Pet King

Zhang Zian and Richard spoke in tandem.

It was then that they discovered that the other elfins had been slowly getting farther away from them.
Only the two of them were left to deal with Fina’s anger.

Fina’s face grew a little darker.
“If you dare lie to me…”

“Then bury Richard alive as a sacrifice!”

“Then have the snow lion castrate him!”

Even when betraying one another, Zhang Zian and Richard were still in sync.

They knew why Fina refused to let up on her line of questioning.
It was because she did not wish to expose her most vulnerable side to others.
Even when exposed, she wished for no one to see it because she felt that it would greatly hurt her dignity.
So in order to avoid being silenced, they could only make the same choice.

Fina snorted and looked at them with a face full of suspicion.
“You better be speaking the truth.
Otherwise, if I find out that you are lying…”

“It’s absolutely true!” Zhang Zian and Richard tried their best to give Fina innocent looks.
They also sensed the opportunity to take on various personal oaths that were highly detrimental.
Only with these efforts did Fina decide to, albeit reluctantly, drop her questioning.

“Well, I shall believe the both of you.”

Both Zhang Zian and Richard heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that their worthless lives were saved.
They looked at each other, and although it was mere moments ago that both had betrayed each other, they had looks of appreciation for one another.
They were indeed great Chinese comrades.

Like the Chinese saying that if, during the questioning just now, either one of them had sung a different tune, they would’ve both been outed and could await a painful death.
Therefore, the only option for both of them was to flatly refuse to speak the truth.

The other elfins, seeing that the crisis had passed, ran back briskly, all carrying innocent looks on their faces.

Zhang Zian looked down on them for running away at the first sign of trouble.
He was, after all, their master, and therefore their leader.
Should the followers let their leader be the first to go instead?

However, he knew that this would not be something he could speak of outright.
Alas, he and Richard would have to swallow their anger and keep quiet about it.

“I overheard that both of you are you going over to the western desert,” Fina suddenly said

“Ah? That is correct.” Zhang Zian took a moment to react.
Up until now, Fina had not taken an interest in his scientific experiments and returned to Egypt purely for sightseeing.

“The western desert is highly inaccessible.
Where exactly are you going?” Fina asked again.

“About that…” Zhang Zian scratched his head.
“It seems that there is no final decision.
We may cut through it, walk past it, or take a winding detour.
The specific route depends on Professor Wei Kang’s arrangement.”

“Oh.” Fina nodded quietly.

Zhang Zian paused to analyze the situation.
Fina would not be asking for no reason.
Zhang Zian decided that he would need to be the one to figure out what her actual intentions were, so he asked, “Is there somewhere you want to go?”

Fina took her time before shaking her head.
“There is nowhere special that I would like to go.”

Zhang Zian didn’t reply.
It was obviously an insincere response.
Fina had lived in Egypt for so long.
How could it be that she had no special memories of any places?

Whether or not one could curry favor with his lord depended entirely on his ability to guess what the lord’s true intentions were.
In many cases, subjects spoke without much thinking.
Such examples included, “My lord, you have worked for half an hour today.
You should take more rest!” or “For the sake of the country’s long-term stability, you need to have more children.
Why don’t you choose a few beautiful girls and bring them into the palace?” The emperor would usually half-heartedly agree with these lousy suggestions in the hopes that his decisions would appease his citizens.

These efforts were nothing but part of a devious plan!