"Gao Ming, I used to admire you. I saw my former self in you." The corpse puppet's mouth opened and closed, looking grotesque. "But after learning all your secrets, I realized I'd given you far too much credit. You died so many times and started over so many times before you finally stood before me and imprisoned me using a method that wasn't even foolproof."
Gao Ming watched the corpse puppet impassively without interrupting, letting it continue. He was trying to determine one thing—was the Future God controlling the corpse puppet, or was this the real Situ An?
"You're far too ordinary in every respect. Do you know why Lu Zang chose you in the end?" The corpse puppet's mouth was forcibly stretched into a smile. "Because he thought you'd be easier to control. It would be easier for him to steal everything from you."
"There are thirteen Candidates in the Blood City Posthumous Photograph beneath Black Lake. Each has a reason to become Blood City's new master. You alone are an accident."
"You were brought in only to better evade Fate's scrutiny. You're just a pathetic wretch who doesn't even know his own name."
"How pitiful. Even now, you still treat that strange label as your name. Aren't you worried that one day you'll be forgotten—that people will know only the code name Gao Ming, but won't remember you at all?"
The words coming from the corpse puppet's mouth grew increasingly outrageous. Gao Ming couldn't tell whether Situ An had built up too much resentment from being imprisoned for so long, or whether the Future God had taken the act too far. Either way, he had obtained a great deal of information.
Not all of it was necessarily true, but as long as some of it approached the truth,