That said.
Zhao Jian, the king of Zhao, had not summoned this commoner because of his stone.
In fact, even the king of Zhao did not believe it was a precious jade.
He had summoned that commoner.
Simply because he wanted a look.
For the sake of an ordinary stone.
In an ancient age when the average lifespan was only forty or fifty years.
What did a fool who had spent twenty years proving a stone was jade look like?
And he had even lost his nose, his ears, and his kneecaps.
In any case, what threat could there be in summoning such a man?
Without someone helping him.
He could not even stand.
How could he possibly attempt an assassination or anything of the sort?
It was safe, and it was entertaining.
What reason did the king of Zhao have to refuse?
But after summoning this commoner.
The king of Zhao saw a man who looked as though he was already dying, or had died and just crawled out of his grave.
And was truly frightened.
Imagine a sallow, emaciated Voldemort without ears, his whole body blackened and covered in sores where his flesh had all but rotted away and healed over.
Such a wretched man.
Even the king of Zhao felt some pity for him, so he decided to shatter the man's belief.
How did one shatter someone's belief?
Especially an unshakable belief?
By turning what he imagined into a failure and telling him that such a thing could not possibly exist!
That was exactly what the king of Zhao did.
He ordered someone to scrape away a layer of the stone's outer shell.
Who would have thought that he himself was the fool!
After just a piece of its stony shell had been cut away.
The stone