New City.
At night, the white city stood upon a grassland mottled yellow and green.
After drinking, Chai Qingtang and Shi Yuanhao stood in the wind atop the city wall, secretly communicating through voice transmissions.
"Old Shi, lay your cards on the table. What exactly are you thinking? We may not be friends who'd die for each other, but we've fought shoulder to shoulder, and neither of us has stabbed the other in the back. You won't retreat from New City this time. Fine, I accept that. But once we reach Taigu City, will you retreat or not?" Chai Qingtang asked.
Shi Yuanhao fell silent for a long while, then asked, "What do you think of Li Qingxian?"
"The next Grand General King. No, the next Grand General King and Poison Strategist rolled into one," Chai Qingtang said.
"High praise," Shi Yuanhao said.
"If you'd seen him orchestrate the burning of ten thousand devils, with even a Devil God's avatar helping him, you'd understand," Chai Qingtang said.
"Then why do you want him dead?"
Chai Qingtang sneered. "Why are you playing the little white fish with its guts scooped clean? When have I ever wanted to kill him? Half the world wants to protect him. What could I possibly use to kill him? The one who truly wants him dead is that person whose reach exceeds half the world. Stop splashing dirty water on me. I'm not buying it."
"Then why are you always thinking about retreating?" Shi Yuanhao asked.
Chai Qingtang narrowed his eyes. "Old Shi, are you trying to make me turn on you? I've said everything I can, and you're still trying to fish words out of me? I'm telling you, stop testing me. All I want now is to stay alive, muddle through a year here,