Zero, "...No."
He was slacking off in Luofu just fine, why should he take on extra work?
First Hua asked if he had betrayed, then Jing Yuan asked if he was about to cause trouble...
That expression on Jing Yuan's face, like he was interrogating some traitor.
After a moment of silence, he asked Jing Yuan, "The question you really want to ask isn't that, is it?"
Jing Yuan simply nodded and admitted it.
Zero crossed his arms, his tone flat, "What you actually wanted to ask is whether I'd betray the Xianzhou and turn to 'Abundance'?"
Seeing Jing Yuan nod, Zero didn't even frown. He acted as if this wasn't his close friend doubting his stance, but just some trivial small talk.
"The answer is no."
Zero knew his attitude toward the Aeons was different from others. He had long known that a big, iron-blooded Xianzhou man like Jing Yuan partly approached him just to confirm his stance.
Zero thought it was irrelevant. After all, he wasn't a follower of "Abundance." The Xianzhou might control the heavens and the earth, but could they really interfere with everyone's thoughts? Could they force everyone to be fanatical followers of "Hunt"?
His conscience was clear. He was too lazy to hide anything, so he just let Jing Yuan probe him with words.
Anyway, Jing Yuan didn't probe that often, once every year or so. Totally acceptable.
Plus, after all the crap from his past life, he felt nothing was strange anymore, no matter what happened, no matter what others said.
The key is, how long has it been already?
Zero didn't get angry at his friend's suspicions. He only felt speechless, so he couldn't help but ask,
"We've known each other for more than ten years, right? Didn't you already know the answer long ago?"
After hearing Zero's reply, Jing Yuan's expression changed again, turning back into a friendly face full of charm. Grinning, he said, "Just double-checking."
"The answer I guessed, and the answer you personally say, those aren't the same thing... But anyway, let's get back, are you sick of the ordinary life? Want to leave the Divination Commission?"
Zero shook his head. "No, I haven't thought about leaving the Divination Commission. If you ask about my recent plans... I want to check the library for some records, and then submit a job transfer request to the Divination Commission."
He wanted to figure out his past life.
If Jade Abacus couldn't find it, then the Divination Commission's library would surely have some traces.
Jing Yuan slowly formed a question mark. "You can't go check during your off-hours?"
Zero mirrored him with his own question marks. "Why not check during work hours, making money while taking care of private matters, why bother wasting after-hours time?"
Jing Yuan fell silent for a moment. 'Damn, this kid really knows how to slack!'
Even he, a Cloud Knight, knew how cushy the scribe's job was.
Slack as it may be, it had no future. Basically a cold bench, nothing more.
Other people avoided it like the plague, but Zero insisted on rushing toward it... 'Wait. Could it be intentional? To prove he wasn't suited for other posts, so he'd have to be put in the library?'
Suddenly Jing Yuan's thoughts clicked into place. Still, he was baffled, "You don't actually think that just by saying that stuff to the general, you'll be transferred to the library, right? No way!"
Zero, "...I told you, it really was the test questions' problem!"
Jing Yuan gave him a deep look, then muttered, "If I were the general, I'd assign you to the most tedious post with the longest overtime! No way I'd let you get what you want!"
Zero almost choked. "That's just cruel."
Jing Yuan sighed in relief, and no longer hid it. He spoke frankly, "I thought you were sick of being ordinary and wanted to stir things up."
Zero gave him a polite smile, "And I was wondering why you'd ask such weird questions... Can't you think of something better?"
Jing Yuan argued back, "You hadn't even graduated, yet you played all the rich folk of Luofu in circles and made piles of money... How can I not worry?"
Zero retorted, "Take that back. That's prejudice! I made money fairly, with actual skill, "
The two walked along, bickering back and forth. When it was nearly time to part, Jing Yuan once more reminded him, "Don't cause trouble. Don't keep hopping back and forth on the boundary line. Someone will be hurt."
Zero was already too tired to complain.
Jing Yuan clearly believed he had mental issues. Whatever he said now was useless.
So Zero could only nod perfunctorily.
If he had even a hint of rebellion in him, Hua and Jing Yuan would have forced him into trouble long ago.
Jing Yuan waved as a farewell. But when he turned around, his expression shifted, his brows knitted, his face troubled.
Inwardly, he cried out.
'Master, the person you value so highly... really is a handful.'
Even when doubted by his closest friend, he didn't get angry at all.
It was as if he had never trusted Jing Yuan.
He placed no expectations or trust in anyone or anything. No matter what happened, he accepted it completely. He could even put himself in others' shoes, understand their thinking...
Zero understood, sure, but he never acted according to anyone else's will. He was too lazy to care about irrelevant people.
Aside from suffering "social death," he barely had any emotions.
A trouble-free Zero was like a capybara Jing Yuan had heard of, calm about life and death, shocking everyone.
Or like a player immersed in a game, once seeing through everything, ignoring all irrelevant NPCs, choosing a lighter way to play.
In a way, that was arrogant enough.
How could someone like that ever fall in love with another person?
Jing Yuan sighed quietly, already thinking about how he could plead Zero's case before General Tengxiao, maybe salvage his friend's reputation.
But little did he know, at that very moment, General Tengxiao was also troubled.
———
When he heard from the General that the former General was in Luofu, Tengxiao nearly collapsed. He immediately dug into the Divination Commission's files and found that man's identity.
One look, and he was shaken.
The very same one who once stirred up storms, wiped out clans at the start, "u know who", how come he was just some ordinary diviner in Luofu now?
'Impossible. Absolutely impossible!'
Tengxiao followed Zero's connections, digging deeper. Finally, he found some clues.
Word had it that when Zero was bullied in school, he generously forgave his classmates.
'Heavens! Who dared mess with Zero? Who bullied him? Do they even know who they are provoking?'
'They probably died not even knowing how!'
The former General loved nothing more than messing with opponents' minds. Always standing on moral high ground, pointing fingers at the enemy.
Tengxiao kept digging... and found those bullies were all still alive.
None of them drowned. None of their remains were found in the wilderness. From childhood to now, they'd never had any life-threatening "accidents."
Some even held important posts.
He was utterly dumbfounded, his mind a tangled ball of yarn clawed apart by a cat.
'Wait, seriously? The God of Slaughter actually turned over a new leaf?'
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