The sage was determined to die.

Ji Ying had been watching silently from the side, but as the other party's actions became increasingly rude, she noticed that he was actually being rougher.

He frowned slightly and couldn't help but ask, "Won't you break it?"

The girl turned around, raised an eyebrow at him, and smiled: "Haven't you heard the saying?"

"What did you say?"

"Of course, true gold fears no fire." As she spoke, the girl tightened her grip even more.

Ji Ying stood to the side, slightly silent: "But, this shouldn't be gold, right?"

With a "thud," the girl dropped what she was holding. She was silent for a moment, then bent down to pick it up and said, "It seems so."

……

"I wish this were gold."

Ji Bai looked at Yan Ming and suddenly spoke.

Yan Ming was somewhat used to Ji Bai's intermittent bouts of erratic behavior.

Even just by listening, one can fully understand the unspoken meaning of the other person's words.

"What's so great about gold?" he muttered under his breath, then said, "This stuff is much more valuable than gold."

Unbeknownst to him, Yan Ming's gaze toward Ji Bai even revealed a hint of encouragement to study.

"Scholars, don't always think about money."

Upon hearing this, Ji Bai simply sighed and said, "You don't understand. Intangible assets are like a pie in the sky for the boss. I'm afraid I'll be overwhelmed by loans."

Hearing Ji Bai say this, Yan Ming sighed inwardly.

Sigh, this person is talking nonsense again.

"However," Yan Ming said, pointing to Wang Zhixuan on the ground, "after the small talk, we should continue burning him. He looks like he's about to die."

At that moment, the three of them saw another turtle carcass, although its charred exterior made it impossible to tell what was inside.

Fortunately, Ji Bai has a keen sense of smell and the ability to act.

Ji Bai shook his head and said, "Forget it, I'm afraid he'll continue to harm himself."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhixuan, who was lying on the ground pretending to be dead, unconsciously closed his eyes even tighter.

As Yan Ming was wondering why this person had suddenly changed his nature and become so kind, he saw Ji Bai's unfriendly gaze sweep over him like a radar, and he even raised his hand at him in a very shameless manner.

Seeing the other party's shameless actions, he suddenly felt like he couldn't escape.

"...Okay, I understand."

Yan Ming slowly reached into his chest, and after a long while, he hesitated and reluctantly took out the thing.

Then Ji Bai snatched it away with lightning speed, lit it along with the torch, and threw it into the fire.

The move was so swift and decisive that Yan Ming didn't even have time to react.

"What are you doing?" Yan Ming asked.

"Why are you so surprised?" Ji Bai raised his eyebrows and looked at him. "Anyone who didn't know better would think I kidnapped your son."

"It's just an experiment."

With the help of this accelerant, the flames instantly consumed the entire turtle's body.

From Yan Ming's perspective, he couldn't understand what the person in front of him was thinking. He looked at the burning fire, took a few steps forward, and reached out to touch it.

"Hey, it's actually not hot at all," Ji Bai exclaimed as he grilled his paws.

"I knew it! How could one turtle have so many corpses to burn? Turns out it was... a mirage?"

He muttered his own guesses in a low voice, and to others, his self-talk made it clear that he was getting even more seriously ill.