"I hope you don’t harm my mother."
Angel: "The Wise Sovereign mentioned this before, and I already agreed."
Genggui knows Angel didn’t lie, but that’s still not enough.
"Just agreeing is not enough."
Angel raised an eyebrow, "Then what else do you want us to do? Draft a contract not to harm You Nu?"
Genggui nodded, looking quite agreeable, "That can be arranged."
Angel replied irritably, "Drafting a contract not to harm You Nu is obviously not an issue, but how can you tell me to draft it? We have no intention of harming it, but it harms us emotionally. So, if you want us to draft a contract, at the very least, you need to tell us how we can reach the Hall of the Wise Sovereign without running into it safely."
Genggui said, "That I can’t guarantee."
"If you can’t guarantee that, how can you expect us to guarantee not to harm You Nu?"
Genggui replied, "If you harm Mother, all of you will die. But if you manage to not harm Mother, you will survive unharmed, and I can even help you retrieve Gray Merchant’s memories from the Mirror Domain... that’s the guarantee."
Angel to himself: This isn’t a guarantee; it’s a threat.
If Angel had not known Genggui’s personality and actions beforehand, he might have retorted with, "Do you really think you can definitely kill me?" and then reveal some hidden cards to intimidate Genggui.
But Genggui is a bit dense, and Mother You Nu is its Reverse Scale, so clashing head-on could very well intensify the conflict. Initially, Angel wanted to discuss some of You Nu’s abilities with Genggui; an intensified conflict would definitely hinder that.
Thus, Angel decided to ignore the threat in Genggui’s tone and shifted the topic, "I can represent our team to sign a contract with you, but I need to know You Nu’s abilities. At the very least, you need to tell me what abilities You Nu has, so we can avoid them while not harming her."
"But... her abilities are a secret, and Mother instructed us not to tell outsiders."
Genggui said this with a very troubled expression, because what Angel said was correct; without knowing You Nu’s abilities, how could they avoid them? But Mother forbade them from revealing these abilities, which left it in a dilemma.
Genggui pondered for a moment, and its eyes suddenly drifted to Kaier.
"Wait a minute! Doesn’t he have the Power of Oblivion? You can use it to bypass Mother and go directly to the hall!"
Angel shrugged, "I thought about similar methods, but that person above you doesn’t agree."
No matter what Angel said, the Wise Sovereign had various excuses to evade. Whether it was acting or out of courtesy to Adanis, they still needed to go through You Nu’s trial.
Genggui, after a moment of thought, understood the considerations of the Wise Sovereign, who didn’t want to have a direct confrontation with the Goddess. Therefore, You Nu’s trial had to be experienced by Angel and company, even if just for show.
But Mother is a staunch believer in the Goddess and would never cooperate in a staged act; instead, she would execute the Goddess’s tasks to her fullest ability, posing a dilemma.
Without cooperation, how could they avoid harming Mother while still successfully reaching the Hall of Wisdom?
Genggui pondered for a long time but couldn’t find an answer.
Maybe bring in Xiaobao? If Xiaobao encounters someone like Angel, who doesn’t fight but rather discusses facts, Xiaobao would simply act unreasonably, avoiding all this trouble by not being rational at all.
Genggui was even considering Xiaobao, showing it was truly at a loss.
Angel seemed to notice Genggui’s conflicted state and difficulties, and after some thought, he offered a suggestion, "Since You Nu made you keep her abilities a secret, does it mean you actually inherited You Nu’s abilities?"
Genggui nodded, "More or less. Most of the abilities Mother has, I can replicate; it’s just a difference in scale."
Angel said, "Since you possess You Nu’s abilities, why not substitute for your mother, simulate her mindset, and ambush us on the way. We could also use this to find a way to break through."
Angel had earlier asked the Wise Sovereign to bring in the Cyclops Family, aiming to use them to simulate a break-through.
"You should know, this isn’t a fair and reasonable contract." Angel paused, "But if we manage to find a way to break through, I am willing to enter into this less than reasonable contract with you."
"This is already our last concession."
After Angel expressed his stance, Genggui pondered for a moment and finally nodded in agreement. This was indeed a very accommodating and compromised solution.
Since the terms were settled, Genggui had no reason to keep them locked in the "small black room" any longer, opened the door voluntarily, allowing Angel to step out. As Angel left, he also brought Kaier back to the outside world.
Initially, Genggui wanted to hold Kaier as a hostage, but considering what Angel said, finding a break-through method would lead to a contract. And a contract was a more secure approach than a hostage, so taking him away... might as well.»
...
When Angel and Kaier emerged from the "dog hole," it had only been five or six minutes since their disappearance.
Seeing them return safely, Vay finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Before others could ask, Angel proactively said, "It’s Genggui... the big one-eyed one."
Dox said, "What on earth is Genggui?"
Angel replied, "That’s not important; I’ve already negotiated with the big one-eyed guy. It will use You Nu’s abilities to ambush us later. I’ll try to find a way to break through during this ambush."
Angel briefly explained what had happened inside Genggui and laid out the contract situation, since the contract involved everyone, not just him.
Everyone had no objections to Angel’s decision, although Dox complained that the contract drawn up by the big one-eyed one was too unfair, but it was just lip service. More than the unfairness, what he was actually more concerned about was—
"So, it will come to ambush us later? Only ambush you?" Dox looked at Angel.
Angel said, "Are you saying you just want to watch from the sidelines?"
Dox scratched his chin, "Not that I mind; it’s just that watching alone is a bit boring. It would be better if Kaier used the Photostone to record the whole process."
Angel said blandly, "That’s still not perfect. Why not let me make a Shadow Box as well?"
Dox clapped his fist into his palm, "That would indeed be best."
Angel softly laughed twice but did not respond.
Dox seemed to finally feel the tension in the air, turned to look at Angel’s cold smile, and felt a chill run down his spine.
"I was kidding, just kidding, haha." Dox backed away a few steps, awkwardly said.
Angel: "You were kidding? I wasn’t. I will certainly ’carefully’ make the Shadow Box. I just learned from Genggui that the second one-eyed guy has some very interesting tricks. I believe they’ll be quite effective."
"The second one-eyed guy? What tricks?"
Angel looked at Dox deeply, "You’ll know later."
When Angel said this, Dox was still baffled, but beside him, Kaier’s face turned pale.
The Lord spoke of the second one-eyed guy’s tricks? Then doesn’t that mean...
Kaier swallowed hard, not daring to think further.