Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 321 Unappreciative

Having witnessed such an event and possessing such terrifying memories, he could only remain constantly on guard, keeping a close eye on the manager's movements.

He was young and inexperienced, yet he encountered such a thing. Therefore, he thought it was very likely that the manager had left a psychological shadow in his mind.

Even now, he can still unconsciously connect the manager's voice with that bloody scene.

This was a fear he had in his youth. His core belief was that if he were to see that scene again now, he would not be as afraid or hesitant as before.

But at any time, it's always good to be cautious.

This is the path he came from, and the changes he has undergone as he has grown.

That image, and the shadow in his heart, are indelible marks on his path of growth.

Although he still cannot completely forget what happened that day, and finds it difficult to let go of it.

But the events of that day had a profound impact on him.

As he experienced more and more, his influence on the core leader diminished.

That incident had a huge impact on him for a long time. It was because of that incident that he became more cautious and careful in his actions, and he also realized his own weakness. At the same time, he also knew the benefits of his own strength.

The current leader still feels a little intimidated when he sees the manager, but he is not afraid.

In the past, when the leader encountered someone stronger than him, such as the steward, he would definitely back down.

But the current leader is completely different, as if he were a different person.

The current leader, even though he still feels somewhat intimidated when he sees the person in charge, is no longer as fearful as before.

Even if he encounters danger or life-threatening situations, he will calmly think and find a way to deal with them in an emergency, instead of just being afraid.

But there's no doubt that what he did back then was the right thing to do.

At that time, he was weak and helpless, so he could only keep quiet and hide cautiously. He had no power to deal with the situation, so it was always better to avoid trouble for the time being.

Seeing the manager's expression, the backbone could only bite the bullet and answer the questions the manager had thrown at him.

He first gave a forced smile, and then said to the steward, "These two are guests who have come here to visit. Their horses are exhausted, but they still have some goods to transport, so they have come to borrow a few horses from us."

The key figure spoke very tactfully, neither mentioning their gang of thugs nor revealing Jiang Xian's side, so as not to displease Jiang Xian.

But how could Jiang Xian not understand what he was saying?
The phrase "guests who came here" clearly indicates that Jiang Xian and Guard Li had fallen into their trap.

This is tantamount to the main leader explaining to the steward that Jiang Xian and Guard Li are, as before, tough nuts to crack and a common tactic to stall for time.

The manager was probably aware of these common methods and the team's established procedures. Having worked with them for so many years, he was naturally familiar with their tactics.

The words of the core leader can be understood upon careful consideration.

Who would come to visit this remote and desolate place? Moreover, it's the only household Jiang Xian and Guard Li have seen along their journey through the forest.

Even if someone got lost, they wouldn't just appear in front of the steward like that, and even encounter the leader, who led them there. In the steward's view, it was very likely that the two had fallen into a trap set by the leader.

The fact that the leader said this shows his intelligence. He not only gave the manager an explanation, but also misled the manager into thinking that Jiang Xian and Guard Li were being treated the same way by the team as before.

When dealing with people and things that are difficult to take down immediately, their team naturally has to be careful and maneuver, letting those easy targets slowly fall into the traps that their core members have tailored and prepared in advance.

As for Jiang Xian and Li Huwei, if they did not carefully consider the intention behind it, they would not have thought of the implication of the backbone.

They couldn't understand the implications of the leader's words to the steward, nor could they understand the leader's maneuvering, and they were even less aware that the leader was trying to calm the steward down on behalf of Jiang Xian and Guard Li, thus influencing the steward's judgment.

If you don't listen carefully to the unspoken meaning, you won't know so many different implications.

The leader's statement, on the surface, was actually giving Jiang Xian and Guard Li face, preventing the situation from escalating to an irreparable point.

However, that was not actually the case; he naturally had his own plans.

He also mentioned the goods, which further confirmed that Jiang Xian and Guard Li were easy prey in their group, making the manager more convinced of the authenticity of their leader's actions.

By doing this, the leader would reduce the danger to himself and prevent the manager from easily taking action against him.

Li, the guard, glanced at Jiang Xian's actions and then recalled what Jiang Xian had said to him before. He glanced at the steward's somewhat fierce eyes and then looked at the leader.

"Where's the horse?" Guard Li asked his leader, his tone devoid of emotion.

Upon hearing this, the leader was momentarily flustered.

He hadn't expected that Guard Li would be so direct in asking him about the horses.

In the opinion of the core leader, even strangers who have no connection with each other should exchange a few polite words or ask each other about their well-being upon meeting.

But to the utter surprise of the leader, Guard Li showed no intention of exchanging a single word with the steward.

The manager was like that, and the leader was used to it. Most of the time, the manager he had seen was cold and indifferent; he would not show any mercy to anyone except his boss.

Such a person, even the backbone of the organization felt a bit creeped out when they met him. They really didn't expect to encounter a more stubborn and ruthless person like Guard Li today.

Under the somber atmosphere created by these two individuals, even the core leader himself couldn't help but feel depressed.

Seeing this scene, his eyelids twitched a few times without him noticing, and he cursed inwardly. He had clearly wanted to mediate between the two sides, at least on the surface, to ease the tense atmosphere between them and prevent them from having a chance to fight.

However, neither Guard Li nor Jiang Xian appreciated his kindness.

He didn't think Jiang Xian and Guard Li didn't understand the meaning behind his words, nor did he think they couldn't grasp his hints or see his attempts to mediate between them.

However, the truth is that Jiang Xian and Guard Li seem to have completely disregarded the steward.

Faced with such a monster-like figure who kills people like slaughtering chickens, doesn't care about the consequences afterward, and can still calmly handle matters with them, he couldn't understand how Jiang Xian and Guard Li could not be afraid.
Or is it that the two of them possessed far greater strength than the steward, which is why they felt no fear of him whatsoever?
In truth, the core of the group couldn't understand it at all, because he was the only one who had witnessed the bloody scene involving that manager. He didn't know if it was psychological that made him so afraid of that manager.

However, others did not treat the manager the same way he did. In fact, after spending some time with him, the rest of the team completely stopped taking the manager seriously.

He couldn't understand his own thoughts or fathom his own mind.

He could even understand that those people had never seen what the manager looked like, nor had they ever seen what the manager truly looked like. As their own strength and martial arts level improved, their teammates would feel increasingly powerful and thus disregard the manager. He understood all of this.

But he still doesn't quite understand his own thoughts. In his opinion, it might be because he hadn't experienced enough things back then.

Because he wasn't afraid of the bloody scenes. Later, as he did more and more things, he saw those disgusting and unpleasant scenes more than once or twice, but they didn't frighten him. Instead, he was able to face them calmly.

But when it comes to the person in charge, he can now remain fearless, though he cannot find peace of mind.

Once the leader regained his composure, although he felt helpless, he had no other choice but to say to Guard Li, "Over there...over there."

The leader pretended to be somewhat timid as he looked at the steward. Then, seeing that the steward didn't even glance at him, he stopped caring about the steward's thoughts.

After all, his current fear of the manager is only superficial; it's just something he's putting on an act.

He was indeed quite afraid of the manager's strength and didn't want to face him alone, but he was no longer the naive young man who could easily be afraid of someone based on a few scenes or moments.

He has now grown into the de facto core of the team.

Although the team ultimately failed to advance, he did contribute a great deal to the team, and all his efforts were effective, helping the team avoid many disasters.

Their team ultimately failed to make it through, not because of him, but because of their leader.

His boss simply doesn't trust anyone else. The principle of "trusting those you employ and not employing those you don't trust" is something even someone like him, who hasn't had much formal education and has only survived to this day by virtue of his sharp mind, can understand.

However, this principle was not understood by the leader of the team.

When the core leader was framed by his boss, he couldn't believe that his boss would treat him like that, so he considered things from his boss's perspective for a long time.

He had thought before that perhaps, once you truly become the leader of a team, you will indeed have many concerns and be suspicious of this and that all day long.

But he understood that the main reason was that his boss wasn't strong enough.

The reason he ended up like this was because he lacked self-confidence. He genuinely lacked the ability to firmly grasp the team he had built and control its direction.

In fact, he was very lucky to have met a pillar of support who could offer him many suggestions or help him avoid some troubles.

But he not only failed to feel lucky, but also failed to cherish and make good use of his core strength.

Initially, he was indeed grateful to have such a capable assistant as his backbone, which helped the team avoid many troubles. He was genuinely happy for a while and delighted by the team's significant achievements during that period.

However, as the core player's prestige within the team grew, he found it increasingly difficult to tolerate him continuing down this path.

He feared that the leader's prestige within the team would grow day by day, and he was terrified that the team he had personally built would eventually become something he would never recognize. He didn't want his hard work to ultimately benefit others.

At the same time, and most importantly, he did not believe that his core leader would follow him wholeheartedly and serve him, nor did he trust that his core leader would remain loyal to the end.

After all, he had saved more than just his mentor.

He skillfully used this method and routine to save many people who were like pillars of support.

Of course, he doesn't first go to great lengths to create unnecessary man-made disasters for others, and then appear like a hero to save them from dire straits.

The reason he didn't do that wasn't because he still had a conscience and didn't want to add to the suffering of innocent people, but simply because he was too lazy to design it and didn't want to spend extra time and energy.

Those who suffered unfair treatment, those who were abandoned, those events, those disasters big and small, all really happened. It just so happened that he happened to be there and then took action as a matter of course.

He is happy to be a light for others, and he enjoys it immensely.

He firmly believed that people recruited in this way would be more loyal and reliable than those randomly recruited from unknown sources.

Even so, he still wouldn't truly trust anyone other than himself.

He didn't consider those people to be particularly reliable.

In fact, if he had let his mentor continue, his mentor would never have betrayed him; he had greatly underestimated his position in his mentor's heart.

Even if the leader truly tasted the sweetness of being in a high position, and the very thing he feared actually happened, the leader would still not forget the bond between them.

He is indeed not a good person, and he is not even remotely related to good people, but he is not someone who is completely ungrateful. He will not forget the friendship they once shared.

At least for his boss, the backbone was a loyal, reliable, and trustworthy person; however, he chose not to trust him.

(End of this chapter)