Absolute Choice
Absolute Choice - Chapter 552: Wish I could give three tight slaps to myself

"Oh, there's something you might not know. Liu Yu's superpower is 'Telepathic Relay'. As the name suggests, Liu Yu can converse with others telepathically. Although there are limitations of distance and willingness, it basically allows secret conversations. Back when you were trapped in the God Slaughtering Formation, the seven of us were in an arduous battle with the three Level Lords and were facing grave danger. If not for Liu Yu's 'Telepathic Relay', it probably would have been an abject defeat. Hence, Liu Yu has reasonably gained meritorious credit. It's best if you can forgive him on account of this merit."

Speechless coughed lightly before continuing, "I believe you have already understood what I'm getting at. Yes, the reason why I chose Liu Yu as my accomplice was because of his superpower, 'Telepathic Relay'. The reason why I got Liu Yu to carry you with me and not Pulp Farmer or Feng Yuanlin is also due to that. In the beginning, I began using furtive glances and mouthing to signal to Liu Yu to use 'Telepathic Relay'. On the way back, we were constantly communicating telepathically. It was actually not a simple task. In order to reduce any flaws, Liu Yu and I had to communicate telepathically as well as take the initiative to be the talkative party to raise topics of discussion to relieve the repressed atmosphere amid the group. Therefore, we had to engage in two conversations without messing up our logic. Thankfully, Liu Yu was clever enough so we did not make any mistakes. As such, we secretly discussed the entire plan for faking my death. Well, it was not really a discussion, and more like me formulating the entire plan."

When Shi Xiaobai heard that, he pricked his eyebrows and asked, "Why would Liu Yu obediently do such a deed with you?"

Speechless blinked and a faint smile suffused his lips. He enunciated each word slowly, "Coercement and bribery"

Shi Xiaobai was left dumbfounded.

Speechless laughed and said, "It was just a joke. Liu Yu is such a headstrong guy and pedantic Daoist. How can coercement and bribery work? I know some embarrassing things about him but they are not sufficient to threaten him in any way. As for using bribery or women, what can I give him? Don't think of me as some Li family crown prince, all my privileges are actually limited greatly by that darn fellow, Tyger Li. In the Li family, I only receive superficial respect. No one dares to oppose that tiger's will to give me any actual support. So I'm quite aggrieved as a crown prince. Of course, with this face of mine, scamming some naive girls wouldn't be a tough problem but how can I do such villainous acts? You might not believe it but over the years, there have been numerous elite girls, hundreds if not thousands, with looks comparable to Sunless. There was also a mathematical genius named Jasmine, who confessed at the Nobel prize award ceremony. However, I didn't agree with it. It was not because I'm not interested in the matters of the heart, and of course, do not doubt my sexual preferences, but because of the whims of the heart. I already have someone on my mind so I am unwilling to be moved by others. This is a person's responsibility and a person's conscience. I, Speechless Li, am a good man. Oh, in short, I did not do anything like coercement and bribery."

Shi Xiaobai felt his scalp tingle from hearing this. Why was Speechless also so talkative? It was a matter that could have been explained in a sentence or two, but he insisted on making detours. He even mentioned a huge bunch of crap that he wasn't shy about despite all the bragging. Could the talkativeness trait of him and Mu Lengxi be hereditary?

Shi Xiaobai felt that he could not let Speechless 'wantonly' continue on his babbling. He hurriedly redirected the conversation back. "How did you get Liu Yu to work with you?"

Speechless suddenly wiped his smile off his face and came to a pause. After quite a moment of hesitation, he covered his face and said with a sigh, "What else could I do? I could only beg him. I thickened my skin and lowered my dignity to beg him! Things like Brother Liu, Lord Liu, Grandpa Liu, I had used them all. Sigh. Now that I think about it, it really winces the heart. I wish I could give three tight slaps to myself."

Shi Xiaobai was stunned agape. He never expected that Speechless's 'sinister ploy' was so humorous. But on careful thought, wasn't that Speechless's style? He was so cheap that he wanted to slap himself thrice. No one could beat that!

Shi Xiaobai shook his head helplessly and asked, "So Liu Yu was convinced by your shamelessness?"

Speechless chuckled and said, "How can it be that simple? That fellow, Liu Yu, does not yield to the carrot nor the club. He did not like me calling him Grandpa Liu, and when I touted him as the number one person in the Daoism of the past nine thousand years, he even got angry. He said that Laozi is the number one person. Bullshit. All Laozi did was write the 'Dao De Jing'. If one wanted to say who is the strongest in the Daoism, there was Yellow Emperor, and later on, Wang Chongyang. Above there is the Highest Elder Lord and below, there is Mao-shan Daoist. Which one of them can't beat Laozi? Of course, I did not dare argue with him back then and agreed with him, and spoke highly of Laozi. But I deliberately changed the pronunciation of Lao from the third intonation to the first, making it sound like I was bragging about his father (Lǎozi), myself. Hahaha... Well, back to proper matters. Actually, I realized that there was not much point in pleading with him and ended up seriously talking to him. I told him the reason for the plan and some of my important secrets. I used my most solemn and serious attitude to let him understand that I was not doing it on a whim, nor was I up to some nefarious ploy. However, what I wanted to do and have to do was not for myself, but more for... Anyway, although Liu Yu was impervious to my previous tactics, he was an understanding person. He knew how to change his point of view so he was eventually convinced."

Speechless had once again split the topic of conversation midway but when he saw Shi Xiaobai's 'unfriendly' gaze, he hurriedly steered the topic back.

Shi Xiaobai nodded and said, "Continue, so what happened after convincing Liu Yu?"

Speechless said, "What followed was the first part of executing the plan—killing someone using the name of another'. This part wasn't very difficult. Feng Yuanlin is an honest man, so he would not turn around easily. Although Pulp Farmer is a meticulous person despite his boorishness, he could not see a thing by being behind. Lengxi would begin having her mind wander once she is worried and would not concentrate on matters happening around her. Yuesheng is very meticulous and very serious but it's because of that, she will not cast her gaze on us but on the surroundings so as to prevent any sudden unforeseen danger. So the only person that needed to be careful of was Sunless. She has deep feelings for you and has a strong will. She would not be disturbed by anything else so she would definitely put all her mind on you. Therefore, when the plan was being carried out, I got Liu Yu to deliberately block Sunless's vision, preventing her from seeing your actions. In fact, you did not do a thing back then. Your hands were lifted up by our power and as such, it seemed like you had shoved. Liu Yu faked being pushed down while I faked being sent flying. In fact, I had just used all my strength to jump backward and flew more than ten meters. That scene happened fast and suddenly. Sunless's vision was blocked by Liu Yu so no one managed to see it clearly. Of course, they could not see any of the minute flaws."

When Shi Xiaobai thought of this, he had a baffling sense of respect. Although Speechless did not seem like a reliable person, he was indeed very clever. What seemed like a simple plan had, in fact, included the personalities and habits of everyone. It was easier said than done.

Speechless suddenly sighed and said, "What followed was the toughest period for me. I faked being killed by you with a single strike and played a corpse. Seeing my partners sad and my sisters crying in pain was truly agonizing. There were many times I wanted to abandon the entire plan but thankfully, Yuesheng and Lengxi are not girls with strange emotions. They would not do anything 'out of the ordinary'. Although they were sad, they still faced it resolutely and maintained their reason."

When Shi Xiaobai heard that, he was somewhat stunned. He did not understand why Speechless had used Sunless as a 'negative example'. Shi Xiaobai had been trapped in the array world so he had never seen Sunless's 'crazy' side in order to save him. Therefore, his impression of Sunless was one of loftiness. She was a wondrous girl who would not flinch even with Mt. Tai crushing down on her. It was a completely different description to what Speechless had just mentioned.

However, Shi Xiaobai did not question about that because he had a bigger question. He asked, "How did you fake your death? How did you fake your death and fool everyone? Do you have some unique trick?"

Shi Xiaobai could not figure out how Speechless had successfully faked his death that had fooled everyone, including Sunless and company, as well as the unfathomable Infernal Queen, and Tyger Li.

How did he do it?

Speechless pricked up his eyebrows and said with a faint smile, "Shouldn't you be most aware of how I did it?" 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 "", 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'.