The sage was determined to die.

"Seriously."

Ji Bai gave him a strange look and asked, "You two aren't plotting something together, are you?"

Chu Ze was slightly surprised: "Do you think he and I could have been this honest with each other before?"

Ji Bai's mind flashed to Ji Ying's face, and he nodded, saying, "That's true."

He couldn't help but think, "You two have to interpret everything you say the wrong way, right?"

Chu Ze was momentarily speechless, then laughed and said, "It's not that bad."

"I can only say," Chu Ze rubbed his fingers, "that there's a certain mutual respect between us."

"You two seem to admire each other," Ji Bai couldn't help but say, "but in the end, it's someone else who suffers?"

He paused, then couldn't help but retort, "This isn't mutual appreciation, it's more like a secret affair, isn't it?"

Chu Ze tilted his head slightly, not angry at all, but suddenly said, "Brother Ji's focus is indeed unique."

Ji Bai: "..."

He rubbed his forehead and said, "Let's talk this out. Don't call me that."

After speaking, Ji Bai's gaze slowly lost some of its warmth. He lowered his hand, his expression calm: "But I am indeed curious, why did you attack him?"

Before the other person could speak, he crossed his arms and tapped his fingers rhythmically.

After a while, he said, "Let me guess. First of all, only a fool would believe that Wang Zhixuan went into the Book Mountain alone for the sake of high-quality literary talent. Since he can take it, why would he go to such lengths? That's one point."

Chu Ze narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at him without saying a word.

Ji Bai continued, "Then it's related to the person behind him, someone powerful and influential who can't get into the Book Mountain, that injured old man, your enemy?"

Chu Ze sighed, seemingly genuinely surprised: "Brother Ji is indeed intelligent."

"I told you not to call me that."

His fingers tapped faster, his mind raced, but his gaze remained calm: "Is that really all there is to it?"

"Isn't this enough?"

Chu Ze smiled slightly, but the smile looked completely fake. "Ji Bai, never underestimate a person's hatred."

Ji Bai looked at him like he was an idiot: "If an ignorant fool said this, it would be one thing, but it's really not convincing for an old fox like you to say it."

Chu Ze shrugged, not denying it.

"Since you're unwilling to tell me, I'll just have to guess."

Ji Bai circled around a few times, pretending to think, and asked himself as he walked, "What does it have to do with Wenxin? Of course, only a fool would do something without a reason."

"Personal grudges, literary heart."

Ji Bai turned to look at him and saw that the other party was neither humble nor arrogant, and his face showed neither the feeling of being exposed for lying nor the realization that the truth had been revealed.

Ji Bai suddenly thought of a possibility: "Could it be related to me?"

He walked up to Chu Ze, looked him in the eye, and said, "What, are you trying to set me up?"

"Plan..." Chu Ze sighed, recalling the other party's repeated emphasis. "You've got quite a lot on your mind."

Ji Bai snorted, his eyes flickering with a hint of disappointment in his tone: "So that's not it after all?"

"Not really," Chu Ze said.

Ji Bai looked into the other person's eyes, then suddenly reached out and grabbed their wrist, lowering his voice slightly: "It's obvious, why are you wasting so much time talking to me like this? Aren't you just deliberately stalling for time?"

"Let me think." Ji Bai tightened his knuckles, the veins on the back of his hand bulging. "Are we waiting for that unlucky guy to be burned to ashes?"

Chu Ze finally showed signs of being exposed.

He smiled and said, "Yes."