Tieqiu saw that so many ordinary people were extremely disappointed in him, so there was nothing he could say now. You were already disappointed in him—what else could he say? Was he supposed to kneel and beg for forgiveness? Tieqiu would never want to be that kind of person. He was someone with an exceptionally strong sense of self-respect.
Even if the whole world looked down on him, he still had to think highly of himself. Only Saint Lord Taichu supported and backed Tieqiu in secret. Hardly anyone else took him seriously; otherwise, they would constantly humiliate him and call him a stupid dog.
Only Saint Lord Taichu had stood by him in secret, saying he was gifted, that he was very clever, that his aptitude was far deeper than that of ordinary people. Actually, saying things like that once or twice was fine. Everyone could listen, be happy, and leave it at that.
But if it was said far too many times, then there was no real need for it. As far as Tieqiu was concerned, encouraging him was fine, but telling all sorts of nonsense and lies just to give him confidence was completely unnecessary and meaningless.
Did he not know what kind of person he was? He knew better than anyone. When he had been young, people had often called him a stupid dog.
Words that hurt one's self-respect like that might not matter much if they were said once or twice. But if they were said constantly, until they truly sank into someone's heart, then it would become especially painful.
There was a good chance that person would never be able to escape it for the rest of their life, remaining trapped in that so-called cycle of attacks and suffering psychological crises again and again. By