Light Fortress
Chapter 539 - 126 Questions_3

Chapter 539: Chapter 126 Questions_3

"Are you threatening me?"

Gu Shen pressed down on the ruler, his voice ice-cold as he countered.

There were many innocents here... If Xiao had really planted enough explosives in advance, then in the event of an explosion, Gu Shen could only ensure his own "survival"; he was well aware that he could not save everyone.

What he understood even more clearly was this.

For Xiao, such a threat could be used countless times.

If he softened once.

Then what followed... would be countless times as well.

"If this explosion happens... you won’t escape the investigation of the New Moon Church, and once you draw the attention of the Storm God’s Throne, do you really think you can get away?" Gu Shen did not accept the threat.

"If I can’t escape, neither can you," Xiao spoke faintly, "I can assure you, once the explosion occurs... you won’t be able to leave the Southern Continent. In the eye of the storm, there’s no difference between the two of us."

So they were at an impasse for several seconds.

"Please..."

Xiao stared into Gu Shen’s eyes; the gloomy expression on his face vanished in an instant.

As if all the unpleasantness had never happened.

He suddenly smiled and said, "You gave me a bullet in Da Du, and you took my life on the Snowfield; if anyone should be really angry, it should be me. With the situation as it is, why must you be... so tense?"

"Clearly... this is a lose-lose situation," Gu Shen stated calmly, "Such an outcome will occur if you threaten me."

"Lose-lose?"

Xiao laughed again.

He slowly lowered his raised hands, quickly straightened his sleeves, and spoke nonchalantly, "No... this isn’t a lose-lose situation."

"What I just did was to show you... for a gambler like me, I’m already prepared to sacrifice everything. Every second of my life could be my last, I simply don’t care about my own life or death, I can do anything. If I don’t care about life or death, how could I care about winning or losing?"

"You want to tell a gambler who doesn’t care about winning or losing that this is a lose-lose?"

Xiao no longer leaned against the door, but instead casually found a chair to sit in, seemingly not worried at all that Gu Shen would make a move.

He picked an orange from the fruit bowl, didn’t bother peeling it, and stuffed it directly into his mouth, slowly chewing.

Gulp.

He swallowed the whole orange.

His expression was one of contentment, eyes half-closed, looking at Gu Shen. He sincerely said, "If you’re willing to negotiate with me, we might find ourselves in a different situation... We can both win."

"..."

Gu Shen treated every word Xiao said as nothing more than hot air.

Both win?

Cooperation with anyone could result in a win-win situation, except cooperation with Xiao was impossible.

"From your eyes, I see strong distrust," Xiao raised his eyebrows and said, "I know where your hostility comes from... Next, I will share something you might be interested in. Perhaps after hearing it, you’ll change your mind."

"If I’m not mistaken."

"You should be looking for... something like this."

Xiao slowly extended his hand and took out a photograph from inside his jacket.

An ancient Copper Human Lamp.

Gu Shen kept his emotions in check, showing no change in expression at the sight of the lamp.

But after many encounters.

By now, Gu Shen and Xiao knew each other too well; in a face-to-face situation, neither could deceive the other.

"Stop pretending."

"Although I’m not in the East Continent, I doubt there are many who pay more attention to its news than I do. Over the past year, the Li Family of the Snow Forbidden City has been searching for ancient lamps of antiquity, a truly inexplicable and odd behavior. Most people can’t understand why and thus don’t bother to inquire further."

He did not take back the photo, but instead placed it on the table, speaking with a soft laugh, "But I’m different from those people. Before a storm arrives, it’s always the rain clouds that gather first. Everything has a reason, and the Li Family’s search for lamps must have one too. Fortunately, I remember the incident in the tundra very clearly... Many inconspicuous burial goods fell out of the sarcophagus, among them was a Copper Human Lamp."

Gu Shen said indifferently, "The lamp is in your hands?"

"..."

Xiao, of course, did not answer this question; he smiled and said, "I came here just to tell you that I know where the lamp you’re looking for is."

"Why should I believe you?"

Gu Shen shook his head.

He could not possibly believe Xiao... Just those few words were not enough to earn his trust.

"Of course, you can choose not to believe me."

"But... what if your search continues without results?"

Xiao adjusted his posture unhurriedly.

He lay back lazily in his chair, stretching out a finger and slowly bending it while speaking, "One, two, three, four... You seem to have found quite a few helpers. Those guys from the slums are working very hard, aren’t they? It won’t take long for the Xinyin River area to be turned upside down, and if the thing you’re looking for, the lamp, is really there, then that would be good, wouldn’t it? But what if it’s not?"

"Or let’s take a step back."

"No matter how small a sound is, it’s still a sound. Are you sure the actions of these guys won’t attract the attention of interested parties?"

Xiao shrugged and said, "Like... me, for example."

Gu Shen silently stared at the unscrupulous man before him.

How many "eyes" had this guy planted in Xiyin City?

"I want to know... what exactly is that lamp."

Xiao leaned forward, speaking earnestly, "As far as I know, it’s just an ordinary object with no Extraordinary Aura, not worth the Li Family’s enormous effort to search, and definitely not worth you coming to the Southern Continent personally."

Gu Shen’s body relaxed.

He sat opposite Xiao, speaking softly, "You seem very eager to know the news about the ’lamp’... alright, I can tell you."

Xiao was taken aback.

"One question in exchange for another," Gu Shen extended a finger, stating his condition.

After pondering for a moment, Xiao smiled faintly and leaned back, "Fine, but my condition is that we take turns asking questions."

"Agreed, but I’ll ask first," said Gu Shen. "To ensure truthful answers, both of us will release a strand of flame to observe each other’s spirit fluctuations."

Blood Fire and Chi Huo possess an attractant quality.

As soon as the two strands of flame come close, they can feel each other’s spirit fluctuations very clearly.

Xiao snorted coldly.

His current body was inherently weak and carried very little "Blood Fire."

Releasing a strand would leave hardly any left.

However... he did not refuse and, as Gu Shen had said, squeezed out a very small strand from his brow.

The two strands of flame intertwined with each other.

Seeing this, Gu Shen finally felt somewhat reassured.

He posed his first question directly.

"What is written on the Ancient Stone Tablet that the Late Bell Church took away?"