The sage was determined to die.

Chu Ze reached out and touched half of his face, as if he wanted to put the torn mask back on.

"You were quite blunt in your refusal," Chu Ze said. "Anyone else would probably be angry."

Although he didn't know how the other party guessed his identity, since Chu Ze didn't expose him, Ji Bai pretended not to hear it.

Ji Bai's plan does not include fear of the other party's threats.

"Is that so?"

Ji Bai, looking like he was asking for a beating, yawned and said, "I've never seen you angry before. You're so good at holding it in, be careful you don't go crazy from bottling it up in the future."

Chu Ze smiled, casually tossed the bone skewer aside, and sighed, "If you don't agree, I have no choice but to choose the first option."

Ji Bai paused, instantly understanding the other person's unspoken meaning, his eyes turning cold: "So you think I'm a kind person, and that's why you're threatening me with murder?"

There was no one else around; only the two of them were on the empty ground. No one could hear their conversation, yet their confrontation was palpable.

"That's not what I meant," Chu Ze said sincerely, as always. "It's just that I'm incompetent."

Ji Bai frowned, about to speak, when he was interrupted by the other party who said, "As soon as I entered here, I noticed something was wrong. I think in this respect alone, we are the same."

"If I'm not mistaken, killing a group of people can yield a decent amount of literary talent, but that kind of literary talent is what I wanted before, not what I want now."

"So you want to try a different path? You want a better literary style?"

Ji Bai frowned slightly, his eyes full of doubt, and said to him, "Chu Ze, you are a smart man. A smart man doesn't change his mind so easily."

Chu Ze nodded and said, "But a smart person will go with the flow, won't they?"

Go with the flow...

The distance between the two was neither too long nor too short. At this moment, Ji Bai's doubts about the person in front of him were like a ball of silk suddenly wrapping around him, which could not be broken with a single pull.

Ji Bai narrowed his eyes slightly: "What exactly do you mean?"

"As expected, if you do too many bad things, no one will believe you when you tell lies."

"Ji Bai, a friend of mine told me something." Chu Ze paused, then said, "While I'm struggling with this, why don't I try following your advice?"

Ji Bai was completely confused.

"You actually have friends? You didn't just make them up, did you?" Ji Bai's face darkened; realizing he'd missed the point, he asked, "Who is that person?"

"Don't you know?"

Chu Ze was initially curious, but then a look of understanding appeared on his face: "I thought he was quite familiar with you."

……

Meanwhile, Ji Ying was walking in the darkness.

He walked very casually, his movements were not fast, and he didn't even open his eyes, but his steps were very firm.

The darkness made the passage of time seem exceptionally unreal, until a painful gasp rang out, and Ji Ying casually opened her eyes.

Lying on the ground was the disheveled Wang Zhixuan.

Ji Ying looked down at him, a natural smile playing on her lips, and a sudden laugh rang out in the air.

"Young Master, you're already failing?"

Wang Zhixuan struggled to lift his head, his dazed brain feeling as if it had been pricked by needles for a long time, and the pain suddenly struck.

"Who are you?" Wang Zhixuan's voice was hoarse. "Ji... Ji Ying? What are you doing here?"

Would you feel any better if I told you I was lost?

Ji Ying slowly pressed her hand on his throat, her knuckles tightening, making his already exhausted body even more unable to breathe.

"Don't worry," Ji Ying said, "I'm not planning to send you on your way yet."

Wang Zhixuan instinctively grabbed the other person's hand, but Ji Ying seemed unwilling to have much contact with him and quickly let go, leaving the other person alone coughing desperately.

"I know that the struggle for knowledge is like this, and I don't care what tricks you used to get here."

Wang Zhixuan's voice sounded as if it had been sanded, no longer as clear as before.

He reached out and covered his heart, only then did he feel safe.

"You're a smart person, you'd better not be so foolish as to lay a hand on me."

Wang Zhixuan had been in the dark for too long, causing his vision to deteriorate, and he could only rely on instinct to determine the location of others.

"Is that so?"

Ji Ying chuckled lightly, "But my plan requires your corpse, so I'll have to ask you to be generous, okay?"