Chapter 194: with translation of chapter title

How? Do you find it curious how this guy suddenly became so… uh, 'refined'?

Sai Fei Er's voice carried a slow, leisurely tone, as if nothing weighed on her mind.

She walked behind Ke Xia and naturally placed a fingerless-gloved hand on his tense shoulder, then gave it a firm pat.

Ke Xia's face darkened; without courtesy he raised his hand and, with a "smack," slapped Sai Fei Er's paw away, letting out a dissatisfied snort from his nose.

Heimu's gaze shifted between the two, and a vague guess formed in her mind: "Ability? Is it your kind of MakeBeliefReality ability?"

She recalled the data mentioning that Sai Fei Er, in the JinGu State, had this ability mutate and strengthen, even unconsciously affecting her surroundings.

"Oh dear, the specifics… I can't really explain it."

Sai Fei Er waved her hand nonchalantly, her motion as nimble as a real cat's, saying, "Maybe it's Deception, maybe it's Suggestion, or just pure Talk Disease? Who knows~"

She blinked, giving an expression that said, "Don't ask me about this complicated problem," then pointed with her finger at the SimulationUniverseDevice on the low table.

"In short, this guy, with the help of this Small Gadget,"

Sai Fei Er tapped the device with her fingertip, saying, "How long did I 'brush' in there…?"

She scratched her fluffy ears, her face showing a troubled expression of recollection.

Ti Bao, who had been quietly leaning against the Observation Window, turned around, took up the conversation, and said in a warm, clear tone: "Thirty-two years. According to the timing standard set inside that device, it's exactly thirty-two years."

Heimu: "……"

She paused as she lifted her CoffeeCup, her gaze toward Ke Xia instantly becoming extremely complex.

Thirty-two years!

In a state of full consciousness.

Sai Fei Er, standing behind Ke Xia, slapped her forehead in sudden realization: "Ah right! It's thirty-two years! Meaning this guy stubbornly accompanied us lunatics, dragging us east and west, all over, from chatting with Weng Fa Luo Si to the patterns on roadside stones, chattering away for a full thirty-two years!"

Her tone exaggerated, with obvious teasing: "So, to some extent, his thought patterns… uh… inevitably got a little bit 'steeped' in me."

She moved to Ke Xia's side, bent down, brought her face close to his expressionless profile, and spoke in a tone of exasperated affection: "After all, who made him so boring? Always wearing a sour face. So for over thirty years, I've spent about half that time nagging him: 'Why are you so boring?' 'Why not try to be a bit more fun?' 'Just smile, it won't cost you your knowledge reserves.' …That's basically it, incessantly and subtly, saying it over and over…

Sai Fei Er straightened up, clasped the back of her head, her body swaying slightly in leisure, wearing an innocent expression that said, "As you can see, the result."

Heimu fell silent again, the corner of her mouth twitching minutely.

In her gaze toward Ke Xia, the element of "admiration" became quite genuine.

To endure this relentless CognitiveHarassment for over thirty years and finally achieve the goal… that mindset is truly exceptional.

"All I can say is, you Golden Descendants… indeed have an astonishing tolerance in the dimensions of time and patience."

Heimu spoke slowly, her voice tinged with a hint of emotion.

This insensitivity—or adaptability—to long stretches of time reminded her of another existence similarly entwined with lengthy time.

She looked at Ke Xia and added, "You remind me of another person."

Ke Xia finally recovered from his subtle looking-up-at-achievements posture, hearing this he raised his eyebrows slightly: "Who?"

Heimu softly uttered three words: "Laigu Shi."

In a sense, he too is someone who puts vast stretches of time and countless lives on the line as chips in a grand gamble—a terrifyingly patient madman.

Ke Xia's face instantly darkened, and the corner of his mouth twisted sharply.

He glared at Heimu, his tone hard: "If this is an attempt to provoke, I'll say you succeeded."

Comparing him to Laigu Shi obviously struck a nerve in this scholar.

Heimu neither confirmed nor denied, sipping her CoffeeCup, and brought the topic back: "So, you used this WaterDripStonePiercing method to finally meet the conditions for Consent?"

Ke Xia nodded, acknowledging it.

This method involved no shortcuts; it was purely forged by unimaginable time investment and the mental resilience of testing the law on oneself.

Heimu, lost in thought, rubbed the rim of her CoffeeCup and asked a perhaps unpleasant but practical question: "I roughly understand. However, may I say something possibly inappropriate—why only two?"

She glanced at the now-normal Ti Bao and Sai Fei Er before her, saying, "As far as I know, the JinGu State of the other Golden Descendants also needs to be lifted."

This time Ke Xia simply waved his hand, his face regaining composure, temporarily suppressing the awkwardness induced by Sai Fei Er's influence.

"Only these two have a viable path of Persuasion. Or rather, only their conditions currently provide a theoretical basis for achieving consent through NonViolentCommunication." He spoke affirmatively.

Then he paused, looking at Heimu with a solemn gaze: "As for the others—Bai E's ice sealing; A Ge Lai Ya's refusal; the states of XiaDie, HaiSeYin, and Feng Jin are even more…"

He shook his head: "That's what I'm saying—for most of them, breaking through that JinGu shell can only be done by force, or some more direct impact that shatters the status quo. Gentle dialogue, even if multiplied by many zeros in time, is likely ineffective, and could even be counterproductive."

Heimu gave a slight nod, indicating understanding.

Different "ailments" indeed require different "remedies."

"Oh?"

Nearby, Sai Fei Er, eager to jump into the fray, twitched her nimble cat ears and gave a sly grin: "You say that so absolutely? I reckon some people probably got yelled at by a wheelchair-bound CaiFengNu at the beach with insults like 'idiot,' 'moron,' 'your head's full of mud,' until they couldn't take it and came to that conclusion."

Ke Xia immediately turned his head and glared fiercely at Sai Fei Er.

He tried to maintain his solemn persona, but under Sai Fei Er's over-thirty-years of influence and her blunt exposure just now, that effort seemed a bit wobbly.

Ti Bao, seeing this, stepped forward at the right moment, smiling gently to mediate: "Alright, alright, Sai Fei Er, Mister Anaksgoras also means well, just with a different method. Heimu Lady,"

She turned to Heimu, her tone sincere: "Anyway, thank you for giving us the opportunity, and… thank you for not abandoning any of us."