Only God

Slaier returned to the Temple of Lies, immediately summoning Wally.

The sound of footsteps approached from outside the hall, and the spokesman of lies pushed the door open and hurriedly stopped in front of Slaier. He raised his hands high, fell to his knees with a thud, and bowed to kiss the tip of Slaier's shoes.

"Ah... resourceful Slaier, please spare me!"

As Wally spoke, he diligently kissed the shoe tip, his voice filled with regret,

"I let someone escape, it's my negligence, I've failed the trust of a great Divine!"

Upon hearing Slaier wanted to see him, the clever boy immediately guessed something—Slaier had discovered someone had escaped.

The boy didn't know who had leaked the news, or if Slaier had some way to verify the head count. In any case, Wally immediately thought of a strategy.

Pretending to be dumb surely wouldn't fool Slaier; he would be found out in minutes. Rather than feigning ignorance, it was better to admit the mistake and give another reason to excuse it.

"I realized someone was missing, and I rushed to govern for you, but who knew you were not here at that time, I waited and waited, only finally did I wait for your return."

Wally added nonchalantly:

"If I had known the great Slaier had returned, I would have come here immediately to report, there would have been no need for you to send someone to find me.

Regarding that escapee,

Actually, I had already sent people to pursue him, but I still don't know who he is."

Finally, Wally kissed the shoe tip again; he raised his head, looking up at Slaier from below with a posture more humble than the lowest servants.

Slaier glanced down at him and said indifferently,

"His name is Veldor, right."

He remembered the name of everyone in the after-death town; finding out who had escaped wasn't difficult, just time-consuming.

After several comparisons, He had confirmed who it was that had run away.

Wally was stunned, then screamed:

"What?!"

The shout was frighteningly loud, even his voice changed.

Wally quickly composed himself, realizing he had overreacted, he hastily compensated,

"So it was Veldor…

I thought, after that riot, he had abandoned such thoughts, but he still clings to them."

Quickly, Wally clung to Slaier's legs, pleading urgently for mercy:

"God of lies and deception, consider my days of toil... I've served your divine plan tirelessly, night and day, I staked my life… no, my younger life, I've worked hard till today.

I thought I'd never make a mistake in my lifetime, but ironically, it happened this time, please spare me just this once!"

Then, Wally hurriedly looked up, observing Slaier's expression.

Soon, he saw Slaier slightly nodding his head.

Wally exhaled with great relief, promptly standing up with righteous indignation and pointed towards the door:

"Resourceful Slaier, indeed nothing escapes your wise eyes, just give the divine decree, and I will send more people to capture Veldor."

Wally had initially thought of deceiving Slaier a bit longer, to buy Veldor more time, to expose Slaier's lies, but now, since Slaier clearly knew Veldor had escaped, continuing to buy time was futile.

So, at this moment, Wally gritted his teeth and resolved to sacrifice his plan.

He knew well, his scheme to expose the lies through Veldor was on the verge of failure.

However... time is long, and as long as the after-death town still stood, he would find his opportunity.

Thinking this, Wally stood still, waiting for a while, but he didn't hear Slaier's divine decree.

The boy turned puzzledly, meeting Slaier's gaze.

The God of lies and deception's face remained even, seeing Wally turn, his lips slowly curved into an inscrutable smile.

Wally shivered.

"Wally, do you think, I don't know anything?"

Slaier's voice was soft, soft like the autumn wind brushing through the leaves in the forest.

But Wally felt like he had been struck by lightning, his face quickly turned deathly pale, his whole body turned motionless, like a petrified chicken.

After a while, he said in despair:

"Resourceful Slaier... what... what are you saying? I... I don't understand..."

Slaier slowly walked over to him, gently pressing his head,

"Do you think,

you can fool me?"

Wally stood as stiff as withered wheat, brittle at a touch.

His scheming… had utterly failed.

Just moments ago he thought of a decisive sacrifice, now looking back, it all seemed so ridiculous.

After a long time, Wally despondently uttered:

"How... did you find out?"

.............

Veldor ran across the vast meadow.

He breathed in the air of freedom deeply, feeling that even becoming a lonely spirit on the road was far better than staying in the after-death town indefinitely.

Soon, Veldor stopped; he began determining his direction based on the wind.

Having followed the Sects around for years, Veldor had mastered many outdoor skills, including finding directions.

After confirming his direction, he pricked his ears, listening for the "Heavenly Voice" that hid among the mountains, wilderness, and winds, taking it as divine guidance, he moved towards the sound, searching for the so-called "Stairway to Heaven."