Shu Si had never been this angry.
As a street urchin, he had long been used to being cheated and used. People in the pugilist world, how could they not suffer from a sword attack? Shu Si was not a sore loser at all. In fact, he had long been numb to defeat.
He was a young man with no background, talent, and luck. At most, he took a small advantage and then suffered a big loss. Sometimes, he was robbed by powerful gangs, sometimes he was exploited by profiteers, but Shu Si was always able to laugh at these.
Because there was no hope, there would be no disappointment. Shu Si did not expect too much, so he was content and happy. No matter if he was betrayed or cheated by anyone, he would not take it to heart.
But at this moment, Shu Si was heartbroken.
"Dead Face, did you do it on purpose?"
Before he woke up this time, Shu Si had no time to think too much. At that time, he only knew that Dead Face probably fell into Luo Xiao's trap, and he was determined to help him out. However, after another deep sleep, he suddenly felt that his thought became a lot clearer, and a lot of problems became unwrapped.
For example, when Dead Face forced himself to seek cooperation with Luo Xiao, did he deliberately let him die? How many secrets were hidden within the Jade Bone Technique? Right now, he could form thoughts as if he was speaking in his mind, was this also deliberate?
In Shu Si's mind, he had an answer for this, but he still had to listen to the other party's confirmation to really believe it.
At this moment, he could not decide how he should feel. Shu Si even thought that, if Dead Face said that everything was just coincidence, would he feel relieved? Would you accept everything seriously and change his mind?
Unfortunately, Dead Face didn't give him room to continue to think.
"Yes, it's all deliberate from the beginning."
"That includes… letting me die?"
Of course, I have considered the possibility of your death. But, by my calculation, you will not really die."
"But I've become like this, it's as good as death!" Shu Si roared in his mind, "Dead Face, why?"
"Because this is better." Dead Face explained lightly, "Now that you have obtained Luo Xiao's initial trust, I have been able to completely hide my existence. In my expectation, this is the most favorable situation."
"The most favorable? The most favorable for who? What do you think of me then?"
Dead Face was silent for a while and then said, "I thought you could understand this."
"..."
"It's not easy to win this situation because the opponent is the Fallen Immortal. You are now a nail in Luo Xiao's side; using it at the critical moment can make the opponent bloody. If we have to fight them head-on, I'm afraid it might not be possible to do it even at a hundred times the cost."
Shu Si shook his head, but his sorrow was deeper. He didn't fully understand the layout of Dead Face, but he didn't have to.
Now that he had fallen into Luo Xiao's hands but didn't die, he really became a nail beside Luo Xiao. However, one could really imagine the price to hide a nail close to the Fallen Immortal.
"So, from the beginning… you thought of me as just a chess piece?"
Dead Face calmly said, "Yes, from the beginning, you are the best chess piece in my hand."
"..." Shu Si's heart was as dead as ashes. A moment later, it turned sour and sour. He couldn't even say a word.
However, Dead Face found it strange as he said, "Do you feel wronged? Strange, why do you feel wronged?"
Shu Si thought that was ridiculous. Couldn't he let him feel resentful when he hurt him like this?
"Before I met you, you were just an ordinary person in a precarious state. I brought you into the world of Immortal Cultivation. I taught you to develop and expand the Qing Feng Enterprise. I promoted you from a nobody to an important business magnate. What… right do you have to feel wronged?"
"..."
"Or, do you think it's a pity for you to die young? It's true that you haven't lived in the City of Immortals for a long time, and you only have a few months as a business tycoon. But in this short time, you have experienced the luxury life that ordinary people can't experience in ten lifetimes. Your daily consumption is enough for a street rat like the old you to spend in a hundred years. The woman you slept with a few days ago is a female cultivator that ordinary mortals could never even dare to think. With such a life, you ought to die without regret, let alone that you didn't really die."
Shu Si listened to these words and felt even colder.
Of course, he knew how good Dead Face was to him. Thus, he once swore in his heart that he would repay his kindness even if he were to become a bull or a horse in the future… Even when he was emotionally agitated, he thought that he would repay his kindness even if his bones were to crush.
Yes, a teenager with a sleek temperament from the street was actually moved by Dead Face's treatment that he had the idea of dying for other people. Shu Si had long given his life to Dead Face. But, at this moment, he felt cold deep into his bones and his heart broke.
After a long time, he asked, "Dead Face, for you, am I just a chess piece? From the beginning to the end, you are just using me, without any other… thoughts?"
Dead Face lightly said, "What do you want me to think of you?"
"I…" Shu Si wanted to say something, but he felt that his chest was stuffy. He could not say anything.
He thought that Dead Face would say no so that he could at least let go of his trace of hope, but… a rhetorical question was more hurtful than a stiff refusal, and it brought him to the brink of collapse.
"That's right. What should I hope you think about me? I'm just a street rat. Most others like me can't live to be twenty years old. What can I hope the famous Xuan Yinzi thinks about me? For me, the fate of a chess piece is already very good…" Shu Si's voice trembled more and more, "Dead Face, don't you have any feelings? You and I have been together for so long in the City of Immortals. Even if we're a cat and a dog, we should at least have some feelings right? I-I always think of you as my… how could you…"
However, when Shu Si was on the verge of collapse, Dead Face suddenly said, "Cats and dogs are not qualified to be my chess pieces. This move is the most important part of my whole plan. I can't fully trust you unless you and I have been together for nearly a year."
Shu Si was amused, but more because of a strange warmth that suddenly swelled in his heart. He laughed and said, "According to you, being a chess piece is something to be proud of?"
"I am not good at chess. I only play chess once in my life, and I only had one chess piece."
"So, I should be glad to be the only chess piece in your hand?"
"You really should be glad, because I will always do my best for that only piece."
The voice of Dead Face was still as flat and light as before, but the resentment in Shu Si's heart had almost disappeared.
Yes, Dead Face was always like this, cold and indifferent. To expect him to express his feelings like a normal person, wasn't that difficult? What's more, although Dead Face didn't say it, in fact… he was indeed treated as if he was his descendant. Moreover, as a chess piece, being alive was better than death. However, Dead Face was not better either, because he was also a chess piece.
To understand this, Shu Si was left with a lump in his heart.
"If you were to tell me in advance about these things…"
"If I told you in advance, your performance would not be natural. After all, you have less than a year as a chess piece, so I still can't believe you could do it."
Although Dead Face said that he couldn't believe him, Shu Si felt more comfortable after hearing it.
It was not that Dead Face didn't value him. On the contrary, because Dead Face valued him so much that he couldn't believe it… And this feeling was not bad.
"So… Dead Face, what is the situation now? Are you dead or what? What do you want me to do by putting me beside Luo Xiao?"
After his mood was restored, Shu Si's problem suddenly increased. However, before Dead Face could answer, he heard footsteps from the outside.
Shu Si immediately calmed down and did not dare to talk with the voice in his head. At this time, he had regained his composure and naturally wanted to hide the existence of Dead Face.
A moment later, the door opened. Not surprisingly, it was Luo Xiao who came in.
"It seems that you and this puppet are a good match." Luo Xiao smiled sarcastically and said, "Just woken up but you've already cried out."
Shu Shi's mind was stunned. He guessed that when he was excited just now, he probably didn't control his body well… But it was no big deal.
It was human nature to cry out after one survived calamity, especially after finding out that although he didn't die, it was not that different than as if he had died. If Shu Si was not in a hurry to confront Dead Face, perhaps he would've cried out more before he had the time to think about other things.
Thus, he didn't panic and responded to Luo Xiao with the right attitude, "... What do you want to do?"
Luo Xiao smiled and said, "What do I want to do? There are too many people in the City of Immortals who want to know what I am doing. I'm afraid half of the Elders of Heavenly Sage Hall are probably crazy about this question. So, why should I tell you?"
However, after a while, Luo Xiao said with a smile, "But, I can talk to you if I have nothing to do and bored. For example, do you want to know who is behind me?"
Shu Si was greatly shocked, and he did not deliberately hide this shock.
"Isn't the Fallen Immortal behind you?"
"Fallen Immortal?" Luo Xiao smiled disapprovingly, "If there is really a Fallen Immortal, why would they need me to be their dog? Any Fallen Immortal can sweep through the City of Immortal easily… Rest assured, it's too early for the real Fallen Immortal."
"Gulp."
Shu Shi couldn't help but swallow his saliva as he heard his own heartbeat.
"However, it's not that easy for the Fallen Immortals to fully come to Nine Regions. Right now, they could only stretch out one hand. So they need helpers… or loyal dogs." Luo Xiao pointed at himself with a smile and then reached out to Shu Si.
"Shu Si, do you have any interest in being the Fallen Immortal's dogs with me?"