Xia Ruize's eyes went wide. Everyone had talked for ages, and they had actually assumed they shared an unspoken understanding. Who could have known that Zhou Xuan and I genuinely wanted to seize the books, while Li Poxiao genuinely wanted to eat the twelve fragmentary volumes! It was utterly unbelievable!
The key was that this kid had actually earned the old monster's trust. Taking advantage of being close to him, he could get the first taste of success. If he refused, the old monster would have to expend quite a bit of effort anyway, so we could use the opportunity to help seize the books. But if he wanted to swallow them, even the King of Hell himself wouldn't be able to stop him from dying!
"Li Poxiao! Have you gone mad!? Did you really have to take this act so far?!" Xia Ruize cried out.
My expression changed as well, and I hurriedly said, "Don't forget, you still have a wife and children at home!"
"Heh." Li Poxiao swallowed three pages in one go. In an instant, the color of his eyes changed, which delighted the old monster. He said, "See that? Now that is a truly upright immortal! As for you two—you've been trying to deceive this old man all along! Good! Since you're so sly and treacherous, it's no wonder this old man changed his mind!"
"Old monster, don't tell me you're going back on your word?!" I gritted out. But while the old monster was speaking, Li Poxiao swallowed another two books. This time, even I felt utterly despairing on his behalf. Well done—his own cleverness had outsmarted him.
Seeing Li Poxiao take the initiative to eat the books, the old monster forcibly sent several of the remaining ones before him. Li Poxiao didn't hesitate in