The Cauldron Master first shook his head, then asked in a hoarse voice, "Could I have one?"
Guan Liang passed him the cigarette pack.
With a cigarette between his lips, he took out a lighter and tried to light it, but failed three times.
In the end, the Cauldron Master could no longer bear watching and helped him light the cigarette.
The two smoked in silence. For a while, the only sound was the rustle of pages.
Holding his cigarette between his fingers, Guan Liang skimmed the report, then turned back to the first page and began reading every word.
Guan Liang had once refused his superior's offer to put him out of his misery when he was on the brink of death.
She had said, "I'll think of another way."
Recalling the past wistfully, Guan Liang had said, "I'm sure this time will be no exception."
What he meant was that the Marshal would find another way to break the curse of "immortality."
Guan Liang had never imagined that his careless remark would come true today.
Not only could the curse be broken, but there was a solution to being mara-struck, too!
Why today? Why couldn't it have been just a little earlier?
The Marshal must never learn of this.
She was someone who would never rest until she achieved her goal. Even if an insurmountable mountain or an uncrossable river lay ahead, she would never give up.
If a mountain stood in her way, she would cut through it. If a river blocked her path, she would build a bridge.
That was the kind of person his superior was.
That was why, as a general unable to pay bereavement benefits, she had sought out wealthy merchants and pressured or persuaded them, one by one.
As the Marshal, she