"Ah? Is that so? It seems my memory isn't very good. I forget things right after hearing them."
Cheng Shi smiled and reached out to straighten the only somewhat clean-looking collar on Kraun's shabby cotton coat. The collar had been perfectly straight to begin with, but he deliberately crooked it.
Not only that, while he was at it, two scalpels accidentally slipped out of his sleeves one after the other. Their tips stabbed into the ground less than a centimeter from Kraun's toes, and the crisp cracking sound of breaking ice left Kraun covered in cold sweat.
Kraun could tell that these three oddballs were not to be trifled with.
But he understood how to read the situation, and he knew that he could not resist at all right now. So he remained motionless and let them do as they pleased.
It was only when Cheng Shi clattered several more scalpels to the ground, frightening Kraun until his legs began to tremble, that Zhang Jizu could no longer bear watching. He sighed and rescued Kraun from Cheng Shi's clutches.
"We had easier ways to confirm your identity, but... considering that you might be that crucial key, we'll give you a chance.
Repeat after me: I am Zhen Xin.
Say it correctly, and we'll let you go."
Kraun was terrified. His whole body trembled, yet even so, he did not drop the flyer in his hand. He looked at Zhang Jizu's eyes, narrowed to slits, and repeated through his fear:
"I am Zhen Xin."
A lie. An expected lie.
None of the three seemed surprised. Cheng Shi glanced at Zhang Jizu and smiled. "You were sure from the start that he wasn't Zhen Xin?"
Zhang Jizu nodded pragmatically. "She wouldn't hide in any place I could think of, but we still