Angel: "Regarding the matter of the Wise Sovereign, I asked Miss Cicia in detail. The Wise Sovereign should understand, right?"
The Sage didn’t speak, just nodded slightly.
"The Wise Sovereign understanding is great. Miss Cicia said many things of varying importance, and I was worried some might offend you." Angel’s face showed relief and interest, but he was thinking about a completely different matter in his heart.
The Sage’s nod made Angel begin to doubt one of the backup plans he had previously considered.
The Sage should be very aware that the reason Angel asked Cicia detailed questions about him was because their destination was Augustine’s heritage site.
And to reach this destination, they naturally have to pass by the hall where he resides. So, understanding his situation in advance is a normal thing.
However, before this, Angel actually had another fallback route.
——To find other underground aqueduct passages, avoiding the route through the Hall of Wisdom.
But the Sage’s nod made Angel start to doubt whether there was truly a "fallback route."
In the underground aqueducts of Nightmare Abyss City, Angel could be sure that there are definitely other passages that do not require passing through the Hall of Wisdom.
But reality is different. In reality, everywhere is ruins; entrances have basically disappeared, or are controlled by the Merchant Organization. So, whether this entrance exists is already uncertain, coupled with the fact that the magical energy arrays in the underground aqueducts are maintained by the Sage, wanting to change paths within or completely seal off certain roads is entirely possible.
In other words, the Sage’s nod actually also implies a statement: to reach their destination, there is no other choice but to pass through the Hall of Wisdom.
Or, more precisely, the Hall of Wisdom is the only route possible.
Angel suppressed the surge of thoughts in his heart and said to the Sage: "Then I will begin speaking."
The Sage continued to only nod, gazing at Angel.
Angel then started to recount the information he had asked Cicia about regarding the Sage.
The general content covered three parts: exchanging the wood spirit treasure, learning about the Sage’s pseudonym and contributions, and the most crucial part, which Angel explained at length—how to get the Sage to agree to allow passage.
"...That’s basically it."
The Sage pondered for a moment, believing Angel had not lied, since these indeed were the extent of what Cicia knew and could say.
Just what made the Sage feel somewhat awkward was that Cicia actually divulged his research topics to Angel.
Originally, giving his published topics to Cicia was solely to alleviate her solitary thousand-year melancholy. He thought she could not stray far from the box, and that the Other-dimensional Space had not had visitors in hundreds of years, definitely wouldn’t disseminate it, but unexpectedly, it was known by outsiders after all.
In fact, the research on the Ghosteye Witch Fusion Posture, he didn’t mind others seeing. Publishing and distributing outside is inherently meant for public consumption.
What embarrassed the Sage was his pseudonym.
——"Blue Fatty."
This really didn’t fit his stature.
More importantly, the pseudonym "Blue Fatty" wasn’t chosen by him. If he had chosen it himself, so be it. However, this pseudonym was not his intention at all—it was coined by ’One-eyed Little Bao’.
You Nu split into three descendants, respectively One-eyed Little Bao, One-eyed Da Bao, and One-eyed Er Bao.
One-eyed Little Bao is the youngest of You Nu’s three children, being the one who recently ran off near the mud monster’s ’dog hole’.
Initially, the Sage handed his completed manuscript to the lively One-eyed Little Bao who happened to visit to see its mother, letting it pass the draft to the contact outside. At the time, the Sage hadn’t decided on a pseudonym. One-eyed Little Bao asked him what pseudonym to choose, and the Sage replied "whatever," and One-eyed Little Bao indeed chose "whatever," thus leading to the embarrassing pseudonym "Blue Fatty."
Upon learning about this pseudonym, while the Sage felt it wasn’t pleasing to the ear, he didn’t pay it much attention, because he believed no one would know that behind the pseudonym "Blue Fatty" was a millennium-old Triclops Blue Demon.
Unexpectedly, despite thorough planning, it unraveled in Cicia’s hands.
The Sage wanted to explain the truth about the pseudonym to Angel, but this seemed too deliberate, making it appear as though he was overly concerned with the pseudonym.
Though he now indeed cared a bit, he didn’t want outsiders to perceive his inward attention.
He had no choice but to smile and pretend he hadn’t heard.
The Sage: "Other matters are temporarily aside. You appeared outside the Hanging Jail Stairway just for the wood spirit?"
Angel nodded: "Yes, Cicia’s suggestion was to start with the wood spirit. Bringing the wood spirit out from the Hanging Jail Stairway might please the Wise Sovereign."
At this point, Angel curiously asked: "So, is Cicia’s suggestion feasible?"
The Sage did not expect Cicia to give them this suggestion.
Upon careful thought, if that person didn’t appear, just following the script Cicia suggested, and if they successfully brought out the wood spirit, he indeed wouldn’t mind allowing passage.
The Sage didn’t conceal, responding: "If there are no unexpected events, this suggestion is feasible. However, even with the treasure left by Cicia containing the wood spirit, finding it is one thing, removing the wood spirit is nearly impossible."
Angel: "How would we know without trying?"
The Sage looked at Angel’s self-assured expression, chuckling lightly and shaking his head: "What I said earlier was under the premise ’if there are no unexpected events,’ unfortunately, now an unexpected event has come. So, even if you really bring out the wood spirit, I can only consider it a bonus, not a necessary condition."
An unexpected event came? The crowd captured the key point in the Sage’s words, this so-called unexpected event... what is it?
In the midst of everyone’s contemplation, Angel spoke: "Now, may I ask my questions?"
The Sage indifferently nodded: "Sure, but I guess you want to know what ’unexpected event’ I mentioned, right? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that."
Angel: "As expected of the Wise Sovereign, seeing right through me..."
Angel praised casually, then immediately continued: "Then, may I ask a true-or-false question?"
The Sage cast a deep glance at Angel: "Go ahead, and if I can’t answer, I will choose to remain silent."
Angel: "Alright, the question I want to ask is..."
Angel spoke halfway when suddenly Dox interrupted from the side: "Hey, didn’t you forget me? You said you’d let me be the judge; why aren’t you asking me?"