As Sheng Xiao listened to Di Wu's ridicule, he didn't show any displeasure. It was only when he heard the name "Mr. Liu" from Di Wu that he narrowed his eyes.
Mr. Liu…
Although Di Wu complained about the cake, he still extended his pinkie towards the cake.
He ate the cake as if nothing was wrong. Clearly, he didn't realize that his words had betrayed him.
Sheng Xiao was tall and had long legs, so he didn't need to lift his butt when he sat down on the high platform. He placed his right elbow on the bar counter and bent his index and middle fingers to knock on it rhythmically. As he knocked, he said, "Uncle Di, you're going overboard. Although Ah Huang's cake is not delicious, it's not as unpalatable as Mr. Liu's cake is. Mr. Liu's cake is famous for being hard. No matter what he makes, it tastes like baguettes. It's so hard to chew."
Di Wu, who was eating the cake, didn't notice anything wrong. Naturally, he didn't notice that he was falling into Sheng Xiao's trap.
He echoed Sheng Xiao's words without looking up. "That's right. My teeth hurt every time I eat his pastries…" Then, Di Wu realized that Sheng Xiao was looking at him with a scrutinizing and sharp gaze. He immediately realized what he had said.
Di Wu, who had been talking non-stop just now, suddenly fell silent.
He bit his tongue in frustration until the tip of his tongue was about to bleed. Then, he pretended to be calm as he lowered his head and reached out to pick up the wine shaker on the table to continue mixing.
The different wines made a collision sound in the cocktail mixer. Just like Di Wu's heartbeat, it sounded very chaotic.
When he saw Di Wu's shifty look, Sheng Xiao said in a low voice, "Mr. Liu is the oldest pastry chef in the Divine Realm Academy. His representative work, 'Hunger-warding Bread', has the worst evaluation but the highest sales in the canteen. Because the pastries he makes are good at warding off hunger, many new students go to his window to buy bread before they earn points."
Sheng Xiao looked at Di Wu's face inquisitively.
Staring at Di Wu's bearded face, Sheng Xiao said meaningfully, "Every day, the clean pastries and food that can't be sold in the canteen will be sent to the Demonic Beast Forest by the kitchen to feed the demon beasts."
Upon hearing the name 'Demonic Beast Forest', Di Wu blinked a few times.
Sheng Xiao suddenly leaned forward and stared at Di Wu without blinking. He didn't let go of any subtle expression on Di Wu's face as he said, "Uncle Di, it seems that the Mr. Liu you know is the same Mr. Liu I know."
The cocktail shaker in Di Wu's hand instantly fell silent.
He looked at Sheng Xiao with guilt and panic as he said, "…I'm talking about Mr. Liu from the canteen at the end of Five Lake Street."
Seeing that he was still quibbling, Sheng Xiao became saddened.
"Why are you lying?" Sheng Xiao suddenly grabbed Di Wu's hand and lamented, "Although you demon beasts can hide your soul aura, you can't hide the aura of your blood. Naris still has the Heart-Protecting Scale. Do you really want me to tell Naris the truth and let her compare the Heart-Protecting Scales?"
Di Wu's pupils dilated.
He tried to break free from Sheng Xiao's palm, but as an ordinary civilian, he was no match for Sheng Xiao.
Di Wu gave up.
He lowered his head and said in despair and resignation, "Do you know that it only took me five months to change from my youthful appearance to my current appearance?"
Sheng Xiao was stunned.
He stared at Di Wu's bearded face in shock.
Di Wu looked like a commoner in his fifties.
However, Di Wu said, "When I climbed out of the Black Eye with Anna, I still looked like an 18 or 19-year-old youth. However, Anna was seriously injured and remained unconscious for five months before waking up. The day before she woke up, I was already like this."
As Di Wu pointed at his face and the crow's feet near the ends of his eyes, his expression became pained. "I only used five months to go from a teenager to an old man. I age too quickly. My life might end at any time, but she's still in her prime."
Di Wu's eyes were bloodshot and he sat on the bench weakly. From the side, he really looked like an old man. "Do you know what Anna, who had lost all her memories, called me after she woke up?"
Sheng Xiao swallowed hard before asking hoarsely, "What?"
The left corner of Di Wu's lips curled up, as if he was smiling, but the right corner of his lips seemed to be paralyzed and couldn't cooperate with the left corner of his lips. This comical smile exhausted all his strength and love.
"Old man." Di Wu laughed until tears fell. "The girl I love deeply actually called me an old man the first time she saw my human form!"
When he heard Anna blurt out the word 'old man', the hope in Di Wu's eyes was instantly extinguished.
His entire world became extremely gloomy.
Di Wu looked at Sheng Xiao and asked, "If it were you, would you still dare to tell her the truth?"
Sheng Xiao couldn't answer Di Wu's question.
If it was him, would he dare to tell Yu Huang the truth?
He probably wouldn't dare to either.
Sheng Xiao didn't dare to think about how pained and despaired he would feel if he lost his cultivation one day, his legs became crippled, and his appearance became old, while his beloved Yu Huang didn't remember him at all and the first thing she said to him was 'old man'.
"Di Wu…" Sheng Xiao finally understood the origin of Di Wu's name. "There's no past or future and you borrowed the old dean's surname. That's how your name came about."
"That's right." Di Wu shook his head and lamented, "I appeared out of thin air, existed for a short period of time, and I disappeared in the blink of an eye. Isn't that the perfect name for me?"
Sheng Xiao looked at Di Wu sympathetically.
At this moment, he finally felt how much Di Wu loved Anna.
Di Wu's love for Anna was like a fire in the fireplace. It was silent in the scorching summer and blazing in the cold winter.
"What happened to your legs?" Sheng Xiao frowned and asked, "They fell in the abyss rift?"
"I guess so." Di Wu patted the metal prosthetic arm under his knee. When he heard the metallic sound of his leg bones, his back bent even more.
At this moment, Di Wu was like an old parasol tree that was about to wither.
"The energy in the space-time rift is far more terrifying than you think." Recalling the scene at that time, Di Wu trembled as he said hoarsely, "After we fell into the abyss rift, the energy in our bodies was instantly suppressed and we were unable to control it at all. We were like a lonely boat being pushed forward by a mysterious force. After an unknown period of time, we saw a black eye…"