Reporting Someone to Their Face

After Zhou Hao and Murong finished discussing the matter of building a force, they moved on to another topic.

"Do you have any martial skill that can view other people's memories?" Zhou Hao asked.

He suddenly remembered that Xu Shan still had not been dealt with, so he wanted to ask whether Murong had such a martial skill.

Murong was slightly taken aback when she heard that. "What bad thing are you trying to do?"

"What the hell? What bad thing could I possibly do?" Three black lines of speechlessness slid down Zhou Hao's forehead.

Murong smiled and asked, "Then what do you want to do? Most people who want to learn this sort of martial skill aren't planning to use it for anything good."

Zhou Hao explained, "Here's what happened. The leader of this mountain stronghold died, and the Second Boss..."

After his vivid account, Murong more or less understood.

At that moment, Zhou Yuanbao flew over to Murong's side and said, "Dad skipped a part."

Zhou Hao's face darkened. That little bastard could forget about getting any Divine Crystals.

Watching Zhou Hao's expression change, Murong asked Zhou Yuanbao with interest, "Tell me. What part did he skip?"

Zhou Yuanbao immediately said excitedly, "Dad said he wanted to help Yezi find the murderer. He even put on a convincing act and questioned Xu Shan and Ma Hongyun, but after hearing the whole story, he still couldn't figure it out. In the end, he solved it with violence."

Zhou Hao stared hard at Zhou Yuanbao, as though he wanted to swallow it alive. Didn't it know not to expose someone's shortcomings? Especially in front of Murong.

Mu Jinyin, who was floating in the air behind them, seemed to see through everything. It helplessly shook her head and thought, Little brother, from now on, your Divine Crystals will be managed by your big sister.

Although she had been born a little later than Zhou Yuanbao, she had always considered herself the older sister.

After hearing Zhou Yuanbao's words, Murong smiled and looked at Zhou Hao teasingly. "Are you really that useless?"

Zhou Hao glared at Zhou Yuanbao irritably and explained, "That was because there was too little information. I just didn't want to investigate. If I got serious, I could easily solve the case and find the evidence."

"Pfft." Murong covered her mouth and laughed. She loved seeing Zhou Hao acting like a dead duck with a hard beak.

Zhou Hao shrugged. Fine! He admitted it. Let her laugh if she wanted! Who told him he had indeed been a bit pathetic that day?

Murong put away her smile and said, "I didn't expect you to care about evidence. As expected of someone who's never killed anyone."

Zhou Hao rolled his eyes dramatically. "Are you praising me or mocking me?"

Murong chuckled. "Praising you. It's good to follow your own heart."

In this fantasy world, a Spiritual Consciousness Realm cultivator did not need a reason to kill a Mystic Body Realm cultivator with no backing. Even if Zhou Hao had killed Xu Shan, no one would have dared to say anything, yet Zhou Hao had not killed him.

In truth, that was the right choice. If one wanted to become a leader, one first had to win people's trust. A person who killed wantonly could never win trust; he could only force others into submission.

Zhou Hao curled his lips, unwilling to continue the topic. He brought the conversation back to the point. "Do you have any martial skill for checking memories?"

Murong shook her head. "I haven't learned one."

"Oh..." Zhou Hao sighed. His hopes had been raised for nothing.

He had been thinking of learning a martial skill similar to Soul Searching. It would make wandering the martial world much easier in the future.

"Although I don't have that kind of martial skill, I have this." A porcelain bottle appeared in Murong's hand.

Zhou Hao looked at the porcelain bottle and asked, "What is it?"

"Truth Pills, hehe." Murong softly uttered the three words.

Zhou Hao was slightly stunned upon hearing that. Wasn't this the medicinal pill Murong had mentioned before?

Murong tossed him a bottle. "There are ten inside. I originally prepared them for you, but you can keep these. I'll have someone refine more."

When Zhou Hao heard the words "originally prepared them for you," his heart trembled several times. He smiled bitterly. "Is that really necessary? Preparing ten for me?"

Murong nodded seriously. "It is. You even wanted to deceive me before. Tell me, was it necessary or not?"

Zhou Hao's mouth twitched. Fine! The reasoning was sound. He accepted it.

He then asked, "Is this thing expensive?"

If it was expensive, he had better not waste it on Xu Shan.

Murong casually waved her hand. "It's not worth much."

Fine. Zhou Hao had expected that answer. In Murong's eyes, everything was "not worth much."

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Are there any requirements for using it?"

Murong replied softly, "No, but the effect only lasts for an hour, so be mindful of the time when you question him."

Zhou Hao nodded. "Understood."

He calculated the time and knew Murong was about ready to leave. After some thought, he looked at her and said, "Next time you come, I'll give you a gift."

Murong froze for a moment before asking, "Why?"

"You've given me so many things, so naturally I should return the favor. Of course, the gift definitely won't be too valuable." Zhou Hao smiled.

Murong smiled and nodded lightly. "All right, then I'll look forward to it."

As she spoke, she paused and turned her gaze toward the red bed. Smiling sweetly, she said, "Actually, this gift isn't bad either. I'm really looking forward to coming again next time. Oh, right, do you have any more sunflower seeds? Give me some."

She held out her hand toward Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao took a large sheet of paper, wrapped up a packet for Murong, and smiled. "If it's not enough, just ask me for more."

Murong smiled faintly and waved. "See you in three days."

With that, her figure disappeared completely, leaving behind only a lingering echo.

Zhou Hao looked at the empty spot and chuckled. Then he grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, turned his gaze toward Zhou Yuanbao, and revealed a smile devoid of warmth.

"You were pretty brave just now, huh?"

Zhou Yuanbao gave an awkward laugh and fawned, "Dad, you're a generous man. Please don't cut my rations."

"Now you know fear?" Zhou Hao asked blandly as he cracked sunflower seeds.

Zhou Yuanbao nodded and hurriedly explained, "I was only explaining the situation to Mom. I didn't mean to report you."

At the time, it had only been thinking about the thrill of reporting him. It had not considered the consequences at all, and now it regretted it.

Zhou Hao gave it a sharp knock on the head and warned, "No next time."

Seriously, it even dared to tell others about Dad's embarrassing moments.

Zhou Yuanbao chuckled. "I guarantee there won't be a next time."

Mu Jinyin watched from the side and thought regretfully, What a pity. I was hoping to get double rations!

Zhou Hao stopped paying attention to Zhou Yuanbao. He walked over to the books Murong had left behind and looked over each title.

"'A Blind Man's Travel Journal,' 'Basics of Artifact Refining,' 'Basics of Alchemy,' 'Three Lifetimes of Love,' 'Summary of Basic Array Knowledge'... Wait."

Zhou Hao seemed to have spotted a rather questionable book. He flipped back two books, picked up Three Lifetimes of Love, and read it for a while.

Then he discovered that it was full of love stories, and he found himself getting quite absorbed in them.

"She even prepared books like this." Zhou Hao closed the book and sighed.

However, if he had counted the books, he would have discovered there were twenty-four books here, not the twenty-three Murong had mentioned.

But Zhou Hao did not count them. He merely looked over each title before putting them into his Storage Ring, intending to take them out and read them whenever he had time.

"Jinyin Yuanbao, let's go for a walk." Zhou Hao beckoned.

Zhou Yuanbao and Mu Jinyin hurriedly followed him.

Just as they stepped out the door, a thunderous boom suddenly rang out from the stronghold, startling everyone.