The sage was determined to die.

Ji Bai has always been a very honest person.

Looking at the old woman's face, which held a mixture of suspicion, wariness, and trust, he said threateningly, "When I was giving that Chen state examinee the literary talent test..."

Ji Bai frowned deeply, seemingly wanting to speak but unable to, as if recalling the events was extremely difficult for him.

The old woman nudged him with her elbow and said, "Alright, do you have to put on a show before you'll tell me?"

Ji Bai rubbed his nose and said sullenly, "He tried to merge with Wenxin twice, and failed both times. He was almost killed, and his body was almost torn apart."

He laughed and lied: "So while he was unconscious, I took him apart and found that his internal organs were no different from ours."

"But why is it that when the Guardians of the Book Mountain obtain the Literary Heart, their bodies explode, while these examinees, whose bodies are the same as ours, don't die?"

Ji Bai talked in circles for a long time, successfully making the old woman who was having a heart-to-heart talk fall silent for two seconds.

So she asked very directly, "How do you know they're the same?"

Ji Bai said ambiguously, "Because I've also torn myself apart."

The old woman didn't doubt the truth of Ji Bai's claim of "breaking people up." Ji Bai might not actually do such a thing, but strictly speaking, they had done it quite often.

She had witnessed firsthand how one person dismembered another, how a perfectly healthy person was shredded into sausages, yet somehow survived. She felt nauseous by the end, but still didn't hear the red mass of flesh begging for mercy.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little disdain for Ji Bai's hobby.

Ji Bai was also very nervous about telling this lie, but for the sake of his plan, he still decided to take the risk.

"So, do you know what this means?" Ji Bai asked.

"Are you testing me?" The old woman pointed to herself.

"Didn't you ever think about that?"

Ji Bai coaxed patiently, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, "Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. Even if I gave you this Wenxin right now, what are the chances you'd survive?"

The old woman pursed her lips, her mind flashing back to countless guards who had tried to win Wenxin's heart only to be blown to bits. She was unusually honest when she said, "There's no chance."

Ji Bai crossed his arms, adopting a superior posture, and calmly said, "This is the difference in intelligence. There's already a pitifully thick barrier between us."

"Since those candidates were able to bring out Wenxin, they must have secrets that we don't know about."

Ji Bai wiped his face, his expression serious, and his breathing became unusually rapid.

He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fingers, as if he were doing something extremely dangerous, so much so that he hesitated and couldn't speak.

The old woman seemed somewhat solemn and suspicious during the heart-to-heart talk, mainly because Ji Bai was such a good actor.

She didn't completely disbelieve him, but his exaggerated and pretentious desire to perform really reduced his credibility.

Ji Bai gritted his teeth and said with fierce determination, "It's impossible to get this secret just by being an examiner, so I've decided to impersonate a candidate."

As soon as he finished speaking, he looked at the old woman he was talking to and his eyes suddenly reddened, but he felt uneasy.

"I've thought this through carefully," Ji Bai said in a deep voice. "You don't need to try to persuade me."

Unexpectedly, the old lady calmly said "Oh".

"It's not like no one's ever done this before, I thought you were some kind of genius..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

Ji Bai's next move completely widened her eyes.