Chapter 788: False
"Huh...?"
Qiao Jiajin and Chen Junnan glanced at Qin Dingdong at the same time.
"What are you looking at me for?"
Qin Dingdong waved her hand to dispel the smoke from the shattered black bead in front of her, her expression unchanged.
"Sister Dong, what did you say just now?" Chen Junnan asked tentatively.
"Just now? Oh, oh..." Qin Dingdong gave a natural laugh. "If you ask me, this 'Heavenly Serpent Moment' is really interesting. It couldn't even tell I was lying. Turns out you just need to answer the question, right? If I'd known that, I wouldn't have been so nervous."
"You told a lie?" Qiao Jiajin also felt something was off. "Pretty girl, both of us showed you how it works, and you chose to lie?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Qin Dingdong countered. "That bastard Chen Junnan just said he wasn't an idiot, and he passed, didn't he?"
Chen Junnan was taken aback for a moment. "Wait... hold on... are you saying I was lying just now?"
"What? Are you saying you're not an idiot?" Qin Dingdong pressed on. "Let everyone be the judge."
"Where the hell is 'everyone'?" Chen Junnan said. "Is that really how you see me?"
The two started bickering again, but Qiao Jiajin kept frowning.
After ten seconds, he interrupted them. "Pretty girl... don't change the subject. Even Junnan's getting led astray by you."
"Change the subject? Me?"
"Why are you trying to cause trouble?" Qiao Jiajin asked again.
Hearing this, Qin Dingdong's eyes dimmed for a moment, but then she immediately broke into a smile. "Ah Jin, what are you talking about? You're my favorite of the three of you. A lot of things are a girl's private matters, so don't go prying, okay?"
Chen Junnan finally caught on. "Sister Dong... I think something's off too. You don't seem like you want to die. The first two told the truth and survived. Why would you risk lying?"
"I..." Qin Dingdong's eyes darted around as she searched for an answer.
"So what you said wasn't actually a lie, was it?" Chen Junnan pressed. "What exactly are you up to? Is that why you've been sticking to me all this time?"
Qin Dingdong bit her lip, then pointed a finger at Chen Junnan's nose. "Don't you talk nonsense, you bastard. Hanging out with you is one thing, causing trouble is another. Those are two completely different things."
"Fine, fine. Then tell me—what are you doing?" Chen Junnan thought for a moment and added, "Who's behind you?"
Qiao Jiajin seemed to realize something too. "Causing trouble... Pretty girl, are you also from the 'Jidao'?"
"What? Me?" Qin Dingdong laughed and shook her head. "You're overthinking it. Big sister here is a professional con artist. I always work alone. How could I join some organization?"
"Then why are you causing trouble?" Qiao Jiajin asked.
"Hmm..." It was clear Qin Dingdong had been caught in her lie, but she still appeared composed. She looked at Qiao Jiajin and asked, "Ah Jin, is this question really that important? Big sister hasn't hurt you, has she? You've never been this serious about anything that happened before. Can't you let it slide this once?"
"No." Qiao Jiajin nodded. "I could pretend not to care about what happened before, but not now... I can feel that Convict is at a critical stage. If someone messes things up, it could have a bad effect on him."
Qin Dingdong nodded. "I see. No wonder you're suddenly so concerned about me causing trouble."
"Sister Dong..." Chen Junnan called out with a frown. "We're at this point now. Just come clean. If no one's pulling your strings, then why are you stirring things up?"
"Sigh... To be honest... I just drift between all kinds of people and teams, messing up everyone's relationships, killing a few people here and there, making everyone's goals chaotic so no one can escape—that's all." Qin Dingdong's expression turned troubled. "Does that make me look like a bad person?"
"That doesn't exactly make you look like a good person, does it?" Qiao Jiajin said, stunned. "That sounds no different from what the 'Jidao' does!"
"I don't even know what the 'Jidao' is trying to do." Qin Dingdong laughed. "I made a deal with someone too. He taught me skills, and I do jobs for him. That's all."
Hearing the words "taught me skills," Chen Junnan's expression changed instantly.
They had met Wei Yang before. That notorious con artist, in his insane state, had called Qin Dingdong his "most beloved disciple." Chen Junnan hadn't believed it then, but now it was starting to look more and more real.
"What the hell..." Chen Junnan lowered his head and muttered. "Did you really go study with him?"
"What?" Qin Dingdong gave him a puzzled look. His voice was too soft for her to make out. She changed the subject. "So, big sister's answered your questions now. Anything else?"
Chen Junnan looked up, his face serious. "What is Wei Yang's goal? Why does he want you to do the same things as the 'Jidao'?"
"You..." Qin Dingdong hesitated slightly. "How do you know it's Wei Yang?"
"Sister Dong, when we first met, you called yourself a 'con artist,' but you never did anything that actually seemed like one." Chen Junnan said. "But when I came back seven years later, you had become a genuine con artist. Is that the skill you learned?"
"Ha..." Qin Dingdong let out a resigned laugh. "Bastard... You have the nerve to ask. I went to Wei Yang as a teacher because of you."
"Because of me...?" Chen Junnan was taken aback.
"Big sister always claimed to be a con artist, but in the end, I was conned by a scumbag like you." Qin Dingdong said. "I wanted to get out of that misery and stay away from that deadbeat, so I had to visit an old master."
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Chen Junnan, rarely angry, said. "Your boy here has always acted with integrity. How could I have conned you?!"
"Then why did you avoid me?"
"Because I told a little lie."
As Qin Dingdong moved to kick him, Chen Junnan nimbly dodged.
"Hey, hey, hey..." Chen Junnan dodged as he spoke. "Sister Dong, I really have my reasons. But you can't listen to Wei Yang anymore."
"Why?"
"Even though I don't know exactly what Wei Yang is planning, I feel like his goal conflicts with Lao Qi's." Chen Junnan organized his thoughts. "Who do you trust? Him or Lao Qi?"
Qin Dingdong thought for a moment, then spoke. "Chen Junnan, I really want to trust Classmate Qi, but there's one thing I can't figure out."
"What's that?"
"I keep suspecting..." Qin Dingdong tapped her temple. "That my own memories are fake."