Niu Ba frowned and muttered,
"So you mean that if anything goes wrong along the way, all your predictions after that become worthless?"
Cheng Yu nodded.
"Yes."
Niu Ba frowned again.
"Then what does that have to do with you? Isn't it all just luck?"
Cheng Yu shook his head.
"No, no, no. It isn't entirely a matter of luck. First, you have to observe what sort of person they seem to be, then refine that assessment through their posture, expression, words, and so on. Next, bring up a topic that interests them and draw them into your rhythm.
"But you must be careful to control the pace throughout. You can't let them end the topic too quickly, or let them lose interest in it. The best approach is to keep drawing out points that interest them as the conversation progresses, continually piquing their curiosity so they're willing to waste that time."
Niu Ba's brow furrowed even more deeply, as though he still didn't understand the key to it.
Looking at the unchanging scenery ahead, Cheng Yu patted Niu Ba's head and said,
"Don't rush, Niu Niu. Next, we'll analyze my conversation with that wild demon we met earlier, word by word and sentence by sentence. We'll look at what I meant by each thing I said and what was going through his mind.
"First..."
Indeed, Cheng Yu had plenty of time on his hands. As mentioned before, most of a journey was boring, so he had simply found himself something to do.
As for Shen Qian, Cheng Yu didn't have much to talk about with her.
Although Passerby A's story was based on Cheng Yu himself, some parts still needed cutting. Leaving everything else aside, Cheng Yu still had to work out how to remove the scenes involving powerful