Chapter 212: Absurd

"Teacher, are you leaving?"

Li En had repeatedly estimated how many "seeds" the Snake had sown.

But since he was only interested in that masked Dragon Knight, and that profession seemingly required multiple personalities, at most there were seven candidates—keeping guard against all of them wasn't difficult.

Yet Li En still underestimated how the Snake twisted reality, time, existence—lies were his domain.

His harmless demeanor was merely because he chose to be.

When you think he has no cards left, he can just print them on the spot!

Before leaving, the Snake played a big one.

"Mm, I'm leaving. For your sake, my consumption was immense—the world's rejection has reached its limit."

"Thank you, Teacher."

The final "candidate" nodded gratefully.

The candidate recalled a scene he had witnessed: the Snake teacher, carrying him, shattered time and appeared in the Spirit Hall from several days ago, communicating with the already vanished spirits.

"Hey, Kuku, split off another portion of your legacy—give it to this child."

At the time, Kuku was surprised, but upon seeing the Snake's shadow tearing through spacetime, he instantly understood everything.

"... hat violates the rules."

"Gakahaha, whose rules? Li Ensu's stupid regulations? Does he even remember how many times 'we' broke them?"

Kuku looked at the "candidate" the Snake had brought, his expression filled with astonishment.

He, or she, or it, actually met the requirements of his legacy—and bore an incredibly terrifying fate and karmic chain. The Snake's demand was actually feasible!

The Rule of the Thousand-Faced Dragon followed strict karmic chains and fate bindings—yet this child was deeply entangled with the Thousand-Faced Dragon.

"You saw how 'Li Ensu' owes this child karmic debt. Repay it—on the level of past causality. Plainly put, we owe him. Help him."

"He'll explode with rage. You've disrupted his plan."

"Hahaha, of course—that's exactly the point. Will you help or not?"

"If it makes Li Ensu suffer, then this is a good child—I'd never refuse. But can you help him recover those things? Without them, even if he receives our legacies, it'll be meaningless."

"Easy. Just get kicked back earlier. What's the big deal? We're already dead."

The Snake laughed happily—and fulfilled his promise not long ago.

After securing a portion of Kuku's legacy for his disciple, the Snake twisted time again.

He reclaimed something from another furious "himself" and returned it to his final disciple.

But this came at a cost.

Even the Snake could not reverse time and causality without flaw.

He could only slightly alter things—causing another "himself" to make an absolutely forbidden mistake during his mission, leaving just a trace of what had been stolen from his disciple. That trace was enough to forge a pivotal moment, reversing fate.

It was like directly correcting a karmic thread to make an event never happen—impossible. But adding a "patch" to create an originally impossible possibility? Much simpler. Making A not buy an apple and starve? Hard. Making the apple worm-infested so A buys it but can't eat it? Easy.

"Hahaha, this little joke should surprise Li Ensu—too bad I won't see it explode." As he spoke, the Snake was already half gone, the other half utterly torn apart.

He lost most of his limbs, leaving only half a snake head and a spine, still cheerfully writhing.

In dealing with himself, Li Ensu remained as merciless as ever—and with the cost of forcibly reversing time and causality, he'd likely sleep for a long time.

But thinking of Li En's embarrassed reaction upon learning the truth, he wriggled even more joyfully.

Annoying Li Ensu was probably the most satisfying thing for those like him.

Even at the end, the Snake never told Li En the full truth—he still left one absurdly outrageous prank, a "landmine" ready to detonate anytime.

From the perspective of this generation's Li Ensu, whether it's good or bad—perhaps even the Snake couldn't tell.

"Teacher…" The final disciple, watching the teacher who had sacrificed so much for him, felt deeply conflicted.

He took everything from him—and now returns everything to him. The candidate didn't know how to face Li Ensu.

He or she might be the one in the entire kingdom who knew the most—but in the end, he said not a single word, only continued waiting as his teacher requested.

He, observing—observing what this so-called Li Ensu truly was, and where this kingdom should head. —

"The Snake is finally gone. No more worrying about being randomly messed with."

Yet Li En's own mood was surprisingly good.

He always felt the Snake was holding back something huge—but now that he was gone, it should be fine.

He had secretly cursed the Snake multiple times, with no response.

The Snake's disappearance finally let him live in peace!

"Li En, do you like this?"

Beside him, Sallyman happily picked up a wooden trinket and asked his opinion.

"Mm, nice." This was probably the fifth "nice" today, yet Sallyman remained perfectly satisfied.

Li En looked around—when had the carriage that brought them disappeared?

The maids and guards who had followed them were gone. The two who had merely been dropped off had somehow wandered into the commercial street.

"Hehe." Sallyman tossed down a gold coin, happily put on the trinket, then dragged Li En to the next shop. Seeing her so joyful, Li En—who already owed her so much—could only smile and abandon his original plans. The matter wasn't urgent anyway; since Sallyman was happy, he'd wait.

"This is my first… second date with a girl."

Instantly remembering who the first was, Li En's smile grew strangely subtle.

Yet recently, from the Snake, he learned that Violet Rose was likely busy and wouldn't return soon. He felt an inexplicable sigh of relief—and then a pang of regret.

"Snap!" Li En's cheeks were pinched by two jade-like hands.

"At this moment, think only of me."

Sallyman turned Li En's face toward hers, their eyes meeting—he saw her seriousness and determination.

But seeing her face, which bore at least fifty percent resemblance to the mature Violet Rose (whom Li En had met), he felt increasingly guilty.

Yet Sallyman, seeing Li En's retreat, smiled contentedly. I don't fear your hesitation or unease—I fear you feel nothing at all!

"Come on, I've booked an opera. Don't like it? Then let's visit a weapon shop—you've wanted a good sword for a long time, haven't you?"

Saying this, the domineering girlfriend dragged Li En away.

She had become aggressively assertive.

The reason was simple: not long ago, Sallyman had pressed against Li En in public, asking about his sexual orientation—and his feelings toward her.

Her mind-reading soul ability let her know the answer. Though his awakened mental powers made the information incomplete, she obtained the key message.

"Of course I only like women. Sallyman? Of course I like her—cute, beautiful. But I can't accept her or Violet Rose."

Now that she knew Li En had feelings for her, any obstacle was no longer a problem.

Hence, these days of unusual initiative—watching Li En constantly retreat, occasionally glancing at her with uneasy, guilty eyes, Sallyman was confident she could swiftly conquer him.

Let this guilt of "infidelity" become the reason he continually yields to her—and quickly becomes her husband.

While mentally imprinting her upcoming gift with psychological suggestion, she gritted her teeth and cursed, "Damn cheating cat," redirecting this guilt into affection and concession toward herself.

Unlike the other naive Sallyman, this authentic Sallyman, once emerged, struck fast.

"... ired? Let's rest a bit."

The girl smiled, pointing to a nearby shop. Li En turned—expecting a café.

"Uh… a hotel? Wait—" It was a luxurious resort-style hotel. No need to explain its purpose.

Li En froze. This was too absurd!

But at that moment, the girl's face was already inches from his.

Her pupils brimmed with sorrow, as if she would cry at any second.

She said nothing—yet said everything.

"Uh… isn't this a bit fast?" Li En whispered carefully.

"Auntie can, why can't I?" Tears silently fell from the girl's eyes.

"Eh? How did you know?! I—" A thunderclap struck. Li En panicked, stammering explanations.

"Come inside with me. I'll pretend I didn't see it. I won't force you to break up with her. At least, what she has, my wife should have too!"

The girl wiped her tears and dragged Li En forward.

At that moment, Li En was utterly stunned. When did she become his wife? Weren't we breaking off our engagement?

But seeing the trembling girl, weeping as she walked, utterly shameless, Li En ultimately couldn't refuse.

He was helplessly dragged into the hotel, watching the girl walk straight into a royal suite upstairs—without even registering.

"The hotel is mine. No need to worry about anyone finding out. I won't make you responsible."

The girl uttered words a scoundrel could never refuse. Li En tried to resist—but his arm had gone numb. Uh… he had a wound? Poison? Why do all Snake people do this?!

But seeing the girl, trembling as she shed her top and leaned toward him, Li En sighed. He couldn't say anything harsh.

Fine, I'm a scoundrel. At least I'm not worse than a beast.

Just as the inevitable moment was about to happen—

"Li En, how could you like someone else?! That's a machine!" A sudden, shrill cry—delayed by over a day!

"Huh? Li En? What are you doing here?! Ah!! Why are you half-naked?! Why am I half-naked?!"

Instantly, the newly awakened "Sallyman," seeing Li En's muscular upper body, fainted again.

And this time, her snake hair exploded in rage.

"Sssss (Worthless! Worthless!)!"

"Sssss (Useless ghost! Worthless childish girl!)"

"Sssssssss (You don't eat, let me eat! Idiot, idiot! You leave it alone and make me handle it!)!"

Then Li En saw his hair biting his face—what an absurd scene.

(End of Chapter)