Chapter 177 - The One Who Controls

"Then what do you want?" LeiLei asked with a frown as she glared at the man. 

"A little fun," The man responded with a smirk as he didn't bother explaining his words. 

Marvin clicked his tongue in annoyance as he heard this and immediately asked, "Just what kind of fun are you looking for?" 

The man turned to look at Marvin and his smile deepened. 

Hecathe sighed, "I'm sorry but I only understand human language so speak." 

"Why are you here?" The man asked as he heard Hecathe.. 

"Eh?" 

"Is it just interest or is there something more?" The man asked as he looked at LeiLei, "If you really are the person that you say you are, there must be a reason why you are back, right? Why is it that in those six years, you didn't think about coming here even once but now you are suddenly here, being the most impolite guests ever, acting as if you still own this place?" 

LeiLei gritted her teeth as she heard this but said nothing as a response. 

Hecathe's eyes dangerously narrowed down on the man as he spoke up and asked, "Why does it matter to you?"

"Isn't that the fun of it?" The man tilted his head as he asked with a scoff.

Hecathe couldn't help but suddenly have a foreboding feeling in his stomach. He felt as if he was seeing a psychopath and he had no idea how he was supposed to deal with such a person. 

This was certainly the first time such a thing was happening to him. 

"Your definition of fun is really a bit... Different," Hecathe commented as he tried his best not to offend this man anymore. 

The man chuckled as he heard this and nodded his head as he accepted the comment. 

"Some may say that," The man spoke as he responded with a chuckle, "It's just fun to see what drives people to do things that they do not necessarily need to do." 

Hecathe tilted his head and looked at the man in silence for more than a minute as he heard this. 

"Is there something on my face?" The man asked as he showed his wicked smile and met Hecathe's eyes without any hesitation. 

"You can read our minds, can't you?" Hecathe asked with a small smirk as he finally manage to figure out why he was feeling so weird around this man till now. 

This man's entire presence made him feel uncomfortable but it wasn't because of how he looked rather, it was because of how he acted. 

Standing in front of him was like standing in front of an entity that could see through you like water. Someone that could read your mind and figure out all your moves. 

The man smiled as he heard Hecathe's words and with a small chuckle, he clapped his hands and nodded as he confirmed it. 

"Congratulations on figuring it out!~" 

"But," Hecathe spoke up as he continued, "There is a limit to your ability." 

For a second there, Hecathe clearly saw the man's smile faltering as he heard this and it only gave Hecathe more confidence and proof. 

"To be more exact, you can't read all of our minds," Hecathe revealed and it was now his turn to chuckle as he continued, "You can't read me at all, isn't that right?" 

"Who are you?" The man asked as he stared at Hecathe, but this time, there was no smile on his face, only a frown that was definitely not friendly. 

Hecathe smirked as he tilted his head and asked sarcastically, "Why don't you take a guess?" 

The man said nothing and this only came to prove that Hecathe had definitely not just spouted nonsense. 

"You know exactly what we are up to because you read their minds, but since they don't know the whole plan, you also have incomplete information. You could've easily figured out the answer to the question that you had asked only if you could read my mind but for some reason, that seems to be a bit difficult for you to do. You look amused which tells me that you have never experienced such a situation before this," Hecathe spoke casually as he revealed the reasons which eventually led to his conclusion about the man being unable to read his mind. 

"When you asked us why we are here, you never looked at me. In fact, you avoided it," Hecathe continued as he clicked his tongue, "There is something about me that is making you confused and you are trying to secretly find out what that is. As for how I figured out the rest... Well, it was just a guess after putting together what I have already heard about you from these two. If you could control their minds and make them hallucinate, it won't be too out of the question to think you can read their minds as well." 

The man smirked as he heard this and he would certainly be lying if he said that he wasn't a bit impressed by what Hecathe had noticed from this short interaction. 

"And as for these two," Hecathe added as he glanced between Marvin and LeiLei, "They are being controlled by you." 

"How did you figure that out?" The man asked as he leaned towards his right side and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. 

At that exact moment, Marvin turned his saber towards Hecathe in a threatening manner and this only came to prove that Hecathe was right. 

"Marvin volunteered to break the wall and LeiLei teleported us here without any hesitation," Hecathe spoke with a sigh, "These two would never act on their own without waiting for an order. You see, they are very loyal and have been raised to follow orders. It's something that they don't even realize themselves." 

LeiLei was basically raised by those old men at the gambling den and they certainly taught her how to follow orders without complaining. 

As for Marvin, he was raised by his father Orgon who raised him to take his place which was basically a position where he was to learn how to carry out orders given by the three willows of spring. 

The man nodded his head with a smile, "That's impressive. I tried my best to make them act as natural as possible."

"And you actually managed to do a good job," Hecathe admitted as he appreciated the man's efforts, "But unfortunately, you chose the wrong person to fool." 

"Wrong person, you say?" The man asked with a small chuckle, "But I feel like I finally chose the perfect person." 

Hecathe said nothing to that and simply stood there, looking at the man. 

"You're judging me even now?" The man asked, "You never let your guard down, do you?" 

"Because there is no reason for me to let my guard down," Hecathe shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. 

"Let's talk over something to drink," The man smiled as he suddenly shifted the topic with ease, "Could I interest you in some coffee?" 

"Coffee sounds lovely," Hecathe responded with a chuckle as he let the man change the topic, "As long as you don't put any poison in it." 

"You can rest assured that I'd rather put poison in the sugar than in the coffee itself," The man responded without missing a beat, "It would be much more enjoyable to see you poisoning yourself with your own hands." 

"You really are a psychopath, aren't you?" Hecathe muttered under his breath as he glared at the man. 

The man controlled LeiLei once again and teleported them to the main hall where there was a table already prepared for them. 

"Did you expect us to come?" Hecathe asked with a bit of surprise. 

"Don't be silly," The man spoke as he explained, "I just like to be prepared. You'd never be able to guess when someone comes entering your house without an invitation." 

Hecathe didn't know if the man was being sarcastic or not as he heard this, but he was clearly able to see that the man was throwing shade at him. 

Hecathe sat down on the chair with a sigh as he waited for Marvin to serve the coffee. 

Both LeiLei and Marvin were bad at cooking and the coffee they would normally cook would certainly taste nothing better than mud water, however, now that they were being controlled by this man, the two actually managed to show some skills. 

Marvin served Hecathe a cup of warm coffee which was surprisingly good and LeiLei served the owner a cup of herbal tea that looked to be perfectly made. 

"Are you not going to put sugar in?" The owner of the house asked as he tilted his head. 

"Wouldn't want to risk being poisoned," Hecathe responded as he pursed his lips together into a thin smile. 

The man chuckled as he heard this answer and commented, "You really are an interesting person. I guess you would do."

"..."