The Human Heart Was Hard to Read

The chief's face turned livid. "Not even one?"

There was a lot behind that question.

But the lead guard was too angry to think it through. He blurted, "It's not a matter of one or two. We didn't see a single damn Earth-Shaking Talisman! This guy gave us false information!"

They had been colleagues for years, so there was a basic level of trust between them. Hearing the lead guard say this, the chief turned his gaze to Wang Wen. "Do you have an explanation?"

Wang Wen calmly straightened his collar and said, "There's nothing wrong with the information. Whether there's something wrong with the people, I can't say."

At that, the lead guard's anger flared again. Reaching past his colleague, he pointed at Wang Wen and cursed, "Quit trying to drive a wedge between me and my brother! We've been through life and death together. He'd never deceive me! I saw him leave the Tower with my own eyes, and both his hands were empty!"

"Ha!" Wang Wen gave a meaningful laugh and said no more.

"What are you laughing at?" The lead guard's face reddened with fury.

Someone suddenly spoke from another direction. "You should know perfectly well what he's laughing at."

The lead guard turned to see Vice Chief Jiang. His anger faltered slightly.

By the time he tried to speak again, the vice chief had already picked up the thread and was explaining his reasoning to the chief. "Old Zhang, I don't want to comment on anything else. I just want to point out one thing: if the information was false, why did Wang Wen stay put in the Guard Department? Was he waiting for someone to expose him? You know that if he'd wanted to run, he'd have had plenty of chances during this past week!"

A whole week.

Vice Chief Jiang's opinion of Wang Wen had improved considerably.

In his eyes, Wang Wen truly was a formally trained student from the Academy. He was nothing like self-taught people like them. Wang Wen spoke about the World Tower with impressive fluency and had unique insights into many difficult problems. Just talking with him had given Jiang far more confidence about breaking through the two-hundred-and-fiftieth floor!

Jiang was a hundred thousand times more reluctant to believe that someone like Wang Wen was lying.

Instead, he was more inclined to suspect the person who hadn't shown him much respect.

Normally, he didn't have the opportunity—or the inclination—to spend effort dealing with him. But now that they'd crossed paths, it was easy enough to say a few words in support of what was right rather than taking sides.

"Vice Chief Jiang has a point." The chief couldn't think of a way to refute him, but he also didn't want to admit that his own men had failed in their duties. He fell silent.

Seeing this, the lead guard grew frantic and shouted to the chief, "Sir, believe me! There's definitely something wrong with that information!"

After thinking it over for a long while, the chief decided to back his subordinate. He tossed the problem to Wang Wen. "Wang Wen, since you provided the information, do you have any way to prove it's accurate?"

Wang Wen nodded. "It's simple. Send someone from our Guard Department in there, and we'll know the truth. If there's nothing there after all, I'll accept my punishment. You can behead me or shoot me."

The moment he finished speaking,

whispers spread through the hall.

Suggesting another test was one of the easiest ways to win people's trust, because only someone with a clear conscience wouldn't fear the truth.

Seeing Wang Wen's confidence, even the lead guard began to waver. He stared at him suspiciously, trying to spot a tell in that impassive face.

Just then,

someone in one of the whispering groups spoke a little too loudly. A few words—"the human heart is hard to read"—slipped out and rang clearly through the hall.

The chief's expression changed at once.

The lead guard was even more furious. He shouted at the man, "Jiang Daoli, you son of a bitch! Say that louder if you've got the guts!"

The guard called Jiang Daoli wore a squad leader's uniform, just like the lead guard. They were probably at odds most of the time. As soon as he heard himself being insulted, he fired back without hesitation. "You're shouting abuse at a fellow officer right in front of two superiors, Captain Chen? What a commanding presence! I said the human heart is hard to read. So what? Do you dare swear on your life that your so-called brother didn't pocket the Earth-Shaking Talismans?"

"What wouldn't I dare? Quit your insinuations and stop slandering people!" The lead guard was furious. He pounded his chest with a series of thuds.

Jiang Daoli chuckled. "Oh, please. I'm nowhere near as good at slinging accusations as you are! Wang here took your word for it that the information was false and put his head on the line while we checked. What about you? What are you willing to put on the line while we wait for the results?"

The lead guard ripped off his hat and flung it aside. "If there are any Earth-Shaking Talismans, I'll quit wearing this uniform! Jiang Daoli, you son of a bitch, dare to make a bet with me? If there are no talismans, you can strip off your own skin!"

Jiang Daoli's expression shifted. He replied in an odd tone, "Bet your uniform? That was quick. I only suspected your brother before, but now you seem pretty suspicious too! Fifty Earth-Shaking Talismans! How much are they worth, exactly? Enough to trade for a brother—or for a uniform?"

With the argument escalating to this point, everyone in the hall wore a different expression. The scene was a spectacular mess.

Wang Wen glanced around at their faces with interest and casually remarked, "If I remember right, an Earth-Shaking Talisman costs between thirty and fifty thousand points."

"Boom!"

Those who loved a spectacle poured more oil on the fire.

The noise in the hall could no longer be contained. It surged like a storm.

The lead guard shoved his colleague aside and lunged at Wang Wen, cursing over and over. "You—! You—!"

"Enough!"

The chief slammed his hand down on the table. The crash reverberated through the Guard Department hall.

"Everyone, shut up!" His gaze swept across the room like a machine gun, silencing everyone it passed. At last, he looked at Wang Wen and said, "You said we should send someone from the Guard Department to check. Do you have anyone in mind? That way, no one can accuse me of being unfair afterward. You can choose who goes to verify it this time. How does that sound?"

Perhaps he was unhappy that the person he'd assigned had come under suspicion. Or perhaps he was fed up with the commotion in the Guard Department hall. Either way, his tone was unmistakably displeased.

Wang Wen didn't seem to mind. He looked around and said readily, "I'd personally recommend someone as impartial as Vice Chief Jiang."

Caught off guard by being singled out, the vice chief paused and regarded Wang Wen thoughtfully.

The chief turned to him. "Vice Chief Jiang, with your abilities, clearing the two-hundredth floor shouldn't be a problem, right? So, are you willing to be the one to verify this?"

The vice chief thought it over, then nodded. "I'm willing."

"Then it's settled. Get ready, and report in to enter the Tower when you're prepared." The chief turned back to Wang Wen. "Wang Wen and I, along with all your colleagues, will be waiting for your news here in the Guard Department!"

For the time being, things returned to normal.

Wang Wen continued sleeping peacefully in the detention room every day.

To clear himself of suspicion, the lead guard also made the Guard Department his home, sleeping fully dressed in his own seat.

Perhaps he knew that too many people were waiting for news. Or perhaps he was simply stronger than the lead guard's sworn brother.

Vice Chief Jiang returned from the Tower much sooner this time.

On the evening of just the third day, he hurried back to the Guard Department with his people.

Those who heard the news came rushing over, including the chief, the lead guard, and every colleague on site, whether they were on duty or not.

Everyone clearly saw the vice chief pull a thick stack of substantial-looking talisman papers from a shabby bag.

Earth-Shaking Talismans!

"A full fifty-two!" Vice Chief Jiang's voice echoed through the Guard Department hall, as if announcing the lead guard's "death sentence."