It began with a sigh.
An Kai launched into the finest performance of his life.
He used tiny details in his descriptions to lend credibility to his words.
Step by step, he drew the Mighty Figure into a story that was nine parts lies and one part truth.
The nine parts lies were the past experiences An Kai invented about himself and "Teacher," borrowing heavily from Dong Lin's memories.
After all, Dong Lin had once been one of Teacher's three most beloved disciples.
With a ready-made example before him, An Kai found lying remarkably easy.
The Mighty Figure started out disbelieving.
Then, little by little, his disbelief turned into confusion.
He could not help asking himself, Were Hanks and I really that close before?
Ultimately, he was only one of Teacher's doppelgangers, and there were always gaps in how he handled certain matters.
The Mighty Figure might have seemed no different from an ordinary person, and the indifference he displayed might have far surpassed that of most living beings.
But when it came to certain matters involving his original self, the Mighty Figure lacked a clear understanding of his own.
In plain terms, he was easy to fool.
Easy to fool he might have been, but there was a prerequisite: you had to get the Mighty Figure to listen seriously, as he was doing now.
In other words, you needed a foundation of strength as formidable as An Kai's.
An Kai recounted how he had first met Teacher, then become "one of Teacher's four most beloved disciples," and finally accepted Teacher's assignment-a secret assignment-to leave the [Divine Court] when it faced a crisis.
He laid it all out, detail by detail.
Moreover, everything An Kai described drew on the stories of Dong Lin, Dong Mu, and Dong Sen.
He also