True Hearts in Exchange for True Hearts

Lai Er felt uneasy walking in the thick fog.

He was following the messenger from the Contract Land to the meeting point. Although he had prepared himself mentally before coming, he still overestimated his ability to cope. He always felt that the outlines in the thick fog were his old home, so he would be terrified every time he passed by those new villages. He would breathe a sigh of relief after realizing that they were not his old home, but in the end, he would feel melancholy.

This experience tormented him repeatedly until he could no longer bear it and decided to do something to distract himself.

So he naturally turned his attention to the messenger who was leading the way.

"Hey, brother." Lai Er strode forward, walking alongside the stern-faced messenger. "How much longer until we get there?"

The envoy replied calmly, "That's about it."

What does "almost there" mean?

It's just the two of us, can't we talk things out more clearly?

Lai Er was very dissatisfied, but he didn't show it, for fear that the messenger would ignore him.

So he asked again, "Brother, are you really me?"

The messenger glanced at him, as if he were a fool.

"Yes, you must be her. Your eyes are different from your master's," Lai Er concluded. "His eyes were more... um... was he a woman?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."

"How will I know whether I should ask or not if I don't ask?" Lai Er said. "If it's taboo, you can just tell me then."

The messenger ignored Lai Er.

But Lai Er, being a black marketeer, had enough thick skin, so he continued to try and get closer to him, "I think we should have a lot to talk about, after all, we're the same kind of people, the kind of puppets... I mean, agents, that's a rare profession, isn't it?"

"I am different from you."

"What's different?"

"I will not betray my master," the messenger said calmly, "But you will."

"Hey, what are you saying? How could I betray Vess... my... my..." Lai Er almost blurted out Visas's name, then quickly corrected himself. He then cautiously looked at the messenger, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the messenger didn't seem to have noticed anything amiss. He continued, "Besides, my relationship with that gentleman is different from yours. I have a cooperative relationship with that gentleman, but you and the lady above you have a master-servant relationship... Hmm, it seems that we are indeed somewhat different, but still pretty much the same."

The envoy initially didn't want to pay much attention to Lai Er, since once he knew that this guy was just a puppet, there was nothing to take seriously.

But at that moment, Diana's voice rang in his mind.

"Talk to him, find out what kind of person he is, why he is willing to risk his life for his 'tongue', be natural, and don't reveal that I asked you to do it."

The messenger's expression remained unchanged upon receiving the instruction; he simply nodded slightly. "Perhaps."

This is in response to Lai Er's previous statement.

"Right, right, so you agree after all." Lai Er looked at the envoy with a smile. "Then we can definitely find common ground to talk about."

"Alright." The envoy nodded. "Then let me ask you first, who exactly are you?"

"You're being way too blunt."

"I'm not good at being tactful."

"That's fine too. I don't like beating around the bush." Lai Er revealed his fake name. "My name is Lai Si, and my real identity... is a black market dealer."

It's better to use a real profession; a half-real, half-fake one is more deceptive.

"Alright, my name is Carter," the envoy said, "And I am the Guardian of the Contract Land."

"Hey, hey, hey, you said that yourself. That's not what I'm asking you," Lai Er said. "Everyone knows you're the Guardian of the Contract Land. This information is as meaningless as you saying you're a man. At least answer the questions I asked."

Carter frowned slightly, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that Lai Er's words made sense, so he nodded. "Okay, that doesn't count, just ask directly."

Lai Er kept observing Carter's expression as he spoke.

After such a long period of contact, he had come to know Carter quite well.

Simply put, Lai Er sensed that Carter's head was a bit off, the kind that wasn't working properly.

A more accurate description would be that Carter wasn't like a normal person, but rather a puppet with a certain degree of independent thinking, and lacked much emotion.

But this still needs to be verified, so Lai Er asked, "What are your hobbies?"

"Hobby?"

"Yes, it's about what you like to do when you're not working for your master."

"No."

"No?"

"Yes, no," Carter said. "I exist for my master, and I don't need to do meaningless things, so I don't have anything I like."

"Then what do you do when you're not working for your master?"

"Rest," Carter said calmly. "Rest so that you can better serve your master."

Lai Er was shocked.

What a chosen servant! No wonder his master said he was more loyal than himself; at least he didn't consider himself to be that loyal to Visas-sama.

"Now it's my turn to ask you," Carter said. "And what are you doing working for the tongue?"

"Of course it's money," Lai Er said matter-of-factly.

"It's just money?"

"What do you mean 'just'?" Lai Er said somewhat discontentedly, then continued, half-jokingly, "That's a lot of money."

Lai Er's voice and expression naturally reached Diana's mind, even from a thousand miles away.

Diana quietly observed Lai Er through her servant Carter.

Although she herself never left the Contract Land, Diana saw far too much through the eyes of countless servants.

Therefore, she was able to determine that Lai Er's words were not true, or at least not entirely true.

Of course, this is quite normal. Diana didn't believe that Tongue would dare to hand over her secrets to a black marketeer who only maintained relationships with money; there must be something else involved.

Diana intended to find out about this relationship.

Whether she relied on him to better get closer to and understand Tongue, or directly turned Tongue against her and planted a time bomb, it would be an operation where the rewards far outweighed the costs, and Diana had no reason not to do so.

Moreover, no one in the world is better at manipulating people's hearts than her.

Diana slightly raised the corners of her mouth, then gestured for Carter to continue asking, "So what are you going to do with the money?"

"What are we going to do with the money?" Lai Er scratched his head. "Well... there are plenty of things we can do."

"Like eating and drinking well, having a big house, being able to breathe fresh air and stuff," Lai Er said, "And then living to seventy... no, eighty."

"That's all?"

"What do you mean 'just like this'? Do you think it's easy?" Lai Er sighed. "This is already pretty good, even if it's not much money... Haha, let's forget about that. The more money the better, right?"

"As long as you have money, that's all it takes?"

"As long as you have money, that's all that matters."

Lai Er's image felt very familiar to Diana; he was just like the black market businessman she knew—the kind who would do anything for money.

So Diana instructed Carter to probe further, suggesting that they could make more money by cooperating with the Contract Land. Lai Er immediately rushed over as if he had been thinking, "I've been wanting to ask that for a long time," pleading for "cooperation" like a lapdog, completely disregarding the reaction of his tongue.

If this guy wasn't faking it, then his bottom line was indeed lower than Diana had anticipated.

But it's not an act; we'll find out soon enough.

They should be arriving at their destination soon.

"Where is this place?" Lai Er noticed the surrounding fog was rapidly dissipating and a large crowd was gathering ahead. He immediately realized something. "Are we here?"

"Yes, the meeting place is just ahead, and it's also within the range of the Heaven's Obedience," Carter said. "However, you need to wear this before you officially enter."

Lai Er saw the messenger hand him a necklace.

"What's this?"

"You can think of it as an assimilation device," Carter said expressionlessly. "Once you wear it, your aura will be the same as mine in the eyes of the other Guardian. Outsiders are not allowed here, you know that."

Lai Er understood.

He already knew before he came that the Contract Land and the woman behind this envoy were not of the same mind, and not all the Guardian were that woman's servants.

He is now disguising himself as a woman's servant.

Lai Er took the necklace, but before putting it on, he asked just in case, "This thing doesn't have any negative effects, does it?"

"If I had to say, there is indeed one," Carter said calmly. "When you put on this necklace, you are essentially entering into a temporary contract with my master. During the contract, you cannot use your own power, such as magic or prayer, unless with my My Lord's permission."

"Oh, I see."

Lai Er didn't care. He didn't know any magic or prayer anyway. If Visas-sama didn't intervene, any one of these people could kill him a thousand times over.

Without thinking twice, he put the necklace on.

Carter simply watched quietly.

He didn't finish his sentence. This necklace would isolate not only its own power, but also the power and information coming from the outside.

In other words, once Lai Er puts on this necklace, he will be unable to communicate with his tongue.

From Diana's perspective, Lai Er and the Tongue must have been communicating remotely through some kind of magic. Now that she has severed the connection, the Tongue will not be able to see anything Diana doesn't want Lyle to see, including what she says and Lai Er, as well as the layout of the meeting place.

Moreover, the necklace has more than one function; it also has a hidden, subtle effect.

That is, the Contractor will subconsciously increase their trust in Diana, become more open, and reduce their guard.

Although he doesn't completely reveal his inner thoughts like a true Contractor, he subconsciously speaks his mind when talking to Diana, which is commonly known as being completely open and honest.

Of course, this is on the premise that the person is unaware of it or has strong resistance in their mind, in which case this subconscious contract will be interrupted instantly.

Even so, there is already a lot that can be done.

"Come with me." Carter took two steps forward, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked casually, "By the way, what should I call you again?"

"Lai Er," Lai Er answered without hesitation.

Inside Lai Er's body, Bai Wei remained silent.

He could naturally sense the necklace's restriction on Lai Er, but unfortunately, this restriction was of no use to him because he was not an external force, but rather lived within Lai Er's body.

But Bai Wei didn't speak or show his presence to Lai Er; he just watched quietly as the meeting point gradually unfolded before his eyes.

The first thing you see is a massive pillar that seems to connect heaven and earth.

"Oh My God."

Lai Er naturally saw the "pillar" as well. Although the fog had thinned considerably, it hadn't completely dissipated, so he couldn't make out the details of the pillar. But it was precisely this haziness that added to the pillar's oppressive aura, as if the world would perish the moment it collapsed.

"That is the Obedience of Heavenly Voice," Carter said calmly. "It is not fully assembled yet... but you'd better not stare at it too long, or you'll look like an outsider."

Lai Er immediately realized that this was not his territory.

In the light yellow mist, he could see many "phantom figures" working.

Most of them were human, but a few were not. They were huge and ferocious, like strange beasts that Lai Er had never seen before, and they would occasionally let out low roars, which terrified Lai Er.

"What are those?" Lai Er couldn't help but ask.

"You wouldn't want to know," Carter shook his head. "Come with me, Mr. Lai Er."

Then he got up again and walked deeper into the yellow fog.

Lai Er quickly followed, but at the same time kept looking around.

When Carter noticed that Lai Er's attention was mostly on his surroundings, he spoke again, seemingly casually.

"Mr. Lai Er, did you say before that you were working for Tongue-sensei for the money?"

"That's just the surface reason," Lai Er replied, having unknowingly opened his heart to Carter. "Of course, the main reason is that I want to prove myself right."

"Oh?" Carter had indeed discovered something new, but he didn't show it, calmly asking, "To whom should we prove it?"

"To my wife and children, to my parents, to everyone."

"Is that why you need money and status?"

"Yes."

"So what if—and I mean what," Carter turned to Lai Er— "we were to give you these things?"

Lai Er was slightly taken aback. "What?"

"Money and status, we can give you much more." Carter looked Lai Er into the eyes. "You should be able to guess who my master is. Whatever that person can give you, my master can give you too. What do you think?"

Kavenka was devastated. Writing this volume was truly painful; there was just too much to write, and his brain simply couldn't keep up.