I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 111, page 1.7, section 28: Lias's Voyage
“I like talking to smart people, but sometimes being too smart can be a real headache. You guys have too many ideas.” Shui Qi frowned. Although her tone carried a hint of casualness and helpless complaint, the meaning behind her words sent a chill down one’s spine.

Shui Qi really only wanted a smart but obedient puppet without his own ideas. He admired Dao Lin, that's true, but he failed to persuade him because Dao Lin was too smart and had too many ideas of his own.

If he could, Shui Qi really wanted to control Dao Lin's mind and completely turn him into one of his own. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that at least not right now, unless he had an item with a similar effect and possessed it, in which case he would definitely use it on Dao Lin without hesitation.

“You want to talk to smart people, but you don’t want them to have too many of their own ideas. Don’t you think that’s a contradiction? Smart people must have a lot of things to think about. If they don’t have many of their own ideas…” Dao Lin paused, his icy blue eyes slowly glancing at Shui Qi, before he said without hesitation, “Unless he’s an idiot.”

Shui Qi: "..." Brother, you're really direct. Don't you consider other people's feelings?
Although Dao Lin is only 168cm tall and Shui Qi is 183cm tall, there is a strange feeling that Dao Lin is bigger than Shui Qi, especially when he expresses his opinion. His aura overwhelms everyone, except for Mu Yegui, since he always seems out of touch with reality.

"I'm a little sleepy. You can say whatever you want to say at the same time, otherwise I won't be able to hear what you say if I fall asleep." Dao Lin rubbed his ice-blue eyes, yawned and said slowly.

"I just wanted to be friends with you, brother," Shui Qi said, blinking and feigning a wronged expression.

Dao Lin's eyes twitched slightly, and he murmured, unable to bear looking at him, "I'd rather you call me Dad than my brother."

He then stretched and walked past the water, yawning sleepily, saying, "I'm so sleepy, I'm going to sleep now."

As Dao Lin walked past Shui Qi, Shui Qi, with a sullen face, said coldly, "I'm serious."

"I'm serious too." Dao Lin chuckled, paused for a moment, and then continued walking forward.

His narrow blue eyes watched Dao Lin's receding figure, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

After getting completely away from Shui Qi, Dao Lin looked up at the sky again, frowned, and said, "Why are these people so energetic in the middle of the night? Are they all night owls? That's strange."

"Isn't Daolin the same?" Mu Yegui suddenly appeared beside him and said softly in a sweet, childlike voice.

After a long silence, Dao Lin suddenly sighed, speaking earnestly like a mother nagging her daughter, "Suddenly appearing and scaring people is not a good habit."

“It didn’t appear suddenly.” Mu Yegui shook her head and said to Dao Lin in a serious tone.

"If you didn't suddenly appear, then were you here the whole time?" Dao Lin frowned, looking incredulous.

Mu Yegui nodded like a chick pecking at rice, acknowledging, "Yes."

Dao Lin: "..."

Mu Yegui: "..."

A long silence fell between the two. Mu Yegui didn't understand why Dao Lin wasn't speaking, while Dao Lin was thinking about how to ask the question without being impolite.

Suddenly, he took a deep breath, his expression resolute and determined. His icy blue eyes stared directly at Mu Yegui as he asked very seriously, "Did you see me when I was taking care of my physical needs?"

“…No.” Mu Yegui thought carefully for several seconds before slowly replying.

"What's the point of being silent without you?!" Dao Lin's cheeks suddenly flushed red, as if she were both annoyed and embarrassed, her emotions slightly agitated.

Mu Yegui blinked her clear, silver eyes, her tone slightly confused, and slowly said, "A little..." It really didn't seem like it...

Dao Lin's blush deepened. "Slightly??" "You there..." Mu Ye Gui's tone was slightly confused. Then she looked at his waist and thighs, hesitated for a moment, and asked.

Dao Lin quickly interrupted Mu Yegui, afraid that she would say something terrible to hurt him. He covered his head, then waved his hand and said, "Let me have some peace and quiet. My brain seems to be short-circuiting."

Mu Yegui tilted his head, puzzled, and said, "The human brain is not mechanically constructed, so there is no such thing as a short circuit."

“I’m using a metaphor,” Dao Lin said, nodding at Mu Yegui as if to confirm the truth of his statement.

"That……"

"I will go back by myself!"

Mu Yegui was about to say something when he was interrupted by the flustered Dao Lin, who even stumbled a few times because he had mentioned a pebble.

She looked down at her bare little feet and murmured, "Actually, I didn't see anything... Xiao Yin suddenly ran out and covered her eyes... and then I didn't see anything... How exactly are physiological needs expressed?"

However, Dao Lin seemed to have misunderstood something. Mu Ye Gui thought about it carefully and didn't think he had said anything strange.

Mu Yegui turned to look at Shui Qi, who was slowly turning back not far away, and said slowly, "It doesn't seem to be going very smoothly."

In her perception, there were no living beings around when she was talking to Dao Lin, so no one knew about their interaction. It was just that Shui Qi encountered Mu Yegui lying in wait on her way back, and a new round of probing had begun.

"What do you mean?" Shui Qi asked in surprise.

"Daolin came from the same direction as you, and the reason you invited people out was basically to invite them to join the Strategist Association." She said all of these things from the perspective of standing still and watching Daolin walk by and then watching Shuiqi return, while also taking into account the actual situation of Shuiqi's invitation.

"Things are going smoothly. After all, Dao Lin is a smart man, and he knows what he needs to do." In fact, Shui Qi's words were very skillful. He neither said that Dao Lin agreed nor refused, but only implied that Mu Yegui Dao Lin had agreed to his invitation. In reality, he did not reveal any information at all.

"If things really go smoothly, shouldn't we come back together?" Mu Yegui asked as Shui Qi approached.

"Wouldn't that expose us?" Shui Qi chuckled softly.

Mu Yegui nodded as if she had just realized something, seemingly agreeing with Shui Qi's statement. But the next second, she changed the subject and asked, "But if I saw it, wouldn't that be considered exposure?"

"If Ye Gui also chooses to accept my invitation, then we will be companions." Shui Qi said cryptically, her long, narrow blue eyes deep and unfathomable.

Both Dao Lin and Shui Qi were speaking with hidden meanings; let me give you an example.

Shui Qi: "I like talking to smart people, but sometimes their intelligence is a real headache. You guys have too many ideas." (Don't force me to use unconventional methods if you don't agree.)

Dao Lin: "Wanting to talk to smart people, yet not wanting them to have too many of their own thoughts—don't you think that's a contradiction? So-called smart people must need to think a lot; if they don't have many of their own ideas… unless they're an idiot." (You're so sweet, daydreaming is really something.)
The same logic applies to what Mu Yegui and Shui Qi said later.

When I finished writing this chapter and checked for typos, I inexplicably felt that Dao Lin and Shui Qi were acting like a cult, even though that wasn't what I meant. It's normal for the two of them to be at odds.

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(End of this chapter)