Chapter 368 Fan Li's Logic

Fan Li's thinking had always been "simple," but in reality, this was a kind of true great wisdom.

An event, after it had occurred, didn't require one to examine how vast the process was or how widely it was involved; in the end, when it was winding down, there might only be two or three options.

You couldn't say that the method of pondering for a long time, weighing all the pros and cons, and still hesitating was truly steady, and that directly skipping these noisy, complex lines and simply flipping a coin at the end to decide was heartless.

Because in the end, the former often couldn't think of anything constructive, and in the world, apart from when the teacher used a ruler to make you recite articles in childhood where there was absolute right and wrong, the truly absolute right and wrong in the adult world was very rare.

Therefore, most people who think and analyze a lot in the end inevitably just "harden their hearts" and decide to just choose it.

Well,

Then why bother?

Fan Li didn't recognize this woman. Although the news of Xue San's return had been spread, the demon kings had just been assigned their tasks, and Fan Li himself had gone to find mourning clothes, so he didn't know.

He only knew that this woman's words in her dream would bring him, and the other six, including the master, a kind of trouble that deviated from the current main storyline.

Just like the woman hanging in the tree that Zheng Boye encountered in Chu when he was carrying the princess across the mountains and forests back to Jin.

At that time, Zheng Boye chose to ignore it, because his main contradiction at the time was to safely bring himself and the princess out of Chu and back to the Jin territory controlled by the Yan people.

He didn't have time to deal with those things on the road that might trigger side plots. With the main contradiction in front, secondary contradictions were meaningless.

But the sleep-talking of this Hu Bamei in front of him was not just a so-called secondary contradiction anymore; she might even cause a real line dispute.

Demon kings, demons, seven, stone tablets, prophecy?

Fan Li's first reaction was,

How annoying!

"Hoo!"

"Hoo!"

"Hoo!"

Taking three deep breaths,

Fan Li raised his axe.

"Damn, what are you doing!"

Xue San's shout came, and then he jumped in front of Fan Li.

Fan Li's axe fell, really fell. When Fan Li did something, he either didn't do it, or he wouldn't pretend!

Two daggers appeared in Xue San's hand. After quickly moving over, he stomped his feet on the ground and jumped up.

"Clang!"

The axe and the daggers collided.

Seeing Xue San appear, Fan Li decisively reduced his strength;

However, Xue San was blocking while jumping, so his strength had already been reduced too much. Moreover, Fan Li was now one level higher than him, and it was also a contest of brute force. Therefore, even if Fan Li reduced his strength, Xue San's hard collision was still at an absolute disadvantage.

But Xue San's daggers still seemed to be stuck to Fan Li's axe, without slipping.

Fan Li reduced his strength, and the original downward axe blade was changed to a sideways flip.

"Bang!"

Xue San was thrown out and smashed into a pillar on the side.

Fortunately, when he hit the pillar, Xue San curled up his body and used his legs to push against the pillar, which removed most of the force. Therefore, when he landed, he was still able to quickly stabilize his figure, thereby almost instinctively preparing to launch a second round of attack.

"Enough, stop!"

Zheng Fan shouted.

Fan Li immediately retracted his axe, looked at his master, and scratched his head.

Xue San's chest heaved, and he looked at Hu Bamei, who had just been awakened by the surrounding noise and was rubbing her eyes.

"Ah...sleeping after eating my fill..."

...

"Master, when she was dreaming just now, she said, demon kings, the Descent of Magic, demons, seven, and chatting with the stone tablet."

Fan Li repeated Hu Bamei's previous sleep-talking very seriously and meticulously.

The demon kings who had been assigned tasks earlier had all returned at this time.

Compared to the previous meeting, it was streamlined.

Jin Shuke and the Wild Man King were not there; only the demon kings were present.

The Blind Man had originally planned to go to the rear with Jin Shuke tomorrow to "capture" corvée laborers, so he hadn't left yet.

"Is this...a prophecy?"

A'ming asked.

Liang Cheng remained silent.

As half of a concerned party, Xue San had brought her back, so he was just watching and not speaking.

The Blind Man smiled and said, "It's just like the Jade Token's prophecy back then."

The Jade Token once had a prophecy that the glory of the stars would shine on the snowfield, and the Wild Men would rise again and usher in glory.

At that time, under the leadership of the Wild Man King, the Wild Men did show a posture of revival, but then...well, everyone knew.

Zheng Boye coughed lightly,

And said:

"The key issue now is whether this dream-talking is referring to us. One for me, seven for you, demon kings, demons—isn't that too much of a coincidence?"

The Blind Man said, "Master, this isn't a coincidence, because one to seven is a very common combination;

"For example, one grandfather and seven gourd babies;

"For example, one Snow White and seven dwarves;

"Or, Guo Jing paired with the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, the Seven Fairies descending to the mortal world, Seven Wolves..."

The Blind Man reached out, habitually took out an orange, and smelled it in front of his nose, saying:

"So, Master, my suggestion is that we don't need to rush about this matter now, and we don't need to put too much thought into it. In this world, I admit that there are Fangshi (alchemists) and Lianqishi (Qi refiners), and there was also Cang Fuzi who slashed the Great Yan dragon vein under Yanjing City, but the Great Yan is still full of vigor today.

"In the end, the rule that man will conquer nature is still the true essence.

"Most importantly..."

The Blind Man looked around.

Except for Si Niang who wasn't here, all the other demon kings were present.

The Blind Man put a piece of orange pulp into his mouth,

And said:

"Most importantly, we came here muddleheaded, so let's just stay muddleheaded. Since we're here, let's settle down;

"Master, you died peacefully, and we all only exist in our own comics.

"This life is a new life for both you and us.

"We don't have any good memories of the previous world or that time and space.

"So, what I mean is, since we never thought about going back and just want to enjoy the present, why bother caring about how we came here?

"Since we firmly believe that man will conquer nature, and the Jade Token's matter, plus what the Yan Emperor said in front of Cang Fuzi, has proven that the Heavenly Dao that the Qi Refiners like is ultimately a flower in a mirror and the moon in the water, why should we care about the so-called ending of the language prophecy?

"We don't care about the head, and we don't care about the tail, so why bother wasting that energy?"

What the Blind Man said made a lot of sense.

Zheng Boye nodded slightly and then said, "But she..."

How should that Hu Bamei be arranged?

Looking at it now, the axe that Fan Li wanted to swing down seemed very reasonable.

With one axe, all troubles would be eliminated.

The Blind Man opened his mouth and said, "She, it's up to you, Master, to make the decision on how to arrange it."

Saying that,

The Blind Man faced Xue San's position, although he was blind, he could make Xue San feel that he was "staring" at him.

The demon kings had extremely good relationships.

But the demon kings were, after all, demon kings. Once something threatened to destroy everyone's common interests, the other demon kings wouldn't be soft.

That's why Fan Li wanted to kill someone earlier, why the Blind Man was "staring" at Xue San, and why Liang Cheng and A'ming's indifference was actually a kind of coldness.

Because Xue San had previously narrated that this Hu Bamei had saved his life.

Everyone was currently living a decent life, had a common goal, and had a main storyline that they had been following for several years. Perhaps even Xue San himself didn't want to give up everything he had now, give up the efforts of the past few years, and turn around to research and explore a new field.

This matter,

To outsiders, seemed like a mountain out of a molehill.

But whether it was Zheng Fan or the demon kings, they had all exceeded the patterns that the "routine" could limit.

Learn from Chenxiang, practice hard, split the mountain to save his mother, wasn't that tiring?

Learn from Sun Wukong, coaxing Tang Seng through the eighty-one tribulations, just to obtain the scriptures from the Western Paradise, was that worth it?

Of course, the purpose of these two was worthy of affirmation, but they didn't want this kind of bitter and hateful or not free and happy lifestyle.

Zheng Boye's finger tapped on the armrest. The demon kings were all waiting for him to make a decision.

After a while,

Zheng Boye looked at Xue San sitting there,

And said:

"Are you... interested in her?"

Xue San opened his mouth. He didn't know what liking or being interested felt like, but he still said:

"Probably... I care about her."

Zheng Boye nodded and said:

"Then... she can't be killed."

Xue San breathed a long sigh of relief.

Fan Li felt a little regretful, the Blind Man's shoulders relaxed slightly, while A'ming and Liang Cheng continued to maintain their cold and detached posture.

"If it was an irrelevant person who suddenly popped up wanting to give us some prophecies, I wouldn't hesitate to send him to heaven with a single slash, but who told our San'er to have a little interest in her.

"To put it bluntly, this isn't a matter of great right and wrong. Everyone is playing, and everyone is qualified to play. Didn't I also grab a princess back?

"That time, you guys had to accompany me on an adventure.

"Although, officially, I can say that grabbing a princess back is for the development of our common cause, but the princess doesn't look ugly, and I'm the one who hugs her at night, and I'm the one who enjoys it.

"I can play, and you guys can naturally play too. On this point, I've always insisted that we're equal.

"How about this? When the Sword Saint returns to Xue Haiguan, he can take this Hu Bamei back with him first, and then write a letter to Si Niang, asking her to take a look at the arrangements and get in touch with her first.

"We don't have the energy to figure out her matter for the time being. There are three urgent tasks at hand.

"First, continue to advance the campaign against Chu to ensure that Zhennan Pass will be conquered in the end so that my Xue Haiguan, our foundation, can be consolidated;

"Second, after I go to Tian Wujing this time, I will try my best to probe him about Zhennan Pass, if it is taken down, I want to take it into my hands. The area of Jidong has already been regarded by us as our own.

"Third, the expansion of the army, the training of the soldiers, and the enhancement of strength—this is what the Blind Man and Jin Shuke have to do right now.

"Just these three points.

"With these three points fulfilled, we can be equivalent to a small Northern Marquis's Mansion standing in Jidong.

"With our own strength improved, we can be much more at ease when we want to do other things.

"What do you guys think?"

The Blind Man, Liang Cheng, A'ming, and Xue San all knelt down:

"Master is wise."

Fan Li, dressed in mourning clothes, also wanted to kneel, but Zheng Fan preemptively said:

"Alright, you don't have to kneel."

Fan Li's regret was overflowing.

Zheng Boye waved his hand and said, "There were a lot of things today. I'm a little annoyed. If there's nothing else, let's just disperse. Next, we're going to temporarily go our separate ways."

Everyone laughed.

Then,

The Blind Man, A'ming, Liang Cheng, and Fan Li all saluted and left, leaving only Xue San still sitting there.

Everyone knew that Xue San still had something to say.

At the same time, everyone knew even more clearly that among the demon kings, only Xue San and the Demon Seed hadn't advanced yet.

"Master, let me add some tea for you."

Xue San got up and poured tea.

Then, Xue San sat back down, looked at Zheng Fan, and said:

"Thank you, Master."

"Thank you for what?" Zheng Boye said with some amusement. "It was just a baseless matter. Even if you wanted to prevent it from happening, it was a bit too much."

"Master, in the past, your subordinate thought that you were actually quite..."

"Quite what?"

"Sometimes very ruthless, and sometimes, very saintly."

"So that's how it is." Zheng Boye took a sip of tea. "I also think so, but that's not accurate. It should be called separating work and life."

"But this time, your subordinate feels that you actually have a scale in your heart all along."

"That's saying too much, it's not that serious."

"Actually, if the few of us were to live separately in this world, we definitely wouldn't be as... well-behaved as we are now."

"Well-behaved?"

"It's not that you've tamed us, Master, but that with your existence, we can at least see a standard in front of us when we're unrestrained.

"If there were no you, Master, we would probably miss the days we lived together, because we have similar views, our aesthetics are similar, and even beasts know to live in groups, let alone us?

"As long as you're human, as long as you're alive, you'll instinctively want to find a circle.

"But it's impossible for the seven of us to always want to stay together. To tell you the truth, liking the feeling of being together is one thing, but we really look down on each other."

Zheng Boye nodded and continued to listen, trying to get himself into the mood.

The sisters in the red tent would deliberately call out a few times and squeeze a few times when they sensed that the customer was almost there, so they could quickly finish and take the next order.

This was experience.

Similarly, Zheng Boye had been licked so many times that he also had this kind of experience and brought about prediction from these experiences.

Well,

Although it wasn't appropriate to compare himself to the sisters in the red tent, how should I put it? It was indeed a good image.

Right now,

Xue San was clearly in the mood, it was almost there.

"In the past, I also wondered why we had to have you, Master, when we had truly come to life, and besides, you, Master, gave people a feeling of being a little cute at the beginning.

"Admittedly, your speed of progress, Master, is very fast. Looking at you now, Master, and thinking of you a few years ago, it's as if you're not the same person at all.

"But,

"But I really don't like playing any kind of nurturing game, because it doesn't give me any sense of accomplishment and wastes a lot of time.

"Maybe the Blind Man would like it, because he likes to influence people; maybe Si Niang would like it, because she probably isn't interested in other men at all; maybe A'cheng would also like it, because you are now one of the best at fighting among us.

"If you, Master, were willing to learn how to taste wine, A'ming should also like it very much.

"But I'm different. The things I like, my tastes, you wouldn't like, Master, and I'm not willing to waste too much energy to cultivate and do something long-term.

"In the past, I did it with a pinched nose.

"After going to Chu last time, I stayed in Liang for a long time, just like what I said when I first came back, I missed you so much.

"Actually, I don't miss you, but when I feel a little bored in Liang, I miss everyone more and more, but I don't specifically miss anyone, because all of them have a lot of bad habits and are pretentious.

"So, I probably miss the atmosphere of everyone gathering and being together.

"The feeling of everyone doing things together, taking risks together, farming together, developing together, building a pyramid together, or building a throne together;

"At the same time, I also like the mutual sarcasm and playing memes when we meet on weekdays.

"All of this is because of your existence, Master. You are the bond that maintains us, not just because you help us recover our strength."

Zheng Boye looked at Xue San, who was speaking seriously, and didn't know why, but he really wanted to laugh;

But in order not to ruin the atmosphere, he still tried to hold it back, holding it back with some difficulty, and the expression on his face became a bit stiff, or, serious.

Xue San solemnly knelt down to Zheng Fan,

And saluted earnestly,

"Master."

The next moment,

The aura on San'er's body suddenly became gloomy, and even a phantom appeared on his body. After a while of shaking, it overlapped again.

Xue San grinned and smiled.

Zheng Boye finally didn't have to hold back anymore and laughed.

Huff,

It was finally over.

In fact, the reason why Xue San stayed in Liang for so long was mainly to help Zheng Boye with the follow-up work of snatching the princess, so it was difficult to say whether his advancement this time was due to merit or the previous feelings.

"Master, you rest, your subordinate is leaving."

"Okay, congratulations."

"Thank you, Master."

"By the way, the King of Jingnan wants to transfer a batch of craftsmen from me to help the friendly army. Since you're back, you can lead the team."

"Yes, Master."

Xue San walked out of the reception hall. When he reached the courtyard, he jumped up continuously and even did a spinning jump in the air with his eyes closed.

When he landed, he realized that the Blind Man was standing at the door.

Seeing the Blind Man, Xue San immediately got angry and cursed:

"Damn, Blind Man, you actually dared to instigate Master to kill my woman just now!"

The Blind Man smiled nonchalantly,

And said:

"Master wouldn't kill her. Our master isn't that petty."

"Then you..."

"If I didn't say that, where would you get the next wave of emotions? Look, you've advanced."

"Should I thank you?"

"Of course, if you still have a conscience."

"I thank you!"

"Hehe, by the way, did you really fall for her?"

"If you guys spend more time in contact with her, you will also change your views on her."

"That sounds sour."

"Who fed me that before? I get angry every time you mention it!"

"Hehe, by the way, do you think this prophecy will come true?"

"Wasn't this the topic that everyone discussed earlier?"

"We're just talking about it in private. I think this prophecy might be true."

"Anyway, it's either true or false. There are only two options." Xue San said indifferently.

The Blind Man shook his head,

And said:

"No, there's a third option."

"What?"

"Do you think there's a possibility that the prophecy is true, but no one said that the demon kings in the prophecy are referring to us?"