Absolute Choice
Absolute Choice - Chapter 549: Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?

"And why are you now alive?"

This sentence wasn't precise. After all, it was likely possible that Speechless did not truly die. It was also possible that he had died fully. Hence, the premise of the question, 'why are you now alive' wasn't right. However, there were too many questions and complications that Shi Xiaobai wanted to ask. He was momentarily unsure about where he should begin so he could only ask such a question. However, Speechless was definitely aware of what he was interested in knowing.

However, Speechless did not directly answer him as he said with a faint smile at Reverend Misery Sea. He said, "The Buddha says: 'Not to be said, not to be said, it becomes wrong once said'."

This gatha was used in a rather baffling manner, but when matched with Speechless's gaze at Reverend Misery Sea that placed him in an awkward position, his meaning was clear. Before the old bald donkey left, how could he reveal the secret? Speechless was 'shooing him with Buddha as a pretext'.

Reverend Misery Sea immediately felt worse but hid his emotions well. He did not display his displeasure on his face. Although he was infuriated with Tyger Li's sudden 'betrayal', Tyger Li was after all a nation's premier. Furthermore, with the stakes of 'rebuilding Shaolin and revitalizing Buddhism', no matter how much Reverend Misery Sea disliked and hated Tyger Li, he could not fall into a wanton rage to wipe out the Li family's father-son duo that was equivalent to an 'Emperor' and 'Crown Prince'. Although his strength made it easy for him to wipe out everyone in the courtyard, there were many things in the world that were beyond strength and massacres.

Reverend Misery Sea sighed inwardly.

He could only tolerate the Li family father-son duo but Shi Xiaobai was definitely not to be spared.

The boy had an astounding talent with inhuman potential. The grudge with him could not be ignored. Although Reverend Misery Sea could lower his head and attempt to resolve the grudge, turning it into a friendly encounter, he refused to reduce the major issue to a minor one once he thought of the boy's wild and intractable personality.

Reverend Misery Sea hesitated as he was momentarily in a dilemma.

Tyger Li suddenly said, "Reverend, please leave."

Tyger Li had directly expressed to 'see him out'!

Reverend Misery Sea turned to look at Tyger Li in disbelief. He was the strongest warrior in Shaolin and his strength was enough to give him the title of Psionic King. He was described as a 'Buddha Reincarnated'. Although Tyger Li had an outstanding position in the political world, why would he take the initiative to fall out with such a top warrior?

This didn't make sense!

Reverend Misery Sea nearly lost control of his temper but as he looked at Tyger Li, his anger immediately vanished when he locked eyes with him.

Tyger Li's eyes looked calm but they were, in fact, hiding a tumultuous storm. There were deep intricacies hidden in them. This old sly fox that was draped in tiger's skin had hidden everything he wanted to tell him in his gaze.

Reverend Misery Sea was similarly experienced and astute. He instantly understood Tyger Li's faint gaze that only maintained for an instant.

High-level scheming allowed one to communicate through mere gazes.

Reverend Misery Sea came to a realization as he said with a chuckle, "So that's the case. This Penniless Monk understands."

Tyger Li said with a deadpan expression, "This Emperor has family matters, so he won't be taking your time any longer. It's good that Reverend understands it. As for the matter on Shaolin, we can discuss again. This Emperor will definitely give Reverend a satisfactory response."

As they spoke, the two instantly exchanged gazes.

Reverend Misery Sea said in a deep, thought-provoking manner, "Let's hope that Premier Li would not forget his promise."

Tyger Li nodded and said, "This Emperor has always been a man of his word."

Reverend Misery Sea turned to face the rest and gave Shi Xiaobai a deeply thoughtful look. With his palms placed together, he said, "Amitabha, it is time for This Penniless Monk to depart. Everyone, we shall meet again."

After Reverend Misery Sea said that, his body suddenly burst with golden light. Like a golden Buddha statue, he blasted out into the sky. In a few seconds, he had left the courtyard and vanished.

"This old bald donkey is indeed extraordinarily powerful. His means of leaving cannot be replicated," Speechless said wistfully.

When he said that it could not be replicated, he was indicating that Reverend Misery Sea's move had exceeded the limits of 'Mirror Replication'. It was a level in which he could not replicate it.

Shi Xiaobai did not know that and thought that Speechless was mocking Reverend Misery Sea's for his 'deliberate posturing' during his departure. He hesitated for a moment and was prepared to continue hounding the secret behind the 'revival'.

However, Tyger Li was faster than him. He said with a deep tone, "Vile spawn, you were faking your death?"

Tyger Li looked at Speechless with a grim expression. His tone was completely different from before Reverend Misery Sea left. It was demanding and fierce.

Speechless turned to look at Tyger Li and did not return him a friendly look. He said with a sneer, "So what if it is? And so what if it isn't?"

Tyger Li narrowed his eyes into a cold gaze. He said coldly, "Are you testing This Emperor's patience?"

Speechless pricked up his brows and a derisive smile suffused his lips. He said, "If I don't say it, are you going to force me to drink truth serum? I understand that it becomes easier with experience. Once you do such matters frequently, there will be no sense of guilt. It's very normal. I am not confident how far you can tolerate this son of yours that is destined to take over your mantle but there is one thing for sure. You will never hear a single word of truth from your own son's mouth unless you force him to drink truth serum!"

These words were said with penetrating criticism and cold harshness.

Tyger Li's eyes turned even colder as he said coldly, "You were indeed faking your death. It was all a scheme and act. You had witnessed everything that happened in the memorial hall but you continued acting a corpse. You are not a person that can ignore lethal threats to your mother and sister. You place far greater importance to loved ones than the common person but you never woke up to prevent it. It is obvious that your plan of faking death was extremely ambitious. Your aims were nothing trivial but what were you aiming for?"

Speechless said with a sneer, "Heh heh, you are really a knave that uses his own yardstick to measure the motive of an upright man. To think you can think of such a conclusion of faking death. It truly shows how sinister and warped your thinking is. I did die but my soul went to the Western Paradise. Buddha used his divine powers, allowing me to see everything. The shameless deeds you did was something even Buddha could not bear watching. He nearly cursed out loud."

Tyger Li responded coldly, "Utter nonsense. Those are all lies."

Speechless pricked his eyebrows and said, "You neither refuse to believe in the truth nor do you want to hear lies. It's best you take out the truth serum. I happen to be thirsty anyway, so let me drink it."

When Tyger Li heard that, he silently observed Speechless's eyes.

Speechless responded with a sneer as he stared back in an unrelenting manner.

Tyger Li remained in a prolonged silence before suddenly turning and walked out the courtyard. Moments later, he disappeared into the night. He had left the courtyard without saying a word.

Speechless sighed as his gaze turned somewhat heavy.

"Haha, the irritating fellow has finally left."

Speechless hid the heaviness in his gaze and turned to say with a laugh to the boy and girl behind him.

However, when he turned his head, he realized that Shi Xiaobai and Mu Lengxi's gazes were even heavier than his.

Shi Xiaobai hesitated for a moment and sighed. He said softly, "You truly...faked your death?"

Speechless did not immediately deny it this time. Instead, he gave a deeply thoughtful look at Shi Xiaobai and said in a thought-provoking manner, "Do you want to hear...the truth or a lie?"

IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "<a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://youtu.be/78VmKepFm1U?t%3D30s&sa=D&ust=1528791478114000">I will not easily 'go die'</a>", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.