Beside the quiet path, Xu Bangzi once again circulated Star Source Power throughout his body. Only after confirming that nothing was wrong did he say, "You kept my secret and gave me the antidote, and I saved you and brought you here. From now on, we owe each other nothing."
With that, he turned to leave.
"Wait," Ren Ye called out.
"What now?" Xu Bangzi looked back.
Watching his expression, Ren Ye asked with a smile, "It looks like we're even, but why did you tell us the secret about the West Mountain Taoist Temple's legacy before leaving?"
Xu Bangzi blinked.
"At this point, even an idiot could tell that the final battle will be over the Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo," Ren Ye said. "You told us this secret so we'd investigate and gradually approach some truth... could it be that you're not confident about the final struggle? You want us to discover something and fight the others first, so you can reap the rewards and fish in troubled waters?"
After staring in bafflement for a long moment, Xu Bangzi shook his head helplessly. "The elders really were right. Anyone shameless enough must have enough intelligence to back it up. Ah, all things seek balance. Those three dear friends of yours are drooling idiots, so they really do need a brain to lead them."
"Praise him all you want, but why insult me?!" Old Liu cursed. "It's the fucking Republican era already, and you're still putting three people down to praise one?"
"Thousand-Mechanism Fluid!" Apu snapped, wasting no words.
"Heh, such arrogance. Taste my sword!"
"Be more mature, all of you." Ren Ye held his three teammates back and looked up at Xu Bangzi. "What I mean is, we're friends who know each other inside out. Unless there's a life-or-death