Bai Zhu opened his mouth, but he truly had no idea how to answer Netero's question.
Afraid of being poor.
Afraid of trouble.
Afraid of death.
Those answers might have been enough to fool Ging, but using them to brush off Netero would be somewhat insulting to the old man's intelligence.
Bai Zhu lifted his teacup, holding its rim at his lips without drinking.
Netero did not press him, merely sitting there and waiting.
Leaning back in his chair, Ging shifted into a more comfortable position. Rarely, he did not interrupt. The only sound in the room was the faint crackle of charcoal breaking apart in the hearth.
After a while, Bai Zhu set down his cup.
"Chairman, this is our first meeting. Isn't it a little inappropriate to get this deep right away?"
Netero stroked his beard.
"Then let's keep it shallow. You're afraid of whatever is beneath the Caspian Sea getting out."
The perfunctory look on Bai Zhu's face faded somewhat.
"You're also afraid that the Kakin Royal Family will use your blood to raise some kind of monster."
Bai Zhu sat up straighter.
"Pariston keeps pushing you around, and you can't find where he'll land. You're also afraid of seeing certain things too early. Not because you fear getting caught up in them, of course, but because you fear making the situation worse through your own mistakes."
The hand holding Bai Zhu's teacup froze.
Ging glanced at him.
Having said that, Netero picked up the teapot and poured himself half a cup.
"Should this old man keep guessing?"
"Please don't." Bai Zhu raised a hand in surrender. "If you keep going, I won't have much privacy left in front of you."
"You never hid it well to begin with."
"Chairman, being too blunt makes it easy to