"Understood!" Lin Qi narrowed his eyes. He looked thoughtfully at Hu Xinzhu, then suddenly smiled and asked, "Though I'd rather not ask this, I still have to. When you made these plans, were you truly standing on humanity's side, or...?"
Lin Qi smiled cheerfully at Hu Xinzhu, but cold sweat suddenly broke out across Hu Xinzhu's back. A bone-piercing chill kept him from making the slightest movement. He pressed his lips together and stared straight into Lin Qi's eyes. After a long, long while, Hu Xinzhu gave a mute laugh and gently shook his head. "Why would you think that? I, Hu Xinzhu, I..."
With a heavy cough, Lin Qi said in a deep voice, "Cut the nonsense! That girl is quite pretty, and the power in her hands reaches the heavens. Within her clan, she's an important figure too. Frankly speaking, judging from the current trend, the gods will very likely continue ruling this world in the future. And she will be one of the strongest and most powerful figures among them. Following her would at least be better than following us!"
After a moment of silence, Hu Xinzhu snapped his folding fan shut. Then he looked at Lin Qi with utmost seriousness and slowly let out a breath. "If I had sincerely defected to them, if I were wholeheartedly plotting for their sake, if I were now using you, your clansmen, and your subordinates to wear down the combat strength of the other divine clans, allowing Mu Wei and the others to hide behind the scenes and act as the oriole waiting behind the mantis—what would you do?"
After a long silence, Lin Qi smiled and held out his hand to Hu Xinzhu. "You wouldn't do that, would you? You wouldn't. Right?"
Hu Xinzhu looked at Lin Qi,