fell.

Wu Xi nudged Cheng Sheng's shoulder with the hilt of his sword to call his attention. "Cheng Sheng. I've been with Qie Shi for three months. He is a nice person despite his way of living. He is smart since he is a thief. He wouldn't take a demonic poison." The Thought Conveying Talisman showed them a large group of words.

Cheng Sheng thought about it. He remembered their first meeting with Qie Shi in the Dongxin Town. "I also believe he isn't that stupid." He said. "Someone who is weak knows their place in life thus they commit crimes. However, to commit a crime, one must be smart to not be caught while doing the crime." He explained. "If they really were caught, then it's just their bad luck." He shrugged. "Thus, Qie Shi didn't ingest the poison – voluntarily." He smiled. "He was forced to take it."