Chapter 874: Mind Games

Mind Games

Jiang Xiaohua?

Hearing this name, the expressions of Chen Ling and Sun Bumian were somewhat subtle. Only Jian Changsheng was taken aback.

He scratched his head:

"Tell a joke? What joke are you going to tell?"

Jiang Xiaohua: ...

Because of the helmet blocking the view, Chen Ling's trio couldn't see his expression clearly. But judging from the tremor in the other party's body, Jiang Xiaohua seemed to have silently shattered all over the floor.

Seeing this, Chen Ling gave Sun Bumian and Jian Changsheng a look, turned around and walked out of the military tent.

After the three left the military tent, taking advantage of Jiang Xiaohua's absence, Chen Ling pondered and spoke:

"No, what joke is he going to tell anyway? I've been waiting forever!"

"... It was superfluous for me to call you out." Chen Ling silently rolled his eyes. "His name is Jiang Xiaohua (姜小花), not 'jiang xiao hua' (講笑話 - tell a joke)."

Jian Changsheng suddenly saw the light.

"This person is a bit strange." Sun Bumian slowly spoke while pinching his Prayer Beads. "The Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path hasn't been opened for so many years, yet he was inside before we arrived... This shows that he either came in with those candidates, or he has been staying in this Ancient Vault for hundreds of years."

"I'm more inclined towards the latter." Chen Ling glanced at the military tent. "He doesn't breathe, like a corpse, and he didn't make a sound when we buried him in the dirt..."

"Sounds like a Mummy buried with the dead in an imperial mausoleum."

"Yes."

"He's an Old Fella?" Jian Changsheng opened his mouth in surprise. "Do all the Old Fellas these days love acting young so much?"

"It's just speculation." Chen Ling paused for a moment. "I'm just reminding you guys, don't completely lower your guard just because he concealed our Auras... His behavior is too eccentric, be careful in case he has a bigger scheme."

"But at the current stage, we indeed need him to help us conceal our Auras."

"So, utilize him, guard against him. If he has any abnormal actions... kill him."

"Why does it feel like we're so much like villains?"

"Don't forget, we are the Dusk Society... If he isn't an old antique from the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path, but from the Nine Great Realms, we must be even more careful. In case he detects our identity as the Dusk Society, it's very likely he'll turn hostile, or even secretly murder us."

"True..."

"But Hearts, why must you kill that young man?" Sun Bumian hesitated for a long time before finally asking the question he always wanted to ask.

Chen Ling knew who he was asking about, and recounted everything that happened in the Timeline Save File.

"Timeline Save File..."

"So you knew long ago that ultimately Ying Fu would become the new [Emperor] of this era?"

"Correct."

Jian Changsheng furrowed his brows tightly, asking in confusion, "That's not right... Then if you kill this Ying Fu now, he won't have the Timeline Save File in the future, and thus won't hunt you down in the Save File, and you won't go kill him... Wouldn't this be a mess?"

"It won't be a mess, because everything is unchangeable. I fundamentally cannot kill Ying Fu... Or rather, this world will not allow me to kill him. Once I try to change the future, it will automatically correct it." Chen Ling spoke calmly,

"Didn't you see? Just now I was almost about to slit his throat, but the Imperial Remnant arrived just in time... If I continue the pursuit, such things will still happen."

As soon as this sentence came out, Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian were both taken aback.

"You clearly know you can't kill him, why go through so much trouble?"

"Ying Fu won't die, this is destined, but other things aren't." Chen Ling narrowed his eyes slightly,

"The future cannot be changed, which means no matter what I do, ultimately he will become my enemy... Since this is the case, even if I can't truly kill him, I still must make him pay some price. For example, leaving him with some incurable wounds, or leaving a heavy psychological shadow on him...

The weakening caused to him now, whether physiological or psychological, will become my advantage in the future.

Moreover..."

"Moreover what?"

"Moreover, him hunting me down last time made me very miserable." Chen Ling spoke indifferently. "This grudge, I must avenge."

After hearing this, Sun Bumian couldn't help but click his tongue.

"It's truly bloody bad luck for this Emperor to go against you..."

"What did I say." Jian Changsheng spoke again while counting on his fingers. "Sinister, cunning, unfeeling, cruel, crazy, loves to deceive people, loves to..."

Chen Ling glared fiercely at him, and Jian Changsheng obediently shut his mouth.

Chen Ling was about to say something else, when from the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the military tent not far away, and his expression stiffened slightly.

Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian also looked over. They saw that at some point, Jiang Xiaohua had silently poked half his head out from behind the curtain. Wearing the helmet, he carefully looked at the three...

"Am I... being isolated?"

The air suddenly fell into silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ling recovered his senses, revealing a warm smile like the morning sun:

"How could that be... Jian Wubing offended you a bit just now, we came out to lecture him and teach him some manners."

"Ah yes yes yes yes yes." Jian Changsheng nodded frantically.

"... Jian Wubing?"

Jiang Xiaohua stared straight at Jian Changsheng, seemingly somewhat confused... but still nodded.

Chen Ling's trio quickly seized the opportunity to exchange glances:

— How much of what we said just now did he hear?

— Don't know!

— If he heard about the Dusk Society, then it's bad. Will he strike first against us?

— As expected, we still have to be careful and guard against this person...

— For now we still need to utilize him. Wait until the time is right to strike and control him.

— Good.

Jiang Xiaohua was completely unaware of their mind games, and asked blankly again:

"Then where are we going now? Can we go out?"

"Go out? Do you mean leaving the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path? You came from outside?" Chen Ling seized the opportunity and threw out three questions in a row.

After being sluggish for a moment, Jiang Xiaohua nodded, which counted as answering all three questions.

"Where did you come from?"

"Wuji Domain."

As expected...

The vigilance in the hearts of Chen Ling's trio became heavier.

"We shouldn't go out for the time being." Chen Ling pondered for a moment before answering. "The door to leave the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path is on the first layer. That place is probably filled with the Emperor's troops and horses of over a dozen or even dozens of Emperors right now..."

Jiang Xiaohua's expression was clearly somewhat disappointed. Wearing the helmet, he looked around, seeming to have already started looking for a suitable spot to bury himself.

"Then we can only wait here, waiting for them to leave?" Jian Changsheng was somewhat unhappy.

"Wanting to kill us, this matter naturally cannot be left at that... Let's not mention Ying Fu for now. It seems there are quite a few good things in the Imperial Palaces on this second layer." Chen Ling used his Imperial Fate, sensing the layout of this layer,

"Moreover, because they all went to the first layer for their imperial expeditions, these Imperial Palaces are basically left unguarded..."