NOVPUB"You’re playing dumb?" Jia Xu flew into a rage in an instant, his previously cheerful, cautious, hope-filled expression turning entirely to anger, "I ask you for a trifling piece of information, and you won’t even tell me that; you’re worse than a wandering fortune-teller!"
Zixu was grabbed by the collar and yanked up by Jia Xu, who shook him wildly, unconsciously avoiding Jia Xu’s gaze, and yet precisely because of this, missed the flash of wild joy in Jia Xu’s eyes.
Even a demon like Jia Wenhe, who could conceal emotions, showed a gleam of wild joy; this showed just how vital the information Zixu had inadvertently revealed was.
"Do you know or not, know or not!" Jia Xu shook Zixu’s collar back and forth, looking as if he were about to shake Zixu apart.
[He can’t tell me which rank, which means it’s about the grand ennoblement of ministers. Given the way I phrased my questions earlier, along with Lord’s ultimate ideal, and Chen Zichuan’s obstinate nature, it seems that in my generation we have at least achieved some preliminary success.]
Jia Xu had completely reined in his excitement; he already learned what he most wanted to know, and what remained was to wheedle a couple of additional simple pieces of information through shamelessness, and he had already chosen his questions.
"Put me down, put me down." Zixu felt dizzy from being shaken.
"Put down my ass, answering nothing to every question; I vouched for you to Ziyang, and you’re making me lose face. I’ll kill you!" Jia Xu held on to Zixu without letting go, and with no regard for restraint, enveloped both Zixu and himself with his vast spiritual capacity. He was confident that even if Zixu were an "immortal," he could risk his own life to drive Zixu insane, especially at such a close distance.
"Calm down, calm down, calm down!" After being enveloped by Jia Xu’s abnormal spiritual capacity, Zixu could no longer stay composed. He hated top strategists the most; at this distance, if Jia Xu went mad and poured all his spiritual power into his Sea of Consciousness, even if Zixu didn’t go insane, he would still suffer a personality split from the Will Impact of Jia Xu’s thoughts, memories, spirit, and will.
"Calm down my ass! Are you telling or not? If not, we’ll part ways on bad terms. I mobilized a bunch of people and got nothing; I can take it!" Jia Xu roared at Zixu.
At such close proximity, Zixu didn’t dare make any rash moves, fearing that he might provoke Jia Xu with an accidental action, leading to a bad parting where everyone would suffer; at this distance, not even Nanhua would be able to dodge!
"I can’t tell!" Just as Zixu began to speak, he felt the spiritual fluctuations around him eerily spiral out of control.
"I’ll speak!" Zixu howled, recognizing the gravity of the situation, then with a tearful expression on his face, he said to Jia Xu, "Wen He, I really can’t tell. Let’s make a deal; you ask me two simple questions that you can answer back home and let me off the hook."
Seeing Jia Xu’s thoughtful look, and feeling that the spiritual power around him was no longer agitated as before, Zixu heaved a sigh of relief.
Then, worried that Jia Xu might coerce him like before, "But don’t do this; you won’t get anything out of me that I can’t answer. Keep pressuring me, and we’ll both part on bad terms. Even if I endure your attack, I might not die, but if I speak, I will definitely die! How about that!"
"You’re ruthless!" Jia Xu said after hesitating for a long while.
Seeing that Zixu was making both soft and hard approaches, Jia Xu knew the right moment had arrived, but he still retorted stubbornly, "But how can I be certain you aren’t deceiving me? And what if you cause me trouble in the future? I’ve heard that curses from your group are quite fearsome."
"I will absolutely tell you everything I know, and I swear I will not cause you any trouble in the future. As for curses, such people as you need not worry. No ’immortal’ would dare to make a move against a sovereign king adored by tens of thousands or his ministers—the karmic consequences are too great," Zixu said vexedly. "However, you only have two chances. If you ask about things I can’t tell you, I still won’t divulge them, and it will count towards your limit."
"Good, let’s seal the oath with a clap of hands!" Jia Xu raised his hand.
"Alright!" Concerned that Jia Xu would act as erratically as before, Zixu hurriedly agreed. With such an oath in place, if Jia Xu were to go back on his word, Zixu would have the courage to take his life later.
"Tell me, the spiritual talents of all those under my lord Liu Xuande, their drawbacks, how to avoid these drawbacks, and any abilities similar to spiritual talents," Jia Xu asked, feigning contemplation for a moment.
Jia Xu squeezed four questions into one, but at this point, Zixu couldn’t be bothered to nitpick. This matter didn’t have major karmic repercussions, and since Zixu had used Liu Xuande’s fortune to escape a disaster, he felt obligated to repay that debt, so he frankly relayed the detailed spiritual talents of everyone under Liu Bei’s command.
"Tell me the spiritual talents of either Xun You or Cheng Yu." Jia Xu already had a good grasp of the spiritual talents of Liu Bei’s followers and knew Zixu wasn’t lying, although he was obviously surprised by Zhuge Liang’s abilities. Nonetheless, his expression remained largely unchanged as he continued to inquire.
"That..." Zixu stared at Jia Xu for a long time upon hearing this before finally blurting out Cheng Yu’s spiritual talent resolutely. A little karmic repercussion was better than his current trouble. Zixu truly feared Jia Xu pressing on; the previous ease of speech didn’t mean Zixu was willing to be pushed to the brink.
"Done. If Cheng Zhongde’s talent is as such, then Elder Xun’s talent must be what makes us undervalue and overlook him. It seems I need to be wary in the future," Jia Xu thought to himself after confirming the spiritual talents of the two. As for whether Zixu was telling the truth, Jia Xu was confident in his own judgment.
"Thank you, Zhongyou. If you had been this cooperative earlier, things would have been better for both of us. Don’t you agree?" Jia Xu said with a hint of a smile, "You must be quite annoyed with me by now. I won’t disturb your rest any further."
Zixu’s face twitched slightly, and he ultimately gave up on the idea of continuing the chat with Jia Xu. After experiencing Jia Xu’s shameless behavior earlier, Zixu didn’t want to go through that again, so he gestured for Jia Xu to refrain from coming back; he was very annoyed.
Seeing Zixu’s displeased expression without much awe, Jia Xu no longer feared the unknown, and he felt no pressure teasing these so-called "immortals."
Giving Zixu a casual bow, Jia Xu turned and left. Zixu owed him nothing, and he felt little affection towards Zixu, cautious that he might lower his own intelligence by association. With the "immortal’s" intelligence, Jia Xu no longer cared, probably a result of him practicing himself into stupidity.
"Let the matter with Zixiao pass; I’ve obtained nearly all the information I wanted, except for details about this group. But given their current behavior, we need not fear them," Jia Xu thought calmly, analyzing the information he had extracted from Zixu.
"Considering the internal strife reflected in Zixiao’s current situation, the intelligence he provided should be discounted. Some of the things he informed me about, especially those concerning safety, will need to be discarded," thought Jia Xu seriously. Perhaps, it should be said that Jia Wenhe excels at self-preservation; even before delving into other analyses, he concluded that caution is still advisable.
- To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote and support me. Your backing is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com. -
