Emily widened her eyes, staring intently at Owen.
The voice wasn't her imagination, yet she hadn't seen Owen move his lips to guess right...
Could this be another trick of Owen's? How strong is this guy...
"What... what did you say?"
"Me? I didn't say anything. Are you okay?" Owen replied with a smile, brushing it off while thinking to himself.
'Tsk, unbelievable. If you don't want to give it back, just say so. Holding onto my stuff while planning to team up with John to take me down—never seen such a heartless person!
Doesn't she know that John's father is the one who killed her family? Oh right, she does know. She just chose to forgive John.
Hahaha! That's hilarious! If I were her father, I'd crawl out of my grave to slap her twice! How could someone like this be born?'
"You... what are you saying, Owen! Don't go too far!"
"I haven't said anything. What's wrong with you today?"
"Impossible..."
Emily bit her lip, her expression growing more complicated.
She was sure it wasn't a hallucination, but if it wasn't, then what was it?
Moreover, Owen not only insulted her intelligence but also mentioned John's name. Could this person really be connected to her father's murderer?
Could it be that Owen wasn't the culprit?
But the prophet's words clearly stated that the murderer had the bloodline of a Crossbridge Academy genius. If it wasn't Owen, then who could it be?
If what Owen said was true, how could she have such a close relationship with the child of her father's killer?
These questions swirled around Emily's mind, leaving her thoughts in disarray.
However, one thing she was sure of was that she hadn't misjudged him.
Insulting the girl he couldn't win over, with no gentlemanly demeanor at all—truly a scumbag!
With too much information to process, Emily needed time to digest it all. She had no desire to continue entangling with Owen, so she took a box from her storage ring and placed it in front of Owen.
"Here are the things you gave me a few days ago, including the box and everything else you sent me before. I haven't touched any of them. Take them and disappear from my sight!"
Owen squatted down and opened the box, carefully checking its contents.
He was shocked by what he found.
What does it mean to be ridiculously generous?
This was ridiculously generous!
How much of a simp was this Owen?
There were all sorts of valuable pendants, accessories, and even armor!
What is this... Oh wow! An Advanced Directional Teleportation Scroll!
This is a life-saving artifact that ignores location and restrictions, ensuring successful teleportation once activated, worth millions of mana stones. And Owen was willing to give it away!
Every treasure he uncovered made Owen's heart ache.
How is this any different from giving a dog meat buns? It's practically arming the enemy!
She took my treasures, climbed into someone else's bed, and finally teamed up to take me down. Unbelievable!
Owen gritted his teeth as he stored the box in his storage ring but didn't plan to leave. Instead, he looked at Emily with a smile.
"Why aren't you leaving?"
"There's one more thing you haven't returned to me."
He pointed to the Dragonfire Sword at Emily's waist and said, "You might have forgotten, but I also gave you this sword."
"I... I haven't forgotten! But with the academy assessment coming up, I still need the Dragonfire Sword... How about this, I'll give you an IOU and buy the Dragonfire Sword from you. I'll pay whatever it costs!"
Emily bit her lip, her cheeks flushed.
She had indeed forgotten about the Dragonfire Sword.
This gift was her favorite among all the gifts Owen had given her. She was already adept at using it, and returning it would significantly reduce her combat effectiveness. If she couldn't achieve excellent results in this assessment, the past six months of hard work would be wasted!
Emily looked at Owen, hoping he would agree.
Unfortunately, Owen had no intention of obliging her.
"No."
'Damn, trying to get something for nothing again? A few million mana stones—can you even pay that back? Once you get cozy with John, it'll just be another bad debt!
The assessment? What does it have to do with me? I'm securing the top spot, so your rank is none of my business!
I've never seen such shamelessness, taking my things and still acting all high and mighty. Ugh!'
Emily was speechless.
If these were truly Owen's thoughts, she had nothing to say.
After all, even though she never asked for it, she had to admit she received a lot of help from Owen.
'Is she going to give it back or not? Maybe she regrets it? I knew it—she's no good.'
Owen mocked inwardly but maintained a smile on his face, asking, "Emily?"
"Fine, I'll give it back to you."
Emily took off the sword and threw it at Owen.
"Ugh, what kind of attitude is that? You should have returned my stuff long ago! Once you meet John, you'll probably be head over heels for him, won't you? But I have to admit, John's pretty cunning. He knew his father was the one who killed your entire family, but he kept it hidden and used a diary to string you along. He'd drop hints about his father's whereabouts every now and then, making sure you couldn't leave him, and then, of course, he'd take advantage of you.
What a pair of scoundrels you two make. But John's father isn't any better. Not only did he slaughter gnomes, but he also stole their treasures.
In three days, John will enter the inner area of the Forbidden Forest, find the inheritance in the library, and once he gets that diary, he'll have you, Emily, wrapped around his finger, molding you however he likes. You're a fool and don't even realize it. Even after you find out John's true identity, you still choose to forgive him? You're a real piece of work, you know that?"
After finishing his internal rant, Owen stored the Dragonfire Sword, smiled at Emily, and turned to leave.
Emily, on the other hand, was left speechless with shock.
She had heard Owen's thoughts loud and clear, and precisely because of this, she felt astonished.
She was indeed planning to go to the dungeon in two days, but she had discovered it by accident and hadn't told anyone. How did Owen know about it?
And Owen had mentioned this person named John for the second time. Who was he, and how could she so easily end up involved with him?
The growing number of questions made Emily feel anxious. She instinctively called out to Owen and asked, "Owen, who is John?"
"John? Never heard of him, don't know him."
'Damn, how does she know about John? Has the timeline accelerated? No, no, I need to distance myself from him as soon as possible! That guy's a jinx, and while he might ruin that foolish woman's life, I can't let him ruin mine!'
With this thought, Owen immediately quickened his pace and hurried away.
Watching Owen's retreating figure, Emily felt inexplicably dazed, her emotions particularly complicated.
She felt angry at Owen's harsh words, yet confused by everything he had said.
How did Owen know all these things?
If he was telling the truth, could it be that she was mistaken and he wasn't her father's murderer?
Emily suddenly felt a hollow emptiness in her heart, a void that was hard to fill.
It seemed she had lost someone very important to her.
...
"Hehe! This skill is really useful! I can play this fool like a fiddle. Want me to be a simp? Hell no! The thing I hate most in this life is being a simp. I should stay away from her in the future, what bad luck!
However, my plan is quite brilliant. According to the original plot, the closer John and Emily are, the faster he advances in his cultivation. Now let's see what he does! System, am I amazing or what?"
[Reminder: This system is the Slacker System. You only receive rewards if you take no action.
The principle of taking no action means not interfering, not participating, and not guiding.
The host has clearly violated this principle, so the accumulated rewards are reset to zero, and recalculation will start tomorrow.
Also, well done.]
Owen shrugged, unconcerned.
Though losing the rewards was a bit of a pain, wasn't this ability clearly meant to be used in this way?
Otherwise, why not give him the ability to hear others' thoughts instead of letting others hear his?
What others could hear depended on what Owen wanted them to hear. If he didn't use this skill to stir things up, it would be a complete waste.