"What, you don't believe me?"

Lin Changsheng squinted his eyes, sporting a harmless smile. As a Heavenly Master of the Longevity Sect, Lin Changsheng's appearance was very deceptive.

His features made people feel close to him, giving them an instinctive trust in whatever he said.

Hmm, a single word to describe it would be charisma.

Lin Changsheng could naturally lean back in the bamboo chair and speak as if telling a story: "In my lifetime, if I must use one sentence to describe it, it would be 'success due to Xiao He, and failure due to Xiao He.'

"In the first half of my life, I relied on the appreciation of the Xu Family, who gave me a meal to eat. At that young age, I was full of vigor. If someone gave me a little good, I would offer them my heart and soul, even feeling a rush of dying for someone who understood me."

"At that time, although ignorant, it was very beautiful."

As Lin Changsheng spoke, he seemed to be lost in some memories, and Li Feng also sensed a touch of emotion revealed by Lin Changsheng.

Lin Changsheng continued.

"It was also during that time that I met a woman who made me fall in love at first sight. Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"At that time, due to my outstanding performance, I was brought by the one who appreciated me to a New Year's Eve party organized by the Xu Family. It was there I met her."

"A woman who made me fall in love at first sight. She was really beautiful, and very gentle. The moment she spoke, I felt my heart warm up. But when that benefactor hugged her waist, I knew there was an insurmountable chasm between us. I thought that color would only exist in the depths of my memory."

"But fate played a joke on me, and I met her again afterward."

"The ensuing plot unfolded like a clichéd drama; we had many interactions, and every meeting was very joyful. She, like me, came from the lower class. She became his woman not because she wanted to, but because she had to."

"Perhaps it was due to shared destiny, or maybe youthful vigor. My emotions did stir, and as I kept dreaming, reality would whip me awake. During yet another date, she came."

"But so did my benefactor."

As Lin Changsheng recounted this event, he smiled with reminiscence: "You know, that day was the saddest day of my life. I still remember the scenes from that day."

"It was all a setup orchestrated by that benefactor. He just wanted to test my loyalty, and you know the result."

"And that woman, who I was infatuated with at first sight, stepped forward and said it was all an act, that everything she said and did with me was just a performance."

"It was all just an act."

"She felt nothing for me at all. She even said, 'Who do you think you are? What kind of toad do you think you are, to dare to covet me?'"

Lin Changsheng suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh: "The result was, I got a severe beating. That benefactor I was so grateful to, whom I was willing to die for, trampled me underfoot and spat on me."

"Then he disdainfully told me that I was just a dog raised by the Xu Family, and how dare a dog like me covet his woman."

"Afterwards, he swaggered off, and I realized that I had been a joke, that I had been living my life wrong."

Li Feng sat quietly beside Lin Changsheng, listening to his story. It seemed unrelated to the previous conversation, but Li Feng didn't interrupt.

Li Feng knew Lin Changsheng was stalling for time.

The arrival probably caught him off guard. After all, a supposedly dead man suddenly appearing in front of him—Lin Changsheng did not exclaim, remaining calm—proves the depths of this Heavenly Master's scheming.

"And then?"

Lin Changsheng turned to face Li Feng, who seemed to be listening intently. One spoke, and the other truly listened. Even Wang Xi felt anxious, realizing he was intentionally stalling for time.

"Aren't you afraid I'm stalling for time?"

Li Feng shrugged: "Heh, if I minded, I wouldn't be listening so attentively. Go on!"

"Since we're telling stories, we should have a proper beginning and end, right? Perhaps this reflects your whole life."

Lin Changsheng glanced at Li Feng and continued: "That night, I knelt outside the room he reserved all night."

"Until the next day when the sun was high, he finally came out with that woman. I slapped myself twenty-seven times, breaking my teeth, enduring her cold sarcasm, but my misery gained me forgiveness."

"From then on, I started working even harder, like a spider constantly weaving a web."

"And as this network of connections was built, I grasped the lifelines of many people, gaining power and money, yet in front of the Jingmen Xu Family, I was still just a dog they raised."

"Heh, nobody wants to be a dog."

"I secretly vowed that from now on, I, Lin Changsheng, would not bow to anyone again."

Li Feng looked at Lin Changsheng.

"Is your benefactor dead?"

Li Feng understood well men like Lin Changsheng—trampled underfoot, but later possessing everything. From the moment he could kneel outside that person's door and slap himself, it was decided he would be extraordinary.

"Not dead."

Lin Changsheng said: "But now he lives like a dog."

"Does the Xu Family know?"

"Heh, the Xu Family might suspect, but they can't do anything to me. The network I control is the Xu Family's lifeline. If they eliminate me, half of the Xu Family will collapse."

After Lin Changsheng finished speaking, he looked pointedly at Li Feng.

"You're at odds with the Xu Family. I know a bit about it. With the high virtues of the Jingmen Xu Family, you'd be trampled underfoot, just like I was in those days."

"Only, the outcome is somewhat different. Back then, I endured the humiliation and had to yield to the Xu Family's tyranny, while you directly broke the lineage of a Xu Family member and made him a eunuch, but you've still become a thorn in the Xu Family's side."

"The Xu Family wants to eliminate you. You are at odds with the Xu Family; that's no problem. To me, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Your interests do not conflict with mine."

"You should know, my relationship with the Xu Family is also now tenuous. The Xu Family is wary of what I hold and doesn't dare to touch me, but if the opportunity arises, they won't keep me around."

"These years I've kept a low profile, even cultivating a body double, for that very reason."

As Lin Changsheng spoke, he continued: "What I said at the beginning wasn't to deceive you. I can give you a copy of the things."

Lin Changsheng circled back to his initial promise.

He wanted Li Feng to believe that he was sincere.

But just then, dense footsteps echoed from the corridor, and red dots of light appeared from nearby buildings.

And these red dots were aiming right at Li Feng's body and head.

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