At the same time, in the Domain Lord's villa, Liang Shuyue, the current Lord of the Black Dusk Domain was currently having a cup of tea in his favorite room, the dining room. The table in the dining room was about 4 meters long, it was truly long. The table had a lot of food and beverages on its surface. There were 2 to 3 unlit candles on the table.
Liang Shuyue was at the end of the dining table, sipping a cup of tea carefully as though a slight mistake might break it. He was currently staring at the person on the other side of the table. An old man also trying out the same tea that Liang Shueyue was currently drinking. The Domain Lord ordered his servant earlier to brew the finest tea in the villa to impress the senior.
However, the old man just took a sip of the tea and his mouth twitched. Domain Lord Liang Shuyue gulped when he saw this, nervous, afraid that the senior didn't like the tea.
"I wonder why you decided to visit this lowly person's modest home, Senior Zhao," Liang Shuyue stated, his manner still full of respect.
The old man who was on the other side of the table, the person Liang Shuyue even as a Domain Lord still speaks carefully around, was Zhao Zhengjin, the very same old man which Jiang Ye accompanied for the past 6 months.
All those things that the old man told Jiang Ye about himself? LIES.
The part where he saw he was part of the Warrior's council? LIES.
Even being enslaved was a big fat lie.
Old Man Zhao stuck out his tongue, and said, "Your tea tastes like shit."
Kaboom!
The sound of Liang Shuyue's heartbeat suddenly became extremely fast, due to the old man's opinion about his finest tea. He was not angry, of course, it's just that his fear suddenly became true. Senior Zhao did not like the tea his servants brewed for him.
Damn it these useless servants, Liang Shuyue frowned when he thought of those useless servants of his that can't even do basic work.
As though he could read what was going through the Domain Lord's mind, Old Man Zhao spoke, "No need to be angry with your servants. It is not the fact I do not like how they brew, I just do not like whatever shitty recipe you made up. You are more than that."
Kaboom!
It felt as though Liang Shuyue was struck by lightning. He looked at the old person with disbelief but he didn't let any trace of hatred leak out from his eye.
"Your tea is shit, so do your acting. I can sense your killing intent." Old Man Zhao said as he casually popped a cherry in his mouth.
"I...I apologize," All the hatred in whatever part of Liang Shuyue's body immediately disappeared. He didn't dare to anger the old man as he understood that despite keeping himself mysterious and not telling anything about his background, he was ridiculously strong.
Liang Shuyue could still recall what happened 30 years ago (Old Man Zhao did not lie about the time frame) when this old man, with the same face he has right now, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and forced him to enslave the old man. He didn't know what to feel in "enslaving" someone far stronger than him because he knew, with just one wrong move, he could easily massacre everyone in the Domain.
Old Man Zhao then picked up bread from the plate by his right and took a bite. "Okay, this one is good. Who created the recipe?"
"Uhh," Liang Shuyue hesitated. "My daughter. She created that when she was 17."
"Good bread, good person, unlike her father!" Old Man Zhao exclaimed, turning the Lord's expression sour.
"Ehem," Liang Shuyue cleared his throat. "So about my Wind Circula—"
"I gave it away," Zhao Zhengjin said matter-of-factly.
"What!?" Liang Shuyue stood up and smashed his hands on the table, causing a vibration in the plates and the servants inside the room becoming frightened. "Look, Senior, I know you are strong, but you can't just bully me like this! That cultivation technique is very precious to me and I am still comprehending the later stages of the technique!"
Liang Shuyue panted a lot after saying all that and when he cooled down a few moments later, he suddenly covered his mouth with his right hand, regretting the sudden outburst he just did.
And surely, Liang Shuyue could see the old man smiling at him, and now his guts are screaming danger.
"Uhm—"
"No, no, don't say anything." Old Man Zhao waved his hands before he picked up another piece of bread specifically made byiang Shuyue's daughter, Mei Mei. "In truth, I was fascinated that a mere ant has the guts to shout against the human. Congratulations, you have broken a new world record!"
"What? World record?" Liang Shuyue mumbled in confusion. After a few moments, he said, "Senior, respectfully, can you tell me what exactly you want from me now?"
"Oh, oh, yeah right," Old Man Zhao nodded but he still took another piece of bread from the bread and munched it.
Liang Shuyue was getting more and more frustrated as time went by, as this ridiculous scene continued.
However, the old man seemed to pay him no mind and just continued eating. After devouring the entire bread, his eyes suddenly lit up, and said, "I suppose I should tell you the purpose of my visit."
Liang Shuyue heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this. Then goes back to his seat and plastered a smile on his face, as though his sudden outburst earlier did not happen. "I was waiting for Senio—"
"But first," Zhao Zhengjin interrupted, making Liang Shuyue extremely frustrated. "Let's play a game shall we?"
"Huh?" Liang Shuyue became bewildered when he heard this. "What game?"
"Game of Exposure by the Great Old Man Zhao!" Zhao Zhengjin grinned widely. Not letting Liang Shuyue speak, the old man added. "So basically we expose each other's secrets and at every turn, we can only expose one secret. If one side can't name a secret the other side has, 1 point will be deducted. This will be a race to six, the winning side can dare anything to the losing side."
Liang Shuyue's expression was extremely dark when he heard this. He leaned slightly on the table and said, "Aren't you going too far, Senior?"
"Am I going too far?" Old Man Zhao said, repeating what Liang Shuyue had just asked.
Liang Shuyue's lips twitched when he heard this so he hurriedly retracted his question and just helplessly went through the old man's request. "Alright Senior, as you wish, we shall play the Game of Exposure."
"'By the Great Old Man Zhao,'" Zhao Zhengjin added.
"Game of Exposure by the Great Old Man Zhao," Liang Shuyue sighed. There was nothing he could say about the old man, heck, he didn't even know him. It was inevitable that he would lose, that's for a fact.
"Alright then," Zhao Zhengjin grinned widely. "Your turn."
"I pass," said Liang Shuyue helplessly.
"Alright, my turn," said the old man excitedly. "You have been secretly part of the failed Imperial rebellion that took place 25 years ago."
What? Liang Shuyue looked at him with a shocked expression. How did this old man know? He was sure he erased all the traces of his involvement in that failed Imperial rebellion.
"Okay, your turn again," Old Man Zhao leaned to his chair, taking another piece of bread from the plate.
However, Liang Shuyue did not reply and kept overthinking about what went wrong. He just couldn't wrap in his head how this old monster obtained this information.
"Liang Shuyue!"
Liang Shuyue snapped out of reality as he cast his gaze at the old man again. Then he smiled and said, "I don't know anything to expose. I pass my turn."
"Okay, negative two for you!" Old Man Zhao enthusiastically said. "My turn. Your real name is Tian Shuyue."
At this moment, Liang Shuyue froze when he heard this. How did he know? There's no way! There is just no way he knew two of his most hidden secrets. Who the hell is this old man?
"Okay, your turn—"
"I lost, I admit defeat, I surrender, I throw in the towel." Liang Shuyue's expression was dark when he said this. He didn't want to continue this ridiculous game anymore. Any more than this and this will break him. He didn't want to hear any of his secrets exposed one by one.
"Well, if you say so," Old Man Zhao calmly nodded. "You are entertaining to play against, I hope we play again in the future."
Never, you fucking old monster, Liang Shuyue cursed under his breath.
"Anyway," Zhao Zhengjin added. "Here's my dare for you. Don't worry, it's not that hard."
Zhao Zhengjin told Liang Shuyue about his little favor which made the latter widen his eyes in surprise. It was indeed extremely simple and not that hard to fulfill.
"Alright then, I will do my best to fulfill your wish." Liang Shuyue nodded his head.
"Alright then, I am going to leave the Domain now," said Zhao Zhengjin which made Liang Shuyue's eyes light up. "Do your best, Lord Shuyue."
Old Man Zhao stood up from his seat and Liang Shuyue accompanied him outside. After that, he returned to the dining room and sat. His eyes constricted upon thinking that favor.