Chapter 198: The Relationship Between Figure and Tears

What Liu Xiaotian is currently facing is actually a dilemma.

If he retreats, he will have no further chance for close contact with Maotouying; if he does not retreat, even if the mission succeeds, he will inevitably be blamed for "defying orders" upon his return.

With the mindset Liu Xiaotian brought from his original world, not retreating could be far more troublesome than retreating.

After all, "seeking no merit, but avoiding fault" was the survival rule for the vast majority of people in his former world in this world, and no one can violate it.

Anyone who tries to break this "rule" will ultimately come to no good end.

But the world before him, after all, is not that world.

Even though there is over a ninety-five percent overlap, after all there is still five percent different? Within two seconds, Liu Xiaotian's thoughts raced, and he ultimately decided not to go back! "Training Instructor, exchanging me for either Tang Xinyi or Qin Yuxi, I think it's worth it—what do you think?"

Having said that, without waiting for Gong Jian to speak, Liu Xiaotian slowly drew his sidearm, drew his sword, slowly threw it to the ground, raised both hands, and looked at Maotouying with a faint smile, saying: "Maotouying, you are after all a person with a head and face; although your appearance is a bit irregular, you are still a person with a weapon—dare you exchange me for one of those two women?"

He wasn't speaking; instead, he fixed Liu Xiaotian's back with a cold, gloomy gaze until he walked into the cabin and untied the ropes binding Qin Yuxi.

In one, one look `none, one wrong version%!'

Without those idle words, and without any brainless lines like "Why are you so stupid? Why drag yourself into this?", Qin Yuxi simply stared silently at that blurry yet resolute, angular face, saying nothing.

"Pfft..." Liu Xiaotian couldn't hold back and laughed again.

At this point, Maotouying was completely driven mad by this Eastern soldier before him.

Although Liu Xiaotian volunteered to be his hostage, if Liu Xiaotian's importance was still less than Tang Xinyi in his hand and Qin Yuxi behind him, then no matter what Liu Xiaotian said, no matter how harsh the words, he would certainly not agree.

"Put it on yourself, no tricks! Otherwise, I'll send you to see Lucifer right now!"

Here, the one in charge of souls after death is called King Yama, and there is more than one.

After the initial loss of emotional control, Maotouying has now completely calmed down.

The First Hall's King Qin Guang, the Second Hall's King Chu Jiang…… the Fifth Hall's King Yanluo—that is exactly the King Yama I just mentioned;

Before entering, Maotouying, who had moved to Zha'erbi's side, suddenly let out a sinister laugh: "Kid, don't get too happy too soon—I only said I'd exchange people, I never said I'd undo the explosives on her!"

Simply put, without a remote controller and the correct password, attempting to defuse it would take at least an hour.

But the time he set was only twenty-five minutes.

Maotouying: ……

Liu Xiaotian shook his head, the smile on his face growing wider:

"You…… you must come back!"

From Maotouying's perspective, he naturally had to control the person more important to the Eastern forces as a hostage in order to gain a greater chance of escaping alive.

"Now, go in immediately and release that woman—I keep my word."

"No, no, I'm laughing at your mention of Lucifer.

"Face and such—only the living have the right to worry about that.

"I'm telling you, this old guy is no ordinary tough..."—toward him, such an internationally notorious villain of many years, his hands stained with blood too numerous to count.

Looking at the relaxed Liu Xiaotian before her, Qin Yuxi couldn't help but tear up, her vision constantly blurred, to the point she couldn't even make out Liu Xiaotian's face.

But Liu Xiaotian's reaction once again exceeded his expectations.

You should know, the time bomb on Qin Yuxi's body was also something he bought at great expense, and its defusal difficulty is considerable.

"No problem, I'd thought of that; otherwise, why don't you tie one onto me as well?"

"What are you laughing at again?! Don't you believe I dare to shoot?!"

Liu Xiaotian also didn't waste words; after obtaining Maotouying's permission, he immediately headed toward the cabin door.

Who would want to die when they can live? Liu Xiaotian merely gave a faint smile, reached out to dab the tears at the corner of Qin Yuxi's eyes, and, under Maotouying's gaze, brought his tear‑stained finger to his lips to taste it, then said in a thoroughly roguish tone:

Let me tell you, here we call souls ghosts, and the supreme administrator who manages ghosts is called the Earth Store Bodhisattva; beneath him are the Ten Halls of Yama.

Maotouying didn't express an opinion right away, but his gaze quickly flitted over the faces of Chen Shanming and Gong Jian not far away, carefully observing the subtle changes in their expressions.

Only when Liu Xiaotian had undone all her bonds and, with a look, signaled her to leave did she finally whisper a sentence:

What made him feel happy and delighted was that, from Chen Shanming's face, Maotouying saw hesitation and nervousness.

Moreover, he had already strapped a bomb onto Qin Yuxi; using her to exchange for a more valuable hostage—why not?

But today, he repeatedly suffered setbacks before a young Eastern soldier who was several years younger than his daughter, not even gaining the slightest advantage in words—how could he not be angry? Of course, this anger actually stems from a deep sense of defeat.

This shows that the value of the Eastern soldier who has laid down his weapons before him is far greater than that of the woman behind him who merely has a perfect figure, an ordinary face, and only average combat ability and worth.

Now, only eighteen minutes remain.

For a cold corpse, even if everyone in the world paid their respects, it would still be meaningless.

After weighing the pros and cons, Maotouying pressed the gun barrel hard against Tang Xinyi's head, then, with his other hand, took off a pair of handcuffs from his waist, threw them at Liu Xiaotian, and ordered in a low voice:

In a sense, this is also nonsense.

According to Maotouying's line of thinking, at this moment Liu Xiaotian should have stiffened in anger, turned around and questioned him for going back on his word—then he could seize the chance to mock this young Eastern soldier, telling him what "the jianghu is treacherous, hearts are not as they used to be" means.

"I never expected you to have such a great figure—and your tears are salty too."

Maotouying's nerves are now near breaking point; what he most tabooes is such a seemingly carefree laugh—especially Liu Xiaotian's expression, which always carries a hint of contempt and disdain, which constantly stimulates his sensitive nerves.

"Shut up!" Maotouying shouted angrily, cutting off Liu Xiaotian's incessant chatter. "You brat, stop showing off your eloquence in front of me! I have no interest whatsoever in your Eastern talk of ghosts and gods!

"Not to mention me, even Chen Shanming, upon hearing this, was left speechless.

He truly has no idea what fills Liu Xiaotian's mind.

Even if you brat try to take unorthodox paths in swordplay or chess, it wouldn't go this far off the proper way, would it?

Moreover, what does having a good figure have to do with the taste of tears?

(End of chapter)