Pretending To Be A Boss

The sky gradually darkened, and Akasi grew somewhat worried.

They had agreed to return to the Pyramid later in the evening, but several hours had already passed.

Yet the Nvwa Snake showed no intention of leaving.

Tang Xian watched without urgency. The layer of ice began to melt, and the White Bone Mountain Range at dusk felt much colder than usual.

By the time Tang Xian finished recounting the entire 'The Legend of the White Snake,' Bai Mansheng nodded thoughtfully, her expression still light and serene.

Tang Xian saw the favorability points soared to 28, a pleasant surprise, thinking it was far more tiring than when he was raising points with Qing JiuYu.

But Qing JiuYu at least had things she liked. He lifted it by giving flowers without much persuasion from himself.

For a Nvwa Snake with no obvious attributes, finding the right approach was already quite an achievement.

Upon observing the Nvwa Snake's data, Tang Xian discovered that there was something listed under her likes.

[Likes: Folk love stories.]

Tsk, so she's a literary girl?

After finishing several pots of fish soup and listening to an entire story, Bai Mansheng asked:

"Do you have other stories?"

"Plenty more, some even more touching than this."

"Good, let's hear them next time. Let's talk about serious matters."

Tang Xian indeed wanted to discuss serious matters, but he had no idea what Bai Mansheng's "serious matters" were.

"You mentioned Qing JiuYu. Do you know that fox?"

An invisible pressure arose. Akasi felt the hairs on his arms stand up, the feeling that danger was imminent.

Tang Xian kept a straight face, thinking this was the time to test his composure and acting skills.

"I know her, just an acquaintance."

"How did you meet?"

"I killed a three-tailed fox. She happened to be nearby."

"And then?"

"Why do you ask all this?"

Tang Xian felt something was not right.

He had mentioned Qing JiuYu's name early in their conversation, but Bai Mansheng had pressed the question until after the entire story.

A reserved woman can be petty.

"She is my mortal enemy. If you get along with her, then you are my enemy as well."

"An enemy's friend is also an enemy?"

"Exactly."

"I have a terrible relationship with her."

Tang Xian said with a smile, as if he were discussing something quite joyous.

Bai Mansheng nodded slightly, and the tense and oppressive atmosphere in the air finally lessened a bit.

"She would make an enemy of you over a three-tailed fox?"

Tang Xian raised an eyebrow, realizing that indeed, there must be some scent on him that was confusing the judgment of the Nvwa Snake and the spectral fox.

They seemed to think he was some formidably powerful being.

In that case, it certainly wasn't worth it for Qing JiuYu to offend a powerful being of equal standing over a three-tailed fox.

"Foxes aren't cute, so I ate the fox."

This time Akasi couldn't hold back and coughed.

Seeing Tang Xian's still composed demeanor and remembering how not long ago he spoke of how cute foxes were, how one couldn't eat them, he felt he was seeing another side of this man.

"Very good," Bai Mansheng said indifferently with just two words.

But the favorability points actually went up by five.

There is a saying that to foster a friendship with a woman, you should hate what she hates.

The effect seems to be much stronger than liking what she likes.

Tang Xian now truly experienced this firsthand.

"But why did she not fight you?"

"She bears a grudge against me. But I am someone who dislikes violence."

Bai Mansheng furrowed her brows, not because she sensed falsehood in his words, but because the man before her had been covered in blood only moments before, which hardly indicated any aversion to violence.

"If you encounter her again, you must kill her. If you promise me, my Serpent Clan will forever be your ally."

"Alright… fine," Tang Xian finally felt the difficulty of the conversation increasing.

Akasi, standing to the side, began to put together some reasoning based on the names 'Qing' from Tang Xiaojiu's mouth, and 'Qing JiuYu.'

The conversation contained a vast amount of information, and he was not yet certain of some of his thoughts.

But it seemed... Tang Xian was in a tight spot now.

Although surprised by the captain's continuous nonsense, Akasi understood it was all about survival.

"What is the deep hatred between you and her? Did the war between the two species come first or did your personal vendetta lead to the war between the tribes?"

Tang Xian remembered Qing JiuYu saying she had some personal feud with the leader of the Snake Clan.

"The personal grudge came first, but the war between our tribes has nothing to do with it."

"I've listened to your stories for so long and cooked so many pots of soup, now I want to know some things."

Bai Mansheng looked at Tang Xian for a long while, then nodded and said,

"Speak."

"There are three things I'm particularly concerned about. Why is the beast migration happening, is it related to the Beast Tribunals? What's the personal vendetta between you and Qing JiuYu, and what caused the war between your two species?"

Touching his chin, Tang Xian pondered for a second, and said,

"Shall we start with the first one?"

"You sure have a lot of questions," Bai Mansheng said coldly.

"It goes both ways, next time I'll tell you an even better story."

"Thanks, but I don't know about the first question. The Beast Tribunals only actively arbitrate some major events and accept cases from all realms, occasionally sending some revelations. I don't think it has anything to do with the beast migration."

"If you don't know the first one, then let me ask another. How was the Beast Tribunal established? What else is it responsible for?"

"You really know how to bargain," Bai Mansheng said somewhat surprised, looking at Tang Xian.

"We have to learn to think in human ways, it's beneficial to us," Tang Xian replied calmly.

"I don't know when the Beast Tribunals originated. As far as I can remember, they have always existed. The internal structure is very complex; it seems to be managed by a group of Long-eared Ancients, but some say that ancient creatures from legends are aiding them."

"But these are all unverified claims, right?" Tang Xian asked.

"How to verify? Anyway, those who offend the tribunal will surely die."

"Doesn't the Beast Tribunal care about wars between two species?"

"They might, but only if one of us, either Qing JiuYu or myself, no longer wishes to fight and actively seeks the tribunal's arbitration. The events they arbitrate are on a much larger scale than the war between my Snake Clan and the Fox Clan."

Bai Mansheng continued,

"That's all I can tell you about the Beast Tribunals. Don't bring up any other issues. As for the migration of the beast tide, it has always happened, but my Snake Clan has never received such a revelation, so asking is pointless."

"Then why does the Snake Clan have to fight with the Fox Clan?"

"The climate of the Tianque Plains is much warmer than the far north, which helps with the propagation of my Snake Clan. The Nvwa Snake lineage is an extremely rare high-level species. Usually, powerful creatures like the Nvwa Snake are solitary, and it's rare for them to form a group."

Tang Xian nodded.

It's true that most calamity-level creatures were solitary; those living in groups were indeed scarce.

The combat power of such groups was also extremely formidable.

Fortunately, he was not afraid of the Nvwa Snake. But the one in front of him was not a Nvwa Snake.

"I thought a powerful creature had awoken in the north, forcing you to leave."

"Your guess is related, but off the mark. We left the north for a better breeding environment, but the reason for leaving now is not due to some powerful creature awakening, but because one has died."

Tang Xian was moved; this possibility had never crossed his mind.

"The Nvwa Snakes resided in the north, always at odds with the Bear Clan of the extreme north, and we battled them for hundreds of years."

"So you won?"

"We won, and the Bear Clan is no more. Naturally, there's nothing left in the north for us."

Tang Xian didn't know what to say.

With only a few words, he could feel the ruthlessness of the Snake Clan.

Despite having better options available, they persevered with a relentless attitude driven by hatred.

This was indeed reminiscent of the nature of snakes in the wild.

"Your species really holds a grudge."

"We are also very good to our friends."

Enjoy new stories from empire

"What if you discover one day that your friend has deceived you?"

Tang Xian looked seriously at Bai Mansheng.

Bai Mansheng said indifferently,

"If I find him pleasing, he lives; if I don't, he dies."

"Do you find me pleasing?"

"Have you deceived me?"

"The two are unrelated; I just want to know if you find me pleasing."

Bai Mansheng stared directly at Tang Xian but ultimately didn't speak.

Tang Xian had to come up with the answer himself. Since they had a pleasant encounter, he must have been pleasing to her.

Heh, this reticent little white snake.

"So how did you and Qing JiuYu come to be at loggerheads?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

(Four updates planned for today, don't worry, more to come, rushing)