Chapter 846: Don't be self-sentimental

Chen Guanlou looked at the man in black, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Brother, have we met before?"

He felt the other party looked familiar, but couldn't remember where or when they had met.

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen is truly a noble person who forgets things. Two months ago, at the underground palace entrance, I followed Commander Xiao. Remember now?"

He remembered!

But his expression was even more stunned.

Such a young, handsome, and cool young man, actually a eunuch.

"You..."

He was very gossipy, very wanting to ask what the other party encountered, with such talent, reaching Ninth Rank at a young age, but was a eunuch.

This question felt a bit cruel.

"Is Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen very curious about my identity?" The other party clearly saw through his thoughts, perhaps having encountered too many similar situations.

"A little curious. With your talent, I believe any sect or noble family would treat you like a treasure."

Unexpectedly, the other party laughed at himself. "How does Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen know I didn't come from a sect or noble family. How do you know I didn't fall to today's situation because of a sect or noble family."

Ah?

This...

This topic seemed very stimulating.

Chen Guanlou picked up the teacup to cover his embarrassment, laughed awkwardly, and said: "Past things, don't mention, don't mention, drink tea, drink tea. Don't know how to address the eunuch."

"My surname is Wang!"

A very popular surname.

"So it's Eunuch Wang, nice to meet you! Drink tea, drink tea, I got the tea leaves from the Hou Fu, hope it suits your taste."

Eunuch Wang took a sip

"Eunuch Wang wouldn't go to file a complaint over just this bit of tea, would he?"

"This one is not a person of such petty character."

"That's good. That you and I can know each other is fate. In the future, let's keep in touch and help each other out. My skin is thick, so don't laugh at me; we are all people mixing in officialdom, so we still need a bit of tacit understanding."

Chen Guanlou was spouting nonsense.

The other party was neither angry nor sarcastic, but said very calmly: "I appreciate Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen's good intentions. May I ask, what was Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen's experience in the underground palace?"

"Why don't you go first? You traveled thousands of miles south with the Embroidered Uniform Guard just to kill people? How many people did you kill? Were there any fortuitous encounters in the underground palace?"

Chen Guanlou's attitude had always been very polite, yet he was as slippery as an eel; there wasn't a single word of truth. It was all empty talk!

"If there were fortuitous encounters, why would I need to come find you in the middle of the night? Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, I know you are on guard in your heart. I might as well tell you: coming here tonight, those who should know on the Embroidered Uniform Guard's side know, and those who should know in the palace also know. As for us killing people, how many we killed—do you really care?"

Eunuch Wang looked at him with a look that was not quite a smile.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, "So it really was aimed at killing. The underground palace is a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood; I'm afraid you all had a hand in that."

"Those who are servants naturally obey their master's orders. Those who are officials naturally act from the big picture. By emotion or reason, by public or private, they all deserved to die. They deserved to die ten thousand times! Actually, Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, you also deserve to die. As an official of the imperial court, you went south without authorization. You have major intelligence but did not report it, and you are colluding with cult bandits; executing your nine generations would be justified."

Upon hearing this, Chen Guanlou laughed out loud. He spread his hands and said: "Go ahead and execute my nine generations. Speaking seriously, I still don't know how many people are in my nine generations. Why don't you calculate it for me?"

"Absurd!"

Eunuch Wang shouted.

Chen Guanlou sneered, his patience somewhat exhausted, and he was impatient to continue the social niceties, "You followed me all the way here, nothing more than wanting to know if I had any fortuitous encounters in the underground palace, if I obtained any opportunities?

I'll tell you the truth: no! A thousand times, ten thousand times, there were none. Those who know me know that if there is, there is; if there isn't, there isn't. I don't even bother to tell lies.

If you are dissatisfied or unconvinced, just come at me. If I am afraid of trouble, or if I frown even once, I am a Wang Ba."

"What you people in the palace and the Embroidered Uniform Guard want to do is none of my business. But don't bother me! If you bother me, I won't be polite either. Go back and tell Wei Wubing: either kill me, or stay far away from me. That is all I have to say; go well, I won't see you out!"

Eunuch Wang frowned slightly, seemingly unable to understand why he was so tough, with an appearance of fearing nothing under heaven. A mere Ninth Rank, in front of a Grandmaster, was like a small child; what was there to be arrogant about?

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, do not bring about your own destruction!"

"How am I bringing about my own destruction?" Chen Guanlou looked completely uncomprehending and confused, "Did I do something wrong? You were curious about my experience in the underground palace, and I told you. You suspect I am lying; there is no way around that, I truly cannot prove my innocence. However, my cultivation has not made any leaps and bounds, which can barely count as self-proof. Eunuch Wang might as well point out my faults so I can correct them."

"Are you not afraid of death?"

"What is there to fear in death?"

Chen Guanlou asked in return, which actually left the other party stunned.

"Is Eunuch Wang afraid of death?" He smiled not quite a smile, "That's why you would rather lose your precious manhood than live on! You clearly have excellent talent; you must have had many choices when the incident happened, so why did you choose a single-plank bridge? Were you coerced? Were you tempted?

No matter the reason, it likely wasn't your original intention. So, even if you are angry, you should be angry at the person who forced you back then, not at an innocent person like me. To be honest, I quite admire you. If there were a chance, I would like to exchange cultivation insights with you. Alas, Eunuch, you are single-mindedly a slave; truly, those with different paths cannot make plans together!"

Eunuch Wang's face turned livid.

He was young and had been able to smoothly advance to Ninth Rank cultivation all the way; this showed his talent was excellent, and he was a warrior with a talent cheat. Naturally, he was extremely proud inside.

But because of his own physical defects, inferiority was inevitable.

In the past, he could cover up his inner inferiority with his excellent cultivation. Relying on his cultivation, no one dared to poke at his heart to his face. Even the old eunuchs in the palace were polite to him. After all, he was the most talented person in the palace in the last few decades.

Yet Chen Guanlou had poked through the deepest hatred in his heart without any scruples, stabbing straight at his heart, exposing his most fragile side, and breaking through the fact of his physical disability.

This was bullying too far!

"Eunuch, are you perhaps angry from embarrassment and want to turn against me?" Chen Guanlou was still pouring oil on the fire, poking hard at the other party's heart, looking like a cheap rascal.

"I advise you best not to turn against me. If you turn against me, I certainly won't be polite. If we fight, the commotion won't be small. If we disturb the Five Cities Military Commission or the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it doesn't matter.

If we disturb a few Grandmasters, tsk... whether I die doesn't matter, but you definitely won't have a good end. I know that old guy Wei Wubing; he is the most kind-faced but evil-hearted, and he has many ways to torture people. You don't need to suffer that, right?

Eunuch Wang, actually we are the same kind of people; many times we cannot help ourselves. Why not turn hostility into friendship? When there's nothing to do, we can drink and listen to music together. When there's something to do, we can help each other; how about that?"

"You want to be friends with me?" Eunuch Wang suddenly changed his expression, smiling not quite a smile.

"I didn't say friends. Can drinking and listening to music together be called friends? Are friends that casual?" Chen Guanlou teased, "Don't be overly sentimental!"