"My… my king… I want to talk to you…" After a long mental struggle, the Dread Lord finally made up his mind and took the initiative to find Xu Yuan, wanting to have a talk with him.
Seeing the Dread Lord suddenly approach him with a serious expression, Xu Yuan set aside what he was doing for the moment.
He found a relatively quiet spot by the sea, invited the Dread Lord to sit down, and only then asked, "What is it?"
Xu Yuan's gaze was calm, so calm that no emotional fluctuation could be seen at all. Precisely because of that, the Fear Demon felt even more uneasy.
At this moment, he was like a child who had done something wrong and been found out by their parents. He had been anxiously waiting for the parents' judgment, yet that judgment never came.
This period of waiting felt like years to him…
The Dread Lord really didn't want to endure this torment any longer. He was naturally suspicious, so he would always instinctively assume the worst about others.
On top of that, the Dread Lord knew very well that Xu Yuan was skilled in schemes, so he always felt that even after knowing his true thoughts, Xu Yuan still accepted him for some hidden purpose.
All along, it had always been the Dread Lord plotting against others. He had never been plotted against himself.
Because of that, he felt unbearably restless, like being scratched by a cat over and over. He really wanted to figure out what exactly Xu Yuan was planning.
He had finally gathered the courage to come to Xu Yuan to test the waters, yet he couldn't find even a single clue from Xu Yuan's expression.
Looking at Xu Yuan's calm, water-like eyes, the heart the Dread Lord had been holding up finally sank completely.
He really couldn't stand these suspicions anymore. He decided to come clean with Xu Yuan.
After pondering for a long time, he finally made up his mind and said, "I believe you already know that I am not as loyal to you as the others on the shoal…"
"You should have already probed my heart and know that I chose you only because you are the best option for me right now…"
"Logically, you shouldn't have brought me to the shoal… the people there are all your confidants, people who are truly loyal to you…"
At this point, even the Dread Lord himself seemed unsure of what he was trying to say. He paused for a moment. As he reorganized his thoughts, Xu Yuan spoke and interrupted him.
"So you want me to set aside a separate place just for you?"
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, the Dread Lord's mind instantly froze, and he stood there stiffly.
"Huh?…"
He had imagined countless times in his mind how this conversation with Xu Yuan would go, but he never expected that the very first sentence Xu Yuan said would shatter all of his imagined scenarios into pieces.
The Dread Lord already couldn't understand Xu Yuan, and now he understood him even less.
Seeing this, he thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and finally stopped beating around the bush.
Instead, he spoke plainly, "I have never truly trusted anyone, so choosing you is only because, in the short term, our goals are aligned. Right now, our common enemy is the Void."
"So we became allies because of a shared goal."
"But I have always prioritized my own interests. If my own interests are harmed, I will retreat without hesitation."
"So I am different from those who are loyal to you…"
"But the way you treat me is no different from how you treat them… I can also sense that you are deliberately letting everyone accept me, letting me integrate into the group…"
At this point, the Dread Lord let out a long breath as if a burden had been lifted. After saying these thoughts out loud, he felt much more at ease.
After calming down for a moment, he looked at Xu Yuan again and asked, "I cannot guarantee that I will follow you forever. If one day I truly betray you…"
"Won't you regret it?…"
Hearing this, Xu Yuan was briefly stunned, then, without much thought, he smiled and looked at the Dread Lord. "Why would I be the one to regret it?"
"For me, as long as what I'm doing now is what I want to do, I won't regret it."
"As for what happens in the future, that's a matter for the future."
At this point, Xu Yuan spread his hands and continued, "From what you just said… you think that if you leave, that would count as you betraying me."
"Doesn't that just prove that what I'm doing now isn't wrong? Then what would I have to regret?"
"Shouldn't you be the one regretting it instead?"
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, the Dread Lord froze again. It seemed he had never thought about things this way. Just as he was about to say something, Xu Yuan continued.
"Whether or not one regrets something is a subjective matter. Different people will have different answers."
"Setting that aside, let's go back to the question you raised earlier."
"You're confused about why I'm not guarding against you."
At this point, Xu Yuan smiled and shook his head. "About that, I'm confused too."
"I just thought about it. If you really wanted to scheme against me, what could you even take from me?"
"Power?"
"You know very well that the Void is stronger than me. If you wanted more power, choosing the Void would clearly be the better option."
At this point, Xu Yuan frowned and thought for a long time, then shook his head in confusion and continued, "Other than power, I really can't think of anything else you'd scheme against me for."
"Just thinking about this in my head is already enough to give me a headache. If I had to think every day about how you might scheme against me and how I should guard against you, wouldn't that exhaust me to death?"
"People have to take responsibility for their own decisions. Since I've already decided, there's no need to keep worrying about it."
"Even if you really leave, even if you truly betray me, that's your matter. I have no right to interfere. You have your choices, you have your path."
"And I have mine."
"When our paths cross, we walk this stretch together without regrets. That way, when we part, neither of us will regret it."
"I've never expected anyone to be loyal to me for a lifetime, nor have I expected anyone to stay with me until the very end."
"For me, what matters has never been the result, but the experience."
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, the Dread Lord couldn't calm down for a long time.
Xu Yuan's way of thinking completely overturned his understanding of what a king, what a leader should be like. It was as if he had seen through everything in the world, living far too freely.
Just as the Dread Lord was thinking about how to respond to Xu Yuan, Xu Yuan's next sentence completely shattered his worldview.
Xu Yuan shrugged, as if suddenly remembering something, and looked at the Dread Lord as he added,
"Oh, right."
"I never probed your inner thoughts."
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