Chapter 788: Falsehood

"Hmm...?"

Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan both glanced at Qin Dingdong.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Qin Dingdong waved her hand to disperse the smoke from the shattered black beads, her expression unchanged.

"Dong-jie, what did you say just now?" Chen Junnan asked tentatively.

"Just now? Oh..." Qin Dingdong smiled naturally. "From what I see, this 'Tian She Shi Ke' is really interesting. It couldn't even tell I was lying. Turns out, as long as you answer the questions, you're good. I wish I'd known—I wouldn't have been so nervous."

"You were lying?" Qiao Jiajin felt something was off. "Pretty lady, we both set an example for you, and then you chose to lie?"

"So what if I did?" Qin Dingdong retorted. "Just now, that bastard Chen Junnan said he wasn't an idiot, and he passed, didn't he?"

Chen Junnan was slightly stunned. "Wait... what? Are you saying I lied just now?"

"What's wrong? Aren't you an idiot?" Qin Dingdong continued. "Let everyone judge this."

"Where the hell is 'everyone'?" Chen Junnan said. "Is that how weird my image is in your mind?"

The two of them kept arguing, but Qiao Jiajin remained furrowed in thought.

Ten seconds later, he interrupted their squabble: "Pretty lady... don't change the subject. Even Jun-nan has been led astray by you."

"Change the subject? I haven't!"

"Why are you causing trouble?" Qiao Jiajin asked again.

At Qiao Jiajin's words, Qin Dingdong's eyes suddenly dimmed for a moment, but she quickly smiled and said: "A-jin, what are you talking about? Out of you three, you're the one I like the most. A lot of things are a girl's private matters—don't pry, okay?"

Chen Junnan snapped back to his senses and quickly asked: "Dong-jie... I also feel something's not right. You don't seem like you want to die. The first two said the truth and survived—why did you risk lying?"

"I..." Qin Dingdong's eyes kept darting around as she thought of a way out.

"So, what you said wasn't a lie at all, right?" Chen Junnan pressed. "What are you really up to? Is that why you've been clinging to me?"

Qin Dingdong pursed her lips, then pointed a finger at Chen Junnan's nose and said: "You bastard, don't spout nonsense. Me seeking you out is one thing, and causing trouble is another—they're completely different."

"Fine, fine. Then tell me what you've been doing." Chen Junnan thought for a moment and added, "Who put you up to this?"

After hearing that, Qiao Jiajin realized something: "Causing trouble... Pretty lady, are you part of 'Ji Dao'?"

"What? Me?" Qin Dingdong laughed and shook her head. "You're overthinking it. Big sister is just a professional con artist who always works alone. How could I join some organization?"

"Then why are you causing trouble?" Qiao Jiajin asked.

"Um..." Qin Dingdong was clearly caught in her lie, but she still seemed completely unfazed. She just looked at Qiao Jiajin and said, "A-jin, is this question that important? Big sister hasn't harmed you guys at all. We've been through so much before, and I never saw you get this serious. Can't you let big sister off the hook this time?"

"No." Qiao Jiajin nodded. "Whatever happened before, I could pretend not to care, but it's different now... I can feel that Deception Boy is at a critical stage. If someone causes trouble, it might have a bad effect on him."

Qin Dingdong nodded after hearing that: "I see. No wonder you're suddenly so concerned about me causing trouble."

"Dong-jie..." Chen Junnan frowned and said: "Now that we're here, just tell us the truth. If no one put you up to it, why cause trouble?"

"Sigh... Well, truth be told... I just hang around all sorts of people and teams, mess up their relationships, kill a few people casually, make everyone's goals totally chaotic so no one can escape— that's all." Qin Dingdong said with a troubled expression. "Does that make me look like a bad person?"

"That doesn't make you look like a good person either," Qiao Jiajin said blankly. "It sounds no different from what 'Ji Dao' does!"

"I don't even know what 'Ji Dao' is supposed to do." Qin Dingdong laughed. "I made a deal with someone, that's it. He taught me some skills, and I do things for him in return."

At the words "taught me some skills," Chen Junnan's face changed instantly.

They had once met Wei Yang, that notorious fraudster who, in his madness, called Qin Dingdong his "most beloved disciple." Chen Junnan hadn't believed it at the time, but now it seemed more and more likely.

"What the..." Chen Junnan muttered to himself with his head down. "Did you really go learn from him?"

"What?" Qin Dingdong looked at Chen Junnan in confusion. His voice was too soft for her to hear, so she changed the subject: "Anyway, I think big sister has answered enough. Do you have any more questions?"

Chen Junnan looked up, his face serious: "What's Wei Yang's goal? Why is he making you do things like 'Ji Dao'?"

"You..." Qin Dingdong hesitated slightly. "How did you know it was Wei Yang?"

"Dong-jie, when we first met, you called yourself a 'con artist,' but you never did anything that actually seemed like one." Chen Junnan said. "But seven years later, when I came back, you had become a real con artist. Is that the skill you learned?"

"Ha..." Qin Dingdong laughed helplessly, then said: "You bastard... You have the nerve to ask. I went to Wei Yang as my teacher because of you."

"Because of me...?" Chen Junnan was stunned.

"Big sister always claimed to be a con artist, but in the end, I got conned by a scum like you." Qin Dingdong said. "I wanted to escape that miserable life and get away from jerks, so I had to visit the old master."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chen Junnan was uncharacteristically angry. "I've always been upfront in my actions—how could I have conned you?!"

"Then why did you avoid me?"

"Because I told a little lie."

Qin Dingdong moved to kick Chen Junnan, but he dodged neatly.

"Don't, don't..." Chen Junnan said while dodging. "Dong-jie, I really have my reasons, but you can't listen to Wei Yang anymore."

"Why not?"

"I don't know exactly what Wei Yang is up to, but I feel it's against Lao Qi's goals." Chen Junnan organized his thoughts and added, "Do you trust him or Lao Qi?"

Qin Dingdong thought for a moment, then said: "Chen Junnan, I'd really like to believe Qi Tongxue, but there's one thing I can't figure out."

"What thing?"

"I always suspect..." Qin Dingdong tapped her temple with her hand, "that my own memories are fake."