"Do you have a secret you want to tell me? Is it to save your child's life?" Gu Qingshan asked.
Xuan Ya quickly nodded.
Gu Qingshan waved his hand. "Don't tell me that secret just yet. I'd rather you hear my decision first."
He looked at her earnestly. "I won't kill your child. Whatever secret you tell me, that won't change."
Xuan Ya stared blankly for a moment, then gradually understood.
If she told him the secret first, then anything Gu Qingshan did afterward might seem like he was only willing to do it because he'd learned the secret.
But Gu Qingshan had made his decision in advance.
That meant their lives would no longer be exchanged for a secret.
Exchanging a secret for a life was a transaction. To put it more bluntly, it was a threat and an act of coercion.
With the secret within easy reach, this man had keenly sensed the problem.
It was a subtle matter. Most people wouldn't think twice about it; they'd simply choose to hear the secret first.
Xuan Ya looked at Gu Qingshan, her expression complicated.
This man... didn't want to decide whether her child lived or died through threats and coercion.
So why had he told her what he and the Kings of the past had discussed?
She had no time to think it over. Gu Qingshan had already begun to explain.
"Xuan Ya, I want you to understand one thing first. We don't kill just anyone."
He continued slowly, "If we have to rely on the life of a three-year-old child to solve a problem, then it only proves one thing: we're a bunch of useless trash. Oldest, don't you agree?"
Oldest snorted. "You're too long-winded. That's obvious."
Gu Qingshan's gaze fell on Zhang Yinghao.
Zhang Yinghao cleared his